THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

For a small country with a relativly small population, Malta has had a remarkable record at the Eurovision Song Contest, coming second on two occasions, and also coming close to victory in 1998, before finishing in third place.  However for the last two years, things haven't gone well for the Malteses entries, finishing last in the final in 2006 and failing to qualify in 2007.

This year's Maltese Eurovision selection was done over two rounds. On January 24th, a jury reduced a field of 17 potential entries to just eight finalists and among those being eliminated were two former Maltese Eurovision performers; Mary Spiteri