Fejn Tħobb il-Qalb and Fjura Fil-Kantina are two of the most recognised songs in the local music industry and tend to be played heavily either on radio or through guest appearances. They were both composed by none other than Maestro Ray Agius, one of the most renowned songwriters in the country. Despite being known mostly for writing the music, he has also been the individual behind some fantastic lyrics, making him a true all rounder. Nevertheless, his role in the series series entitled D.R.E.A.M.S is that of composer with lyrics being written by Michael Vella Haber and Evelyn Saliba La Rosa. The duo are also responsible for writing the script for the series, dictating the way that it evolves and creating a couple of loop holes along the way. escflashmalta.com has always been proud to support upcoming artists and this is one series which promotes the future of the local music industry. The series which airs on Television Malta, the main organ of transmittion for the Public Broadcasting Services will return for a twenty-first episode this evening.

Jade (Rachel Genovese) was surely the individual providing most of the comic moments in the past episode noting that she had to create a diversion in order for Katia (Jade Cini) to swipe the phone off Brandon (Jean Pierre Cassar). Indeed, this was a success when she almost suffocated him. The idea was to try and reveal Tiffany (Kristen Camilleri) as a completely crazed lunatic whose affections for Brandon have clouded her judgement in a bid to reclaim him from Antoinette (Annalise Psaila) who has been left out of this respective plot. In a close knit meeting, Jade alongside Katia and Jasmine (Rachael Tedesco Triccas) succeed but nevertheless, their plans might be foiled when Brandon realises what happened. It will be intriguing to see what reaction he will have especially as he confronts them with regards to the possibility that they might have his phone. Amber (Celine Cuschieri) was the second teenager involved in last weeks' storyline as her life is seemingly becoming public thanks to her friends, Chloe (Michela Dalli) and Lara (Petra Bugeja) being relatively nosey. In the past episode, Samwel (Joseph Fenech) was seen reuniting with Pamela (Lara Cuschieri) but nevertheless, it seems that the female counterpart in the equation is not feeling the moment and is trying to confront him. 

The reality of it all is that the public actually knows that it is Amber who is lying in this situation in an effort to lure his father away from Amber as her mother, Frances (Sabina Attard) is soon to be released from prison. At this point in time, Amber is going to be seen as extremely frustrated with the situation now that her friends know the truth about her mother. Chloe and Lara try to reach out and do their utmost to ease the situation but Amber won't have any of it unfortunately and thus the problem will continue to grow. The final individual who will surely be involved this time round is Karen (Lara Dimech) who most recently found out that the individual she thought to be her father was not and therefore, she is setting out on a father hunt with or without the help of Jeremy (Mikhail Attard). She did wake him up in the middle of the night but he seems to have a plan for more issues to come to light, ones which would resolve other issues. Another scintillating episode of D.R.E.A.M.S awaits on Television Malta right after the evening news bulletin at around 20:45 CET. Remember that every part of the episode bears a lot of importance and thus it is vital that one sees it through.

Source: Rewind Productions

Kevin Borg, first runner-up at this years' edition of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest with the track Needing You which he co-wrote with Michael Clauss, Simon Gribbe, Thomas Thornholm and Danne Attlerud will be returning to his home country in order to give a major concert. This event set for the 10th May 2013 will be taking place in the locality of Żejtun and will be kicking off this years' edition of The Beland Music Festival in aid of Puttinu Cares. In recent years, this prestigious week long of activities has been receiving a lot of exposure and attention from both locals and foreigners. Entertainment is offered for the whole week free of charge with a number of volunteers going round and collecting donations for a just cause.

The Beginning, the debut album from Kevin Borg following his success in the talent show, Idol managed to climb to number #3 in the Swedish charts and that was the beginning of what has been a pretty positive career. Within the first studio album, there were a number of hit singles including With Every Bit of Me, Street Lights and The Last Words. In recent years, songwriting has become more concurrent for the performer and as matter of fact, has a publishing deal with Lionheart Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music in Sweden. He has been working with a number of artists including none other than Robin Stjernberg who will represent Sweden with the track You. Kevin has always kept Malta close to heart and despite finishing in second place at the end of January, has pledged to support Gianluca in the best possible way as he represents Malta in Sweden with his entry Tomorrow co-written by Boris Cezek and Dean Muscat.

escflashmalta.com is proud to support The Beland Music Festival for a third year running and for this simple reason, our aim is to give you a detailed look at who will be performing and when. As a matter of fact, more articles will be released in the coming days. On the 10th May, Kevin Borg will also be supported by former Eurovision Song Contest representative; Glen Vella and one his backing vocalists, in the form of Pamela. In the meantime, Maestro Paul Abela has been enlisted to conduct the band as each performer takes to the stage to perform in a live manner. The hosts for the evening will be none other than Ronald Briffa and Pauline Agius, both of whom have hosted several competitions in recent years. Stay tuned for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available and do not forget to buy Needing You on iTunes to continue supporting Kevin Borg.

