MALTA 2010 - My Dream

Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.
Confucius

Note that the type of music is not specified. ;-)

Malta is a nation that takes the ESC extremely seriously. I mean, extremely extremely. If they ever won that would be SO awesomely cool, because they would be so incredibly super happy about it. :-) I'm not sure where in Valletta it could be hosted, but I would dearly love to see them try. :-) They participated for a few years in the early 70s, then dropped out, but then were back with a vengeance in 1991 and have never been gone from the contest since. They tended to do well for about a decade and a half ... never quite well enough, but well. Their best results so far are 2nd place in 2002 and, most notably, in 2005. Now that was an amazing song ... I love it. But after that fantastic entry the sparkle seemed to have disappeared from their ESC efforts and they have been doing really badly since. Something which upsets them greatly, of course. :-) How will they do this year??

If they end up bombing again, I have to say that it won't be the singer's fault. She's good. Good voice, stage presence, performance, everything. As for the song itself ... I'm divided. I do like it, a lot. But it's grown on me, I didn't take to it immediately. And I have to say that it still takes way too long to build up. The ending's great, I love it. But it takes so long to get to that point where it gets really good ... the transitions between verses and choruses are weird ... and in places the song resembles certain previous entries just way too much. It's also a ballad which is always risky, result-wise. This isn't the winner, I don't think ... it may do well, I hope it will do well, but I think it will also depend on to what extent it's overshadowed by other entries. I'm having a hard time with this one.

Oh, and keep an eye on her dress while she's performing. You think you've seen some weird dresses so far? Nuh-uh, you have not. This is the dressy weirdness to top all gown-related peculiarities. Just keep watching, it starts out normal, but then ... !! I'm sure they will keep the performance as is, because it's way too expensive to change. ;-) It will make the song stand out and be remembered, but that may not be to the good, if it's remembered primarily for weirdness. I personally don't really understand how the performance, or at least that part of it, relates to the song.

This is Thea Garrett performing My Dream by Jason Cassar and Sunny Aquilina, who will be competing on May 25th. Good luck to them. I always root for the Maltese a little bit, their enthusiasm is infectious. :-)



Lyrics here.

So, I lucked out asking about vacations in Slovakia, but has anyone been to Malta?? ;-)