After a long time in this game that we call Eurovision, we have developed certain preferences. Certain countries are closer to our heart than others. Certain returning performers are more dear than others. Certain sounds are preferred. Swedish song writers are disregarded.
If you have been visiting our little corner of the Internet for a while, you cannot have missed our sincere love for Malta, and it’s not only because of all their dapper blokes, totally incomprehensible language and truly nice people. We are simply amazed by how many fantastic talents one is able to produce on a rock that is so tiny we actually thought we were crash landing into the sea when our plane was about to touch ground there. We mean, do all Maltese get singing lessons for their 16th birthday? Did Gianluca the doctor feed them all a secret, performance-enhancing drug? Are they really just natural born Eurovision stars? Either way, it makes us very happy.
After hosting yearly national finals called MESC that were almost at the level of a semi final in Eurovision, Malta decided to try something new this year and let the winner of X Factor represent their country. Not sure we are happy with that decision, as we love an excuse to visit Valletta in February for “work”, but it sure did reveal yet another excellent singer hidden in a corner of Gozo.
This year’s Michela is 18 years old and already sounds like a mix of Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga. Give her a few extra singing lessons and she’ll be Beyoncé come darling buds of Tel Aviv. She is funky, strong and confident with a voice that is a lot more interesting than the average singing lady with perfect pitch that Eurovision seems haunted by.
The song writers are no strangers to the Eurovision crowd, the most famous being Borislav Milanov, who wrote several entries, including this year’s entry for Azerbaijan and Poli Genova’s amazing hit “If love was a crime“, that finished 4th for Bulgaria in the international final of 2016. That is promising, of course, and the song doesn’t disappoint a bit. We love the hooks and the drops and the rhythms. It seems tailor made for Eurovision, but not in a calculated, second range Melodifestivalen kind of way.
The lyrics are also cool, we guess. Only: “Give me water. I’m a swimmer”?? Er, no thanks to that. We already have both The Netherlands and Azerbaijan in a fish tank and even for Tel Aviv, that should be enough water sports for one evening. On the other hand, we spotted The Southville Dancers joined Michela in her music video. This is great news as we have had the pleasure of seeing them live with Daniel Testa, and they are able to lift even the best of entries. Fingers crossed they will come with to Tel Aviv!
Anyway. Less water, more dancing and all of Michela and Malta should sail straight through to the final, where we expect nothing but greatness. We’ll be cheering for that all the way, of course. Those Maltese flags we bought years ago seems like a lifetime investment. Valletta elfejn u għoxrin!
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