This
weekend, the island of Malta hosted their annual competition to select their
entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. 20 songs made it to the live heats,
14 qualified for Saturday’s final, and after the 14 tracks and A LOT of adverts
(had a sudden craving for Greek yoghurt mid show because of it) Ira Losco and
her song “Chameleon” won and she will be flying the flag for Malta in Sweden,
just like she did in 2002.
Ira won with
68 out of a possible 72 points on offer from the televote and five juries, with
Brooke coming in second place with 58 points. Third place went to Franklin and
“Little Love” with 44 points, knocking other pre show favourite – Christabelle
and “Kingdom” down into fourth with only 38 points.
Ira has not
decided whether or not Chameleon will receive a revamp or a tweak before May,
but somehow would not be disregarded, a little power of explosion into the
chorus would be minor but translate and elevate the song so much higher. Despite
my favourite Christabelle failing to advance to Eurovision, I believe Ira Losco
is a good choice, even taking away her star name and power in Malta. The song
itself is still original and unique, she sings it well and is a seasoned
performer which will play to strengths.
 |
| Ira's latest album is out later this year. |
I do not
however feel her being an ex-Eurovision entrant will bring any added advantage
in performance or voting, with Kalipoi (Macedonia) and Deen (Bosnia &
Herzegovina) already confirmed for a second go on the Eurovision merry go-round
and with Donny Montell currently competing in Lithuania's selection, Kailly
Saunders in Hungary and Greta Salome in Iceland’s she will be just one of a
list of ex competitors.
My favourite
of the entire selection was Kingdom, I love the beat, the melody and the power
of the song, I loved the energy and pure attack she gave and delivered in the
final, Christabelle was ready to fight for her spot and you could see that from
the way she moved on stage to her glaring facial expressions, it’s a shame she
did not walk away with the title this time but you never know – maybe 2017. On
a whole I think the standard of songs was good, everyone elevated and improved
for the final, making a good show to watch even from a neutrals point of view.
But now let us look at what Rob and Emily think about Ira Losco heading to
Stockholm for Malta.
Rob
“I hope Ira
sticks with Chameleon for Eurovision! It's such a great powerful song, and it'd
be great to see them in the final again”
Emily
“I think Ira
is a good choice for Malta. We know she's a talented performer, but we can't
rely on how well she did over 10 years ago to determine how well she'll do this
year. Chameleon has potential to be even bigger and better in my opinion”
So a lot of
hope and promise for the Maltese camp this year, will Ira succeed where Amber
failed and qualify for the grand final? Who knows? But we shall find out in a
few months’ time. But on a closing point I will say this
– Ira needs to enlist Brooke’s stylist for Stockholm, as the white cape and
hooded outfit was not a winner in my eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment