While the show is an overall improvement on the quality we saw for Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC) last year the average rating for the first semi-final still comes out at a rather low three out of ten.
The show itself was actually rather good – if you take away the opening thirty minutes where everyone just sat around not quite sure what was happening while the three hosts talked. At this point in the night I was very concerned for what was going to follow the only conceivable reason I could think that I was thirty minutes into a national final and yet to hear a single song was that TVM was so embarrassed by the quality they were delaying anyone hearing them.
But as the next thirty minutes unfolded we were treated to some poor entries, some mediocre entries and dare I say some very good entries too.
Kurt Calleja – Misunderstood (2/10)
The first song of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest season was here and it left me hoping this wasn’t an indicator for what the next few months are going to bring about.
Kurt has a decent voice – although at times it felt like I was watching a TikToker pretend they had a really deep voice to try and impress people – but the lacklustre part of this performance was the song. To me, it came across as a poor imitation of Estonia 2022 and while I respect the message behind the song I don’t quite understand why it is being told to a country beat.
This song isn’t bad per se but it’s completely unremarkable – I would be very surprised to see this progress in the show.
Sarah Bonnici – Loop (8/10)
This song has potential – it is a basic girl bop that has become extremely popular at Eurovision in the last few years and vocally she was on point.
The dance break did look rather empty on this stage but at Eurovision with backing dancers and a larger budget I could see this song being a hit with televoters.
I don’t know if my initial score for this song really reflects it’s qualities or I was just impressed due to the low expectations I had for MESC this year but this is a quality entry and one that I could see representing Malta at the contest.
Gail Attard – Wild Card (6/10)
This is a quality song however, it is also very safe. It’s the type of song I could see do well in FiK.
It is undeniable Gail can sing however, on one listen I can’t really pinpoint what the message behind the song was and by the end of the night this song had fell off my radar completely.
Quality entry but ultimately found itself lost among its fellow competitors.
Mark Anthony Bartolo – Condition or Friction (1/10)
I’m sure this song will have people who love it, but I am not one of those people.
This was in my opinion the worst song in the show – the high notes feel massively out of place and Mark doesn’t look at all comfortable performing it.
I’ve listened to this once and I wouldn’t be upset if I never had to hear it again.
Eliana Gomez Blanco – There’s Only Flowers (6/10)
I wasn’t expecting Eliana to sing a pop ballad and I must admit the dancing? looked out of place during the performance but again this song is very good, I find it to lack a wow factor that these type of songs require to do well. I could see this making the MESC final but I’m less convinced in how this would do at Eurovision especially if it retains 100% televote in the Semis as I don’t think there is enough here to encourage people to vote.
Oxygyn – Cloudmaker (8/10)
Admittedly, I wasn’t as enthused by this song as others I saw on social media however, this song has a clear message and is very well sung.
In a field that consisted of mostly pop ballads this clearly stood out and I could see professional juries taking a liking to this song.
I think this will progress to the final and I am interested to see which direction they go with the music video.
Nathan – Ghost (7/10)
Another pop ballad – and I must say at this point I was hoping for a change from pop ballads into a more TikTok style pop song but unlike the other pop ballads in this show this one made somewhat of an impression on me.
The message behind the song is one that I, along with many people around the continent will relate to and vocally he was really strong. This song has the potential and I could see this being performed in Malmo. My main concerns over the other pop ballads here would be the lack of a wow moment that would cause televoters to vote for them but I am less concerned by this song – while it would undoubtedly do better with Juries than with televoters it is quite clear that it’s message is near universal and with some dark intriguing staging I think this could make it through.
One of my favourite performances of the night and I hope this makes it to the MESC final and I dare I say I wouldn’t be disappointed if this ended up in Sweden.
Lyndsay Pace – Fireproof (6/10)
This is another song that I can see the potential in and I feel that if I were listening to studio tracks this would be among my favourite however, it is difficult to escape the main issue here which is that the vocals were lacking.
Despite that I still found that I enjoyed this performance, I hope the vocals can improve past what we saw because if so I could see this doing very well if it were to make it to Eurovision.
Dominic Cini – Bewsa (9/10)
A classic case of saving your best for last from Malta, a song filled with culture very well performed. I see the potential in this to do well, especially with televoters. So far I think this is the best option for Malta but with another 27 songs still to come my opinion may well change.
This song feels like a lot of the culture pop songs that were sent to Eurovision in the mid to late noughties and this has a lot of promise if it does make it to the main event.
The Review
Malta Eurovision Song Contest - Semi-Final One
A collection of mediocre songs with a few gems intertwined.
Review Breakdown
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Kurt Callejo - Misunderstood
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Sarah Bonnici - Loop
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Gail Attard - Wild Card
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Mark Anthony Bartolo - Condition or Friction
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Eliana Gomez Blanco - There's Only Flowers
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Oxygyn - Cloudmaker
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Nathan - Ghost
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Lyndsay Pace - Fireproof
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Dominic Cini - Bewsa