2016 Reviews – Malta – Ira Losco – Walk On Water

After a change of song from the public’s choice of Chameleon, we now have the internally selected song Walk on Water as the song Ira Losco will take to Eurovision this year. With previous Eurovision experience, Ira has an advantage knowing the pressure of the competition. This certainly didn’t get to her last time, as she slotted into 2^nd place in 2002 with the song 7^th Wonder. This year, if anything, there’s more pressure to improve on that result, and bring Malta’s first ever (adult) Eurovision win.

I was suckered into watching a “preview” – If I can call it that – posted by fellow Eurovision blog, Wiwibloggs, and they were telling their viewers that Malta is sending the best song that they have EVER sent. They talked the song up so highly, so I expected nothing less than incredible. When I did finally get to listen to it, I can say I was disappointed. The bar was set way too high, so it was certain that it wouldn’t live up to the high standards.

However now, after the initial disappointment, I can start to see why this is a quality song. With Swedish influences and contributions, much like many of the songs this year, it’s clear that the song is one of the most modern pop songs of the year, if not, the most modern. The opening of the song hits you in the face and lets you know that you’re in for a really intense 3 minutes of pop music. When that chorus eventually drops, you can’t help but bop around with the beat – at least a tap of the foot!

If Ira successfully belts out the bridge and last chorus, this is going to end so well for Malta. Vocals in this song are absolutely vital. Even with intense backing music, I feel that vocally, there won’t be anywhere to hide. Judging by pre-party performances, I am slightly concerned this won’t hit the spot in Stockholm, but we will see what happens in rehearsals.

Stage performance needs to match the intensity of the song without taking anything away from it. No cheesy props, and I’ll even be bold enough to say no water features. A song like this is suited to a good light show, and hopefully that’s what we will see on stage.

I don’t think this song is perfect, but it’s A-OK. I think this is a really radio friendly song, but I still think it has the opportunity to flop on stage. Unless something tragic happens on stage, I think Malta will be one of the top qualifiers in the semi-final, despite the tough competition.

I’m going to give it a 7.5. The potential flop factor is what’s taking points away from me, and I’m always trying to judge songs against other songs, and for me, there are songs which are better. There are also a lot of other songs which are worse….. but we’ll save that for another time.

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