Malta once struggled to break into the Top 10, or even the Top 10, however in the last few years we’ve seen Malta really start to shine at Junior Eurovision. With two wins under their belt, the nation is now one of the most successful at the contest, and they haven’t fallen below the Top 10 since their return to the contest in 2013. This year Eliana Gomez Blanco will hope to continue the run of good results with her entry, We Are More.
Song + Vocals
Truth be told, Eliana wasn’t my first choice in the Maltese national selection this year, but the real deciding factor was whether the song was a hit, or a miss. Coming off a bunch of good, if not great Junior Eurovision entries in recent years, it was likely that Malta would pull something out of the bag. Get ready for the puns, because unfortunately, I wanted more from this entry.
This entry has its positives and negatives. What I don’t enjoy about this song is mainly the backing music. The song starts well when the piano is the main focus of the backing music, but when the beat kicks in, I don’t find myself wanting to listen on. The only way I can describe it is that the beat and the backing music sounds empty and uninspired. It’s such a basic beat that feels out of place in the song, and it just feels thrown together. I feel like they tried to be minimalist and edgy, but I don’t think it was well executed.
Unfortunately, the other big cloud overshadowing this song is the mismatch between Eliana’s voice and the song itself. Her voice doesn’t suit this style of song, and I think her talents could have been better utilised. She does have a great voice, but it just doesn’t work with this track.
The BIG POSITIVE of this song, however, is the Maltese language. It’s not too often that Malta features Maltese in a Junior Eurovision or Eurovision entry, and this song features a significant amount of it. I actually think the Maltese portion of the song is by far the best, and her voice somehow suits it much better.
Act + Performance
Despite my apprehension with the song, I think Malta will pull off a really good stage show for this performance. I think I’ll end up liking this performed live more than the studio version, and that’s based off visuals alone. Provided they don’t use too many clichés related to the theme of the song in the visual performance, I think this will be great. Unfortunately, I don’t know that it will be enough to sway me on the song.
Conclusions
This seems to be a hit with fans, so for me it’s hard to predict the results for Malta. A Top 10 finish seems likely, but it’s hard to know what a ‘regular’ viewer, and the younger audiences will think of this entry. I know for certain I can pick another 10 songs I prefer more than Malta’s entry this year, but time will tell on their actual result at the contest.
Rating
6/10
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