In recent years, Malta has been hit or miss at the contest, but interestingly, the nation is the only non-winning nation to have achieved four Top 3 results. Hoping to change that statistic was Destiny, a previous Junior Eurovision winner coming to the main contest hoping to bring Malta their first Eurovision win. Her song is called All Of My Love, but would it have received the love from voters and juries alike?
Anita (Eurovision Union)Â
Song and Vocals
Realistically, as soon as we all found out that Destiny would be competing in X Factor Malta, we knew that she would win the competition and represent Malta at Eurovision. This could only be a good thing, as she has had previous experience, having won Junior Eurovision, but also as a backing singer for Michela last year.
As we would expect from Destiny, vocals are always the focal point of the performance. Although I don’t believe we have heard this song performed live, it’s a fair assumption that she would have not only matched the studio, but exceeded. Since the song was released, I did hear some comments about this song not letting Destiny really show her talent off, but I disagree. Sure, she could easily belt out a strong ballad, but All Of My Love really suits her tone of voice, and it’s nice to have something more upbeat, like her Junior Eurovision entry but a lot more grown up.
This is easily one of my favourite Eurovision 2020 entries. I find the melody to be memorable and catchy, especially the chorus which is often playing in my mind. Although the studio version is good as is, I just think Destiny would have really put on a good show in Rotterdam, it’s just a shame we don’t get to see it!
Performance and Act
It’s a shame we have had no live performance of this entry, because it would be great to see any initial plans of how they intended to stage the performance. Based on her X Factor performances, I would have expected a strong outfit for her performance, and perhaps with dancers supplementing the performance. It’s a bit of a mystery this one, and we may never really know what was in store.
Next Up: 2021
If I were part of the Maltese Delegation, I would be fighting hard to get Destiny back for 2021. Despite being young, she is experienced, especially with Eurovision productions, and I truly believe she has a shot at winning Eurovision. Bring her back, with another strong song, ballad or upbeat, and watch Malta rise to the Top 10, at minimum.
Conclusions
Although I couldn’t be confident that Destiny would have won the competition overall in 2020, had it gone ahead, I still think Top 10 was very achievable. The song may have leaned stronger into the jury vote, but I still think it has televote appeal. This is definitely one of my top picks for 2020, and I hope to see Destiny back next year.
Rating
10/10
Dennis (ESCDaily)
Song and Vocals
Destiny is such a jury-pleasing artist. Her vocal power and presentation do her favor: Confident, professional, and within tune. And the song is composed very jury-friendly. Non-offensive and it gives Destiny the chance to showcase her talent.
Performance and Act
The experience of winning Junior Eurovision and being a part of the Maltese team in 2019 is an enormous help for Destiny. She also took part in X-Factor obviously, knowing what it is to peak at the actual shows, rather than rehearsals. I have no doubts about her performance on the actual big night. Not in 2020 and not in the 2021 edition.
Next up: 2021
I still believe that the whole X-Factor 2020 set-up was not necessary and Malta, a country with not a lot of artists to choose from, could have chosen Destiny internally right from the start. Well, after the sad cancellation of Eurovision in 2020, they can and will do just that after all for Rotterdam 2021. And Destiny will get another very jury-friendly song, because that is where they mainly need to get their votes from, by choosing this artist.
Conclusions
Will Destiny be the first artist to win both Junior and adult Eurovision? This would not have happened with ‘All of my love’, surely. It was too focused on the jury vote, and not appealing enough to get the votes from the televoters in the world, after 26 songs have been performed. Malta can improve this by giving Destiny a better song, which should have the potential to score with both jurors and people at home.
Rating
6/10
Additional Scores from Eurovision Union and ESCDaily editors:Â
Brandon: 7.5/10
Steef:: 6/10
Joshua: 7.5/10
Selim: 4.5/10
Heath: 6/10
Kaitlin: 6/10
Average Score:Â 6.7/10
What do you think of All Of My Love? Follow our Eurovision 2020 reviews here.