Source: The Beland Music Festival

escflashmalta.com has enlisted three individuals from different music industries to help analyse and classify the tracks competing in the second semi-final of this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest noting that they come from the United Kingdom, United States and the Czech Republic respectively. In the earlier section of the draw comes Azerbaijan, which has been drawn by the producers in slot number four (4) following the performance of the FYR Macedonia. The idea of the producers is to have as many different genres as possible spread out in order to keep the competition flowing both for the public and the jury alike. Ictimai Television, broadcaster for Azerbaijan will be represent by Farid Mammadov whose entry Hold Me is composed by Dimitrios Kontopoulos with lyrics by John Ballard and Ralph Charlie Al Fahel.

Farid, age 21, has effortlessly proven that he is one of the finest vocalists in Azerbaijan. To win the national final Farid provided a touching performance of the song Hold Me a very strong romantic ballad. The song is composed by Dimitrios Kontopoulos, who previously produced Eurovision songs for Ani Lorak, Sakis Rouvas and had 27 number one hits in Greek national airplay charts. The main source of inspiration to Farid has been Azerbaijani music as well soul, jazz, and pop. He was raised on Mugham, a form of traditional Azerbaijani folk music and very complex vocal art. Meanwhile, since the age of eight Farid got engaged to the soul and jazz music, in particular Stevie Wonder. At his very first concert he performed Wonder's all-time-hit I Just Called to Say I Love You. He is also a talented songwriter. At the semi-final of the national selection Farid performed his own song Gel Yanima (Come to Me).

His competitive spirit is also shown in Farid's strong passion for sports. He enjoys participating in freestyle wrestling, which is regarded as the Azerbaijan's national sport, and Brazilian martial art capoeira. There is no doubt that he inherited sporting abilities from his parents. Farids mother was a silver medalist for the Soviet Union in gymnastics. Not to mention both parents are also into music with Farid's mum playing piano and his father used to sing and play keyboards in a rock band. Farid was honoured to work with such outstanding mentors in his country as Vagif Gerayzade and Aybeniz Hashimova before he became a mature solo singer. Although it was his dream to sing for Azerbaijan, he previously had never participated in national selections to the Eurovision Song Contest, as he felt like the time was not right for him.

Over the last few years he has developed his singing ability to the point where he was ready to succeed. Farid managed to win not only the jury vote in the final, he also gained the highest number of televotes from the audience during the qualifying rounds. In autumn 2012, as many other finalists of the Azerbaijani national selection, Farid took part in the casting process for the new international music talent show The Big Stage (Böyük Səhnə). In the show top-rated songwriters, producers, choreographers and vocal coaches from Azerbaijan, USA, the UK, Greece, Sweden and Ukraine worked closely together to create a very special artistic environment for young performers with the only aim to polish their skills and help the emerging talents. There at the creative campus of the show Farid came to the Dimitrios Kontopoulos' attention - the composer of Hold Me.

In 2008, Azerbaijan entered the Eurovision Song Contest for the very first time and managed to finish in a respectable eighth place with the song Day After Day performed by Elnur & Samir but things have only got better and that remains to be their worst result thus far noting that they managed a second runner-up finish in 2009 with Always sung by another duet, this time being Aysel and Arash and then ultimately finishing on top of the leaderboard in 2011 with the song Running Scared sung by Ell & Nikki. They will be hoping that their success within the top ten will continue this year and it has no reason not too considering that Farid is an extremely competent performer with the song being relatively strong. Malta and Azerbaijan have built a strong bond over the past couple of years and therefore, it is not surprising that Farid will be stopping by Malta this coming weekend.

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 87%

Martin Isherwood: Very strong chorus. Lyrics works well. Very strong voice. Not sure about the key change - feels a little bit forced. Love the production once the track is in fully. Hints of 'Glorious' Andreas Johnson or Robbie Williams Millennium in the chorus. Great song!

Sharon Vaughn: There are not a lot of words to describe this song except that it is pretty much Eurovision by numbers but nevertheless, done in extremely well, bliss!

