The Maltese entry for the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest Angel will be issued as a cd-single this Sunday 24th April at Baystreet. In the meantime, the Maltese performer, Chiara is in the middle of her promotional tour, which so far included visits to Greece, Cyprus, Belarus and Lithuania.

Chiara 'The Voice'
The Maltese performer for the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, Chiara has been nicknamed The Voice by many journalists whom she is meeting in her pre-Eurovision promotional tour. It seems that the Maltese Delegation was delighted by this nickname and has included it in all its official promotional material, including the singer's profile on the official Eurovision Song Contest website, eurovision.tv.

Interview with Chiara
In the meantime, esctoday.com in collaboration with OGAE Malta met Chiara for an interview. Chiara described the experience of her first visit in Greece as a truly magical one. “It was my test to see how foreigners would react on the song I'm presenting for my Eurovision come back. They even gave me a standing ovation at the end. The reaction is truly magical and the feeling is thrilling,” Chiara described.

She says that people were clapping enthusiastically throughout her song and a magical atmosphere was created in the large hall. It was also the place where she met Helena (Greece), Glennis (Netherlands), Marian (Andorra), Alcazar (Swedish selections) and Zelijko (Serbia & Montenegro 2004) for the first time. She met Constantinos for the second time, after meeting him for the first time in Malta during the Maltese national finals at MCC, Valletta.

Trips to Cyprus, Greece, Belarus and Lithuania
Her second stop was Cyprus, where she was interviewed on various television and radio stations. She visited Greece for the second time and she describes this experience as even better than the one before. “I was taken to the Acropolis in the middle of the night thanks to Fotis, from oikotimes.com, who I really would like to thank for making this possible for me and my team,” Chiara said. She was on MAD TV and the experience was once again very positive for her, with youths giving her all the support for her Eurovision entry.

Next in line was the trip which left her luggageless. She arrived in Belarus via Gatwick airport. Luggages were re-directed back to Malta instead of Belarus. In Belarus she was once again interviewed on various radio and television stations. “In Belarus I was fascinated by the architecture and buildings I saw around me. I was even shown the buildings hosting KGB,” explained Chiara.

The Maltese singer travelled by coach from Belarus to Lithuania. She met many fans of the Eurovision Song Contest in Lithuania, who all seemed to be awed by her voice. “They were even calling me 'The Voice', Chiara remarked. She met Aiste', one of the Lithuanian semifinalists, who was really helpful toward luggageless Chiara. “Aiste' was really nice to me. She gave me her make-up kit and told me this is all I can help you with.” Chiara was taken to a discoteque where she had to perform her song Angel. She remarked that she was really afraid at first that youths wouldn't appreciate such a slow song in a discoteque. Instead, a romantic atmosphere was created and couples were dancing together whilst others were lighting their lighters, as in open air concerts.

Trips to Bulgaria, Romania and Israel cancelled
Chiara has now taken a short break from her Eurovision promotional tour. She confirmed that the trips to Bulgaria and Romania were cancelled because she needed a short break for personal matters. The trip to Israel was cancelled by Maltasong because of the current instability in flights, to and from this country. Seems that even Cypriot singer, Constantinos, encountered some problems when visiting Israel lately.

To Croatia, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
Soon after the launch of the cd-single, Angel, Chiara will continue her promotional tour, taking her to Croatia, Belgium, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. She plans to return to Malta on 3rd May. There are other countries she is planning to visit before the Eurovision Song Contest, but these are still to be confirmed.

Chiara is now signed to BMG-SONG GSA (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) who will take care of the launch of her upcoming album, Here I am and also a re-launch of the cd-single Angel for their territory. Chiara is also planning a concert for the period just after the Eurovision Song Contest. Concert details cannot be unveiled yet because discussions are still underway.

Chiara's favourites
Asked about her favourite entries from this year, Chiara told esctoday.com that she still hasn't heard all entries but from the ones she heard so far her favourite entries are the ones from Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and the Netherlands. Chiara is very fond of her own entry and is looking forward to her experience in Kyiv.

Chiara is also very happy that bookmakers and fans are agreeing about a final position of the song, though she thinks that all depends on the performance in Kyiv. Like many other performers this year, Chiara has a secret card up her sleeve for the performance in Kyiv, which card she doesn't want to disclose, yet!

Further details on Chiara and this year's Maltese Eurovision Song Contest entry can be found on OGAE Malta's official website by clicking here.