Live: Second semi final in Malta

by Marcus Klier 98 views

The second semi final in the Maltese selection for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest is about to be held. Six acts will compete to be among the top 20 that will eventually reach the grand final.

Webcast

You can follow the show via webcast here.

The line-up

Composer/Lyricist in brackets.

  1. Aldo Busuttil Pizzicato
    (Philip Vella/Alfred C. Sant)
  2. Claudia FanielloSamsara
    (Philip Vella/Gerard James Borg)
  3. Claire GaleaOle Satchmo blues
    (Claire Galea/Erin Tanti)
  4. Godwin Lucas & Eve DalyThe Best Years
    (Godwin Lucas/Eve Darly)
  5. Josef TaboneWho cares?
    (Elton Zarb/Rita Pace)
  6. Glen VellaJust a little more love
    (Paul Giordimaina/Fleur Balzan)

LIVE

The semi final will be held during tonight's edition of the weekly show L-Isfida, which is being aired at the moment. The performances of the Eurosong candidates will beginaround 22:15 CET.

The performances are about to start!

1. Aldo Busuttil Pizzicato

Aldo Busuttil takes part in the Maltese selection for the second having already finished fifth in 2005 with the song Addio, ciao. He performs one of the many songs composed by Philip Vella.

The performance starts with dramatic light effects and some computer-generated sound effects not too different from those used in What if we? last year. The song then turns out to be an operatic ballad, which is probably not outstanding but has a rather memorable melody. The performance is very dramatic and the casual outfit is therefore a nice contrast. The vocals are not flawless, which should be obligatory in the performance of an operatic song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IvpsaE2TDE

2. Claudia FanielloSamsara

Claudia Faniello has become a regular contributor to Malta's Eurosong. She took part in all past four editions of the Maltese selection and she achieved her best result in 2008, when her entries Caravaggio and Sunrise finished second and third respectively. She performs an entry written by the team of Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg, who are obviously the most busy songwriters in all Malta.

Samsara is a catchy but slightly chaotic pop song. Claudia Faniello's performance is very confident and suits the song perfectly. The light effects in the background suit the performance very well and give a hint what the song might appear like being performed on a bigger stage. The vocals are close to flawless and Claudia's voice seems to suit the composition very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KpfoYUueP8

3. Claire GaleaOle Satchmo blues

Claire Galea is a Malta Eurosong newcomer. The title gives it away – she is performing a blues. The song is probably one of the entries of the highest quality so far, although the arrangement could be even a bit more pure. Of course, this one is only for those who like blues music and the style might be a bit too American for Eurovision (although Hungary did well with a blues in 2007). The performance suits the song very well, although the "dancing" towards the end seems to be a bit out-of-place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxipklSNmg8

4. Godwin Lucas & Eve DalyThe best years

Godwin Lucas returns to Malta's selection after seven years. He has previously tried to represent Malta in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2003. However, he never came close to the top of the scoreboard.

This is how the Maltese entries sounded in the early 1990s. The best years is somewhere between 1991's Could it be and 1992's Little child. While many people like Eurovision Song Contest entries with a nostalgic touch, this one might be too dated to score well. The performance is as classic as it can be (they somehow appear to be a parody of this parody) and it therefore suits the song very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvseXBEWu-g

5. Josef TaboneWho cares?

Josef Tabone is another newcomer. The lyrics to his entry were written by Rita Pace, who has taken part as songwriter in the selection on various previous occasions.

We stay in the 1990s but we fast forward to the days of the boygroups. With a more polished arrangement, this song could have easily been found on any Backstreet Boys album. The performance is confident, but the whole package is probably not "special" enough to stand a chance in Eurovision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L76tQwZbxs

6. Glen VellaJust a little more love

Glen Vella has already taken part as a soloist in 2005 and with Pamela in 2008. He achieved his best result last year, when he finished third with his group Q performing the song Before you walk away.

Glen is a very enthusiastic performer and he is therefore overacting a little. The R&B style of his song is something different in the Maltese selection so far, but it doesn't come across too authentic. Vocally, the singer brings more power to the song than it can actually carry and therefore the whole act comes across a bit strange.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtDU49QNGXI

This concludes tonight's performances. The voting will be open until this Saturday, 16:30 CET.