Stano Simor: Azerbaijan gives you traditionally depends on a strong representation and promotion. Hold Me has a strong melody, simple text that will be easily understood by the audience including countries of the far east, which is a strong demographic when it comes to this competition. The song has been seemingly written for Farid's vocals as it fits him perfectly. This should get Azerbaijan a very strong result, not in the semi-final but in the final!

Source: eurovision.tv

escflashmalta.com has enlisted the help of six individuals from the music industry to help analyse and assess the entries competing in this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Sweden following the victory of Euphoria as performed by Loreen. In the second semi-final, there will be seventeen (17) performances in total noting that there is one more competing country than in the first semi-final. Following San Marino and Latvia who will be perform first and second respectively, comes slot number three (3) featuring the FYR Macedonia. As a matter of fact, the state broadcaster, MKRTV will be represented by the song Pred Da Se Razdeni co-written by Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski, Simeon Atanasov and Magdalena Cvetkovska with vocals provided by none other than a duet in the form of Esma & Lozano.

Esma started her career when she was a schoolgirl. First she performed in all school events, and one day she was nominated by the Principal of the school to represent the school on one very popular radio show called “The microphone is yours”, organised by Radio Skopje. That was in 1957 and Esma took the first prize in the competition and she received a large sum of money, but in that time of happiness she was also upset because she didn’t tell her parents where she was going, and was ashamed to tell them, and was afraid that her mother would find the prize money. In the end, Esma told the truth to her family. In that competition she was seen by Stevo Teodosievski, very famous musician and composer, who worked in Radio Skopje. He was fascinated by her voice, and came to her house asking her parents to allow her to be his student and a member of Ensemble Teodosievski. Her career expanded rapidly and she became very famous all over the world. In 1960 she performed in Paris Olympia.

 In 1958 she recorded her first record, with the legendary song Zoshto Si Me Majko Rodila, and after that her greatest hit Chaje Shukarije. In 1976 in India, in a city of Chandigarh, on the First Gypsy World Festival, she was crowned as the Queen of Gypsy. That certificate was given by Indira Gandi. Esma has been awarded with many, many awards and certificates. Vlatko Lozanoski - Lozano is a Macedonian singer from Kičevo - F.Y.R. Macedonia. His first public appearance was as a participant in the talent show Mak Stars (September 2007 - May 2008). A month later when the show was over, he won the Grand Prix on the first Macedonian Radio Festival called Starry Night where he sang the song Take Me Back, that was his first official single. In October 2008, singing only his third official single At The Time If Time Could Stand Still, Lozano was awarded, by the jury, the Debut Prize at MakFest, the most prestigious music festival in F.Y.R. Macedonia.

Two days later, on the final evening, Lozano won the MakFest Grand Prix, awarded by the audience. The Sun Doesn’t Shine On Me was his next single that became his greatest hit and it was officially declared the biggest Macedonian radio hit of the year, having won the first place at the Macedonian Radio Festival Mars in November 2008. In February 2009, he participated in F.Y.R. Macedonia's national selection for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest singing his fifth single Close To Me and was placed fourth. In July, he participated on the Slavyanski Bazar Festival in Vitebsk, Belarus and won the second prize. Next, Lozano performed I'm Your Angel along with Magdalena Cvetkoska on the Golden Wings Festival in Moldova, and they won the second prize. He was also awarded the Best Male Voice. His first album named Lozano was released in early 2010. In February 2010 he participated in the Macedonian national selection for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest singing I’m Flying Towards You. 

FYR Macedonia has been competing in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1998 and this will ultimately be their thirteenth participation. MKRTV, the broadcaster decided to select their entry internally for the second consecutive year following the success of Kaliopi whose entry Crno i Belo finished in thirteenth place with seventy-one points, making it the second best result for the nation. Following four (4) consecutive non-qualifications, it was pretty much required to keep the public interested and therefore, one will be keen to see whether the Macedonian, Romani track will manage to take the nation into the final for the second consecutive year. Since the introduction of the semi-final system back in 2004, the country had always managed to get through to the final stage of the competition by virtue of finishing in either tenth or ninth place and therefore, scraping through. The system of voting changed in 2008 just when the song Let Me Love You by Tamar, Vrcak and Adrian was performed to the general public. When both jury and tele-voting came in, that being 2011, the results weren't improving until last year.

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 60%

Martin Isherwood: wish I taken languages at college. Good strong male voice - although gets a bit less predictable when the female vocal joins the track Good intro - sneaks in. Unusual feel change! Not sure what the middle section is for. Bit too much of a mix of ideas and feels for it to work well.

Sharon Vaughn: An awkward mix of genres. Too many to keep the song from being fractured. The attempt to make it modern detracted from the beauty of the song and the power of the male vocal.

