A Swede who lives in Finland and who is lost in Euroland - the wonderful world of Eurovision
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Sunday, February 5, 2012

Malta 2012: Kurt could have potential

Last night, Malta selected their entrant for Baku out of sixteen hopeful contestants in the national final. After the televoting results had been added to the opinions of an international panel of judges, Kurt Calleja beat Claudia Faniello into second place.

There was a tiny uproar among the international hardcore fans (readily angered by the fact that the long final was designed to entertain the local audience and not them) who would have preferred the polite little runner-up ballad to win instead.

I think Kurt was quite a sensible choice after all. There is potential in the package, but there is work to be done.

The song needs to be re-arranged and given a much more powerful, slick and energetic sound. Right now it sounds like something plastered together in a hurry in a low budget home studio. That will not do. Send it to professionals and make it sound convincing.

The stage perfomance needs severe work. Call a good choreographer, make sure there is a routine to back the whole thing up. Right now the people on stage look like a happy bunch singing spontaneously at a village party. That will not do.

Kurt himself needs some major vocal coaching, not only to avoid losing his breath but also to make sure he avoids falling into the "How's it going", "How 'ya all doing", "Come on Baku"-routine. You should perform for the audience, not shout at them. This is ever so important. They are not your friends, they expect you to do your work. The performance from last night won't do.

But given that the proper amount of knowledge and talent is invested into this package, Malta could end up the happy clappy song that scrapes into the final on basis of its pure energy.

It is certainly worth a try.



Kurt Calleja - This Is The Night (Malta 2012)

1 comment:

  1. I wonder if this is the night for Kurt - a bit mediocre .. Perhaps better after listening to it a few times..

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