All entries in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest are known, but the actual contest is still two months away. As a warm-up, we introduce one of the entries every day in random order. Part nine is dedicated to the entry from Malta.
Basic information
| Performer: | Chiara Siracusa (performing as Chiara) |
| Song: | What if we |
| Language: | English |
| Music: | Marc Paelinck |
| Lyrics: | Gregory Bilsen |
| Draw: | 17th in the first semi final |
The song
What if we is a classic pop ballad, a style that is familiar to Chiara from her previous two participations. Through the lyrics, thebelieve in a better world is revealed in a rather ingenuous but hopeful way:
All the madness feeding our soul
Take a wild guess out of control
There will be a star, no matter how far, shining
One day we'll sail away
What if we could be free?
Mystify our wisdom in time
And one day we'll see
The singer
Chiara launched her career in 1998, when she took part in the Maltese selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.She was the runaway winner with The one that I love ahead of Fabrizio Faniello and Claudette Pace, who would represent the country in later contests. In Birmingham, she scored 165 points and finished third equaling Malta's best result to that date achieved in 1992. After the contest, she became a star Malta and recorded three albums over the following years: Shades of one (1998), What you want (2000) and Covering diversions (2003).
In 2005, she entered Malta Song for Europe again, this time with her own composition Angel. She got 566 televotes more than Olivia Lewis and hence won the ticket to Kyiv. Yet again, she managed to equal Malta's best placeto that date, which was the second place achieved in 2002. It is is the highest scoring Maltese entryso far and the last entry that reached the top ten. The song was not only a hit in Malta but alsoreached the charts in Germany being the first Maltese entry to do so.
After the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, she released her fourth album Here I am. She gave birth to her first daughter and disappeared a bit from the spotlight. In 2008, she co-hosted the Maltese national final, one year before she returned to the competition again. In 2009, she won the Maltese selection again and will be the first one to represent Malta for the third time as a lead singer.
The national selection
In 2009, the Maltese selection was bigger than ever: no less than 56 songs were presented in eight semi finals.15 songs were chosen bya jury and another five songs were chosen by televoting to reach the national final. A jury selected the top three, before the televoters had their say again. Chiara got 12249 votes and won thenational final aheadof Eleanor Cassar and Q.
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
Malta took part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1971 and immediately finished last. After another last place in 1972, the country waited until 1975 for the next participation but only achieved 12th place among 19 contestants with their first song in English. In would take until 1991 until Malta returned to the competition, but this timewith more success finishing in the top ten every year until 1999.The last two years, Malta was eliminated inthe semifinals.
Nixtiequ lil Malta kif ukoll lil Chiara l-isbah xewqat ghal riżultat tajjeb ġewwa Moska!
We wish Malta and Chiara the best of luck and a good result in Moscow!
Videos
Chiara talks to esctoday.com:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGRroHb_ffY&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0
Live in the national final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-PuKpjG0-g&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0
The preview video (final version):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cml-3P8V0c8&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0
Chiara in Kyiv in 2005:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiwLvRHJSvg&ap=%2526fmt%3D18&rel=0
Chiara in Birmingham in 1998:
Other parts of this series
Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Armenian entry.