Stano Simor: A typical balkan song with a number of classical interventions, somewhat well adjusted to the tastes of a European audience. The language is somewhat intriguing because it finds itself at a great advantage and is in contrast to other Eastern European languages, for the simple reason that it is easy on the ear. This is not for the first place in the semifinals, but if FYR Macedonia work on their promotion, it certainly has a chance to advance to the final.

Source: eurovision.tv

Kelly Schembri, a finalist in the 2011 edition of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest which took place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta has somewhat been busy in recent months with both modelling and vocal performing. Apart from being part of the girl-group Monroe who performed in Malta during the recent Malta Music Awards broadcasted on Television Malta, she has also collaborated with Stephen Davids and Honorebel on another track entitled Strip Search which has received positive acclaim upon it's release.

Honorebel is a well known recording artist hailing from Jamaica and has worked with the likes of Pitbull, Akon, Flo-Rida, Sean Kingston, Shaggy and Afrojack. Strip Search which was released late in 2012 is an electro-pop track which a number of interludes which feature the hip/hop genre. A catchy beat and a thumping bass line is surely enough to get the crowd going and it seems that the people behind the song are trying to create a true summer hit considering the fact that the release of the official video took place in the past couple of hours. One of the co-writers of the track is also Gerard James Borg, a leading lyricist in the industry who has worked on a number of successful chart successes in Belgium, Iceland, Sweden and Malta. He was also the man behind five entries at the Eurovision Song Contest, including 2002 first runner-up 7th Wonder performed by Ira Losco. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news and enjoy the official video of Strip Search performed by Honorebel and featuring Stephen Davids and Kelly Schembri.

Source: YouTube

Alyona Lanskaya, the third female to represent Belarus at the Eurovision Song Contest in ten participations noting that male soloists have somewhat dominated the music scene. It is worth noting that in ten participations, only Dmitry Koldun and Work Your Magic achieved a respectable sixth place within the final with a mixed-gender group managing to make the final a couple of years later with the song Butterfly. escflashmalta.com with the help of Olivier Vanhoutte, part of the Belarussian Delegation this year has managed to get in touch with the female artist and speak to her about a variety of things including last years' attempt, this years' entry and what lies ahead in the future as a vocalist.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to last year, when you were initially selected by the public and a professional jury to represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song All My Life, a beautiful ballad which would have truly stood out. Nevertheless, there were a number of complications and you were subsequently disqualified. What was the whole reasoning behind the affair and what gave you the courage to return after what had happened?

Well I loved All My Life in last years Eurofest but I believe that everything that happens is happening for a reason. It didn’t break at all my wish to return to national selection and I’m very happy of course to represent now Belarus in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

The return of the Eurofest competition has somewhat proven to be quite successful into acquiring a brand new audience for the Eurovision Song Contest with the general aim rather being at selecting the artist rather than a whole package. In the selection process, you performed the original track entitled Rhythm of Love which won over the public and a professional jury. Did you believe that it was required to select a different song despite the positive comments it was receiving from the fans of the international showcase?

I was obviously very happy to win National Selection last December with the song Rhythm of love penned by belarussian composer Leonid Shirin. I like to perform the song a lot but we had made always made it clear from the start that if we found a more appropriate song for the European audience we would change it. When Solayoh was proposed by Belgian composer Marc Paelinck along with several other songs, a special committee decided with a big majority that this was it, this should be the song to be sung in Malmö.

A thumping beat, shirtless dancers and a flamenco infused genre could somewhat be the best idea of describing the chosen track Solayoh to the audience who will be watching you closely as you represent Belarus in this years’ edition of the competition. The track which has been written by Marc Paelinck and Martin King is quite visual in terms of sound and as a matter of fact, people have compared it to past entries from Turkey. What was your initial idea when you heard the track and what are your plans for the performance?

When I heard the song for the first time, I loved it a lot and knew this was a song with a big potential for the Eurovision. I was very happy that Marc Paelinck and Martin King proposed it to me to be sung at Eurovision. It has indeed these oriental influences and I’m honoured that its put along to many other successful entries from Turkey and others. About the stage act I promise you a great show on stage which is currently being preparing by Serbian choreographer ‘Zile’ Aleksa Raifovic from the Zilenium group in Belgrade. But to know all details you’ll have to wait for Sweden as otherwise it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore! (laughing)

Marc Paelinck is a seasoned songwriter in the music industry having written tracks for Sonny O’Brien, Dana Winner, Xandee, Sergio & The Ladies as well as Maltese songstress, Chiara. It is somewhat pivotal for a composer to have been within the competition beforehand and this is one who boasts not one or two participations by three in total, having always been in the final despite achieving mid-table results. What went through your mind when knowing that you would be working with Marc Paelinck and are you planning any future collaboration?

