On the Road to Eurovision
Over the last few days, Malta chose the song that will represent the country in the upcoming Eurovision festival, which will take place in Helsinki in May.
First, a bit on what Eurovision is. It is a contest that has taken place yearly for the last 50 years. Each (mostly European) nation sends one representative to sing a song and compete against all the others. Originally only a few western European countries took part, but with time the contest has grown and it now includes eastern European countries, countries that are partly in Europe such as Russia and Turkey, and some countries in the nearby region, such as Armenia and Israel. It is interesting to point out that even the tiny countries like Andorra and Monaco send their representatives. The songs are presented in a grand and over-the-top show and then the public gets to vote on their favourite, by phone or SMS (text message). In order to keep things "fair" to some extent, viewers may not vote for their own country. In reality different "blocks" of neighbouring countries wind up voting for each other: the Scandinavian countries team up, the former Yugoslav republics support one another, Greece and Cyprus always give each other maximum points, etc. Little Malta does not have any regional block behind it, but has managed to do quite well a few times. Basically, the big countries mock and/or look down on the whole competition, but for the small countries it is a matter of national pride, of "putting themselves on the map" to use a cliché, because the winning nation gets to host the following year's competition and showcase itself to a large audience.But this will all take place in May. Before that, each country holds its own contest to see who will proudly represent his or her nation, and that is what Malta has been up to for the past few days. Last Thursday was the semi-final, where 16 different Maltese musical groups tried their best (or worst?) to impress. I must say that I was pretty appalled at some of the contestants! I may not have the voice of Pavarotti but I can recognise BAD when I hear it. As I studied each entry and narrowed it down to the few that clearly had talent, it then became a question of who had a strong enough song, voice, talent and presentation to beat out all the others in Helsinki. Half the vote came from “an international jury who was kept in a separate room so as not to be influence by the applause” and the other half was up to us viewers. Or as the presenters said, “in the hands of the Maltese people”, which made me really happy because I may not be able to vote in the real elections but my vote for the Malta Song for Europe counts like anybody else’s. And so I proudly whipped out my mobile phone, and voted. My top choice did not even make it to the final round.
Last night was the final, where the top six singers and/or bands once again hit the stage. In addition they each had a brief interview so the public could get to know about them. Last year’s representative for Malta, Fabrizio Faniello, also sang the song that he performed in Athens 2006. Unfortunately he came in last place last year, to Malta’s national embarrassment, and people still make fun of him all the time. We were watching with a few of M’s friends who boo’ed him, but I staunchly stood up for him. Sinjuri, it takes GUTS to stand up in front of “the Maltese people” and sing a song which got last place in an international competition! Just for that, he gets all my applause.
In the end, the winner was Olivia Lewis with her song Vertigo. I like the song, but I do not think her voice is that great, or that this has any potential to win. Poor Malta has gone all the way to second place in the past, but has never won the Eurovision… and it seems like this year it will not win either. But I wish her all the luck in Finland. This morning the corner bar was playing her song, so at least people are supporting her.