We started first collaborations shortly after last years Eurofest and have recorded some songs that will also be featured on my upcoming international album. Of course future collaborations are definitely considered. Marc is such a good composer and I’m sure we can reach a good result. Every year is different so I am looking only at myself and our performance, we are working very hard to give Belarus again a place in the final and then who knows what can happen!

One of the obstacles that Belarus has come to encounter throughout the years is surely the semi-final portion having only managed to qualify on two (2) out of nine (9) occasions thus far making is one of the most unsuccessful countries to participate. Nevertheless, according to the fans and the bookmakers, it seems that all that might soon be coming to an end with this particular entry for the simple reason that people have fallen heads over heels for it. Why do you think that the nation has not done well on a consistent basis and how do you view perception on your entry?

I have always supported the previous entries for Belarus and even went to Baku last year to cheer for Litesound, I’m very patriotic so it’s normal to do that. Why Belarus didn’t qualify many times till now I don’t know really. As I told before every Eurovision is different with other conditions and other competition. So I am mostly concentrating on the current moment and working hard to get back to the final on 18th May.

You will be taking part in the first semi-final of this years’ Eurovision Song Contest which ultimately comprises of sixteen (16) entries in total, one less than the second semi-final due to what was coined by the international media as a massive pull out. Nevertheless, the competition is still strong and one of your main exponents is surely Anouk with Birds on behalf of The Netherlands. Have you heard any of the other competing entries, even the Maltese one, Tomorrow which is taking part in the second semi-final and how do you view their chances of success?

To be honest I didn’t really have the time yet to listen carefully to all the other songs as my schedule is so tight with preparations and promotion for the ESC. I have indeed heard that Anouk who seems to be a big name in western Europe will represent Netherlands and looking forward to hear the song shortly. Unfortunately I didn’t hear Gianluca’s song ‘Tomorrow’, but you have made me curious so I’ll be doing this as soon as possible.

Prior to the official announcement of Solayoh as to being your entry for this years’ international spectacle, there were a lot of rumours going about with regards to songs received from foreign songwriters, all of which would have done Belarus proud. This is definitely a vote of confidence in your vocal capabilities. What are your plans following the Eurovision Song Contest and do you intend to continue building your relationship with the German based record label, CAP-Sounds?

Yes true we got several proposals from both belarussian as well as foreign composers, but in the end there was a very large majority to chose Solayoh! As you likely know the international album is almost ready and will be released the coming months, without a specific date set yet. I was very happy that for the very first in Belarussian participation the song was signed to the german record label Cap-Sounds who has already experience on Eurovision with several maltese entries amonst but you surely know.

Would you like to say anything to your fans and our readers on escflashmalta.com?

Hello my dear Maltese fans and readers of escflashmalta.com! I hope that you will enjoy the upcoming Eurovision to the fullest! Be happy also in your daily life, make the most out of it. And in case you have a less good day, then one advice: listen to my song Solayoh, I’m sure you will be in a good mood again! Big kisses from Minsk and hope to see you all soon! Grazzi Hafna for this interview!

Yesterday, we were proud to announce that Martin Isherwood from the United Kingdom, Sharon Vaughn from the United States and Stano Simor from Slovakia have been relatively busy in these past couple of weeks listening to the tracks competing in the second semi-final of this years' Eurovision Song Contest. The show which will comprise of seventeen (17) tracks in total is set to be quite intriguing and thus we move on to the slot number two (2) which will be featuring San Marino whose entry entitled Crisalide (Vola) composed by Ralph Siegel to the lyrics of Mauro Balestri, is vocally performed by Valentina Monetta. SMRTV, the broadcaster responsible for the participation of San Marino in the esteemed music competition is hoping to qualify for the very first time.

Valentina Monetta is representing the republic of San Marino for the second year in succession, after having just missed out on qualification for the Grand Final in Baku last year. Valentina Monetta was born on the 1st of March,1975 in the Republic of San Marino. She is the second of two children, her father is from Calabria and her mother is San Marinese. Monetta spent her childhood in San Marino where she attended primary and secondary schools. She then graduated from the high school for arts “Giovanni da Rimini” in Rimini. In her childhood she discovered the love for music, listening tirelessly to various musical styles, creating and forming over time a specific taste. Although she has not dealt with an academic background, she had studied piano and singing by herself, reaching the same professional high quality. 

Starting from 1995, she has been working with the best local musicians, becoming a versatile singer with a great talent for improvisation; her voice is both colorful and versatile, ranging from jazz to melodic Italian, from soul to R&B and pop. Monetta's artistic versatility has allowed her to deal with varied work experience as a singer, actress and presenter, and she even composed the music and written the lyrics to her first solo album, a celebratory work of personal and professional balance, releasing the CD Il Mio Gioco Preferito recorded with the trio My Funky Valentine. In 1995, Monetta started an adventure with her first band Tiberio, and soon thereafter formed the Parafunky. She was also part of the group 2Black, as well as forming the female vocal duo Harem'B. In 2002, with the project Charme, she released the single Sharp, and collaborated with the band Bluesmobile.

In March 2012 she worked with Fabrizio Raggi staging the show Ma Che Differenza Fa, a tribute to Ornella Vanoni in which Monetta shows her singing and acting talent. In August 2012, still directed by Raggi, she was the protagonist of Camelia, a musical commissioned by UNICEF, in which Valentina presented her songs together with covers of some great Italian singers and songwriters. Her most recent experiences are all with her live band My Funky Valentine. Performing live for Monetta is crucial, as she really loves the stage and having contact with the public.She is influenced by her musical idols Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Erika Badu, Caterina Valente and Ornella Vanoni. It is important to note that San Marino have once more opted for an internal selection and one which was made very carefully it seems noting that vocalists presented several bids to represent the micro-state.

This will be the fourth participation of San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest and the third in succession noting that their debut came back in 2008 when the group, Miodio took to the stage for a performance of the song Complice which only managed five (5) points, finishing in a disappointing nineteenth position. They disappeared, withdrawing due to the negative outcome, only to return three years later with Senit whose entry Stand By was predicted to fair well and possibly even qualify. The juries beleived in the song and ultimately gave it a boost but the public did not agree and thus the track finished in sixteenth place with thirty-four (34) points. Last years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest almost saw to the qualification of the country with Valentina Monetta and her entry known as The Social Network Song. The track managed thirty-one (31) points and a fourteenth place but received massive exposure in the lead up to the international spectacle.

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 63%

Martin Isherwood: Chrysalis - Fly Nice idea. Lovely voice. Unusual shift from 3 to 4 and from ballad to dance track. Typical of many ESC songs in its use of harmony, but also flavours of 'the day before you came'.

Sharon Vaughn: Lovely energy and clever mid-section composition. I believe this artist when she performs and that is a very important aspect within the performance.

Stano Simor: The genre of this particular type of track has already been presented at the Eurovision Song Contest and therefore, nothing new or revolutionary. Valentina Monetta is a strong vocalist and something positive about this song is that the shift from a ballad to an uptempo is done well and this could very much impress the public and the jury.

Source: eurovision.tv

Maltese, the national and co-official language of Malta and somewhat the most popular in terms of daily communication noting that English plays a major role within several roles of the work place and education amongst other things. Last night, this language was given utmost importance through the medium of song noting that nineteen (19) original tracks were presented to an audience to highlight the respective use in a competition known as L-Għanja tal-Poplu. This annual showcase will soon be turning forty and therefore has a vast heritage with ample followers, both from a musical and a lyrical point of view. The evening was conducted by Frank O'Neill, a former finalist as well as Valerie Vella, former host of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest. The event will be shown on ONE Television next Saturday but in the meantime, we can let you know the results of the evening nevertheless.

KulTural, winners of L-Għanja tal-Poplu in 2012 were the opening act last night as they reminded people what their entry Malta Tiegħi sounded like but nevertheless, the idea of having them open was well respected by the audience present as they joined the long list of winners to have graced the stage along the years. The organisation was spectacular and the respective committee alongside Robert Cefai and Norman Hamilton as representatives of the World Association for Festivals and Artists deserve all of the possible praise. The interval act as people awaited the final results was offered by a flamenco dance group known as Alegria and the finalists themselves who performed a medley of well known songs.

The committee has always been proud to recognise the talent of local artists and therefore, a special award was given to Sunny Aquilina, lyricist of The One That I Love and My Dream for his contribution to the local music scene. The committee have always put a lot of emphasis on the language and therefore, lyrics are always of the essence in this competition and this was seen within the choice of the jury for the evening, composed of scholars within the linguistics and literary field. Nevertheless, other individuals from the music and television industry who were present were none other than Joe Vella, the Radio 101 Disc Jockey and former Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza judge along with Tony Cassar Darien, a brilliant actor known for several roles on television and the stage.

• Best New Talent: Taħnina - Fiona Camilleri (Robert Carbonaro)
• Best Singer/Songwriter - Sylvan Borg for Il-Maltin Bil-Politika Mehdijin
• Best Social Theme: Virtwali - Estelle Fenech Imbroll (Paul Attard / Mark Scicluna)
• Best Interpretation Award: Kuluri, Lwien - X-Tend (Charles Dalli)
• Third Place: Pupazz - Rita Pace (Rita Pace / Emil Calleja Bayliss)
• Second Place: Signor Si - Dorothy Muscat (Sammy Galea / Joe Julian Farrugia)
• First Place: Hawn Siġġu Nieqes - Cherise Attard (Mark Spiteri Lucas / Paul Ellul)

Congratulations to all of the winners of the awards on Saturday evening but also to the other competitors. The editorial team at escflashmalta.com would like to send their special wishes to none other than Emil Calleja Bayliss who wrote the lyrics to two entries performed during the evening, one being Għal Dejjem performed by Marie Claire Attard Bason to the tune of Mark Scicluna and the other one being Pupazz performed by Rita Pace who also composed the music. The latter was the recipient of the second runner-up position. It is surely another stepping stone.

Source: escflashmalta, Għanja Fest

escflashmalta.com has been relatively busy in these past couple of days finalising details of the coverage in relation to the Eurovision Song Contest whilst planning more interviews for the coming days in the actual lead up. We would like to thank Matt Mercieca, Lina Eriksson and Magnus Kaxe for their help in analysing the first semi-final and we would like to welcome Martin Isherwood, Sharon Vaughn and Stano Simor as we take a look at the acts competing in the second semi-final. All of the information is obtained from the official website of the international spectacle and indeed, pertaining to the running order as decided by the producers, Latvia will be performing in slot number one (1) from the seventeen (17) entries competing in this second show. LTV, the broadcaster responsible for the participation of Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest will be represented by the group, PeR with the track Here We Go co-written between Ralfs Eilands and Arturas Burke.

Both of the biggest Latvian festivals - the Baltic Beach Party and Positivus have shared their stages with PeR in 2009. In the summer of 2010 beatbox band PeR was one of the many contestants in festival New Wave, but before that they visited Estonia to perform in the Reiu Rock festival. PeR have been the warm-up guys before Dub FX in three of his concerts. The feedback from PeR’s performance before Dub FX in Lithuania in November 2011 was amazing. Music critics, bloggers and fans were surprised by PeR’s ability to electrify the entire crowd with their songs and pure energy that never stops! 2011 was successful for PeR not only in Lithuania, their single Go Get Up peaked no. 2 in Denmark’s Chart Base TOP 100 and PeR were also nominated in this independent music chart as ‘Best New Artists’ and the video of the song was nominated in the category of ‘Best European Alternative Video’ and they won in both categories. 

In the end of 2012 PeR released their self-titled debut album which was nominated as the ‘Album of the Year’ in Latvia. PeR have three main objectives for Malmö. Firstly to qualify for the Grand Final. Secondly to win the Eurovision Song Contest and thirdly to hopefully, get to know some producers and other musicians so they could expand the PeR movement, and get to perform in more countries. “It would be amazing if we could establish some contacts in Sweden.” In the semi-finals of the Latvian selection this year, Ralph was ill and had a 38 degrees temperature. However, that wasn’t a big problem for him and most of the people didn’t even notice that he was feeling sick. “That’s the magic about music – on stage, no matter what has happened to you, you become a complete different person. You just have to hide all your problems, because nobody cares."

The millennium provided Latvia with the opportunity to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the very first time and indeed, Brainstorm did their utmost to garner notice, eventually finishing in third place with the song My Star. Two years later, the country would succeed in winning the international spectacle with the track I Wanna performed by Marie N. It just managed to trounce Ira Losco and her entry 7th Wonder on behalf of Malta. In the years ahead, the country had only failed to make the final once but a streak of bad luck seems to have hit the nation since 2009 noting that they have failed to make it through to the final round for four consecutive occasions and if betting odds and polls are anything to go by, this will be the case once more. Last year, Latvia were represented by a Beautiful Song performed by Anmary finishing in sixteenth position.

Latvia has always managed to keep their national selection to a minimum in terms of organisation and as a matter of fact, with two semi-finals and a final, it was quite straightforward. For the very first time in years, the broadcaster decided to let foreign songwriters return to the selection process and this was definitely a positive sign considering that results have not been optimal. It seems that the general public in Europe needs a fresh sound from the country and when the top three were presented within the super-final, we thought that it was a done deal with Samanta Tina and her track I Need a Hero co-written by Johnny Sanchez, Michael James Down, Marcus Fernell and Beatrice Eriksson but full marks of the jury and second place in tele-voting just wasn't enough. One has to see how the performance of Here We Go comes across but things look rather bleak.

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 37%

Martin Isherwood: The title 'Here we go' will resonate with a zillion football fans but the tune doesn't live up to the Sousa march 'stars and stripes forever' version sung at footy stadia. Having said that about the footy chant - the singing isn't much better than your average football fans and the accents are very stars and stripes. Judging by the stage performance it was produced on a couple of i pads and an oversized kazoo. Very close to George Michael's 'Freedom' Not very nice unfortunately.

Sharon Vaughn: Whoa! This is one particular song which has left me speechless. Could you please work on your pitch? Please!

Stano Simor: Mostly what Latvia brings into the Eurovision Song Contest is that every year comes with something “progressive”,and colorful. Performances and energy which 'PeR' presents on the stage unfortunately outpacing the quality of music and vocals. Maybe it would be better if they not sing the chorus in unison, but rather, in harmony, because almost all of the chorus sounds out of tune and it's ptty .. But Latvia have my sympathy.

Source: eurovision.tv

escflashmalta.com has engaged a panel of music industry professionals to assess the entries competing in all of the entries in this years' Eurovision Song Contest. The sixteen (16) competing in the first semi-final are ready but nevertheless, there are another three (3) countries voting during the evening, being the United Kingdom, Sweden and Italy. RAI, the broadcaster responsible for the participation of Italy have internally selected Marco Mengoni to do the honours with the song L'Essenziale which he co-wrote with Roberto Casalino and Francesco De Benedettis.

December 25th, 1988. Marco was born on Christmas Day in Ronciglione (Viterbo, Italy). He became interested in music from an early age: “As a little kid, I used to listen to a little bit of everything, from pop to r&b, from rock to soul music. I discovered karaoke and I would sing when nobody was looking, as I was pretty shy. One day my parents heard me singing and decided to send me to singing lessons. Soon I found out that music was not as easy as I thought, I had a lot to learn…breathing techniques, facial exercises, musical scales, vocalisations of every kind to improve my voice.”

After seven years of musical formation which includes not only singing but also working as a sound technician, Marco wins the third series of X Factor in 2009 and his first EP Dove Si Vola becomes his first success. Only months later he participates in the 60th edition of Sanremo with the song Credimi Ancora and finishes third. His “Re Matto” EP is released. After a successful tour launch Marco wins the TRL Award in the category “Man of the Year”, the Wind Music Awards and his debut releases are certified Platinum. He then releases the Re Matto live album hitting #1 in Italy. In November 2010 Marco Mengoni wins the “Best Italian Act” Award at the MTV European Music Awards and he also gets the “Best European Act”, as the first Italian in 17 editions to win the award.

In September 2011 he releases a new single Solo and the concept album Solo 2.0. The Solo Tour previews in Milan and Rome are both sold-out. In 2012 he embarks on a theatre tour created by Marco Mengoni, Elisa and Andrea Rigonat. Marco is also the special guest of the event “Premio Leggio d’Oro”, where he gets an award for his dubbing of Onceler, a cartoon character from the movie The Lorax. Earlier this year Marco wins the 63rd Sanremo Music Festival with his song L'Essenziale and a month later the new album #PRONTOACORRERE is out on Sony Music. 

Now, besides his new tour, his next challenge is in Malmö: representing Italy at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest! Italy returned to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 having been out since 1997 on the basis that the competition lost a lot of it's identity due to the tele-voting leading to the wrong songs being selected as winners with the issue of politics coming in. Upon their return, Italy was granted a direct qualification into the final with RAI, the broadcaster being one of the highest financial contributors. Their entries, Follia D'Amore and L'Amore e Femmina finished in second and ninth place respectively.

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 73%

Magnus Kaxe: Traditional but strong Italian Eurovision ballad. Marco has a great voice and the Italian language fits the track greatly. People love these kind of songs and I think it will finish in the Top 5.

Lina Eriksson: Actually almost anything sounds good when sang in italian. A beautiful ballad. Doesn't sweep me of my feet though. Overall an ok, nice song.

Matt Mercieca (Muxu): This is when I wish I knew how to speak italian because this is beautiful, and even though there is a language barrier i still feel somehow connected, this is how powerful music is  he has a brilliant voice, and tone! and the song is so nice, gives me a good feeling.

Source: eurovision.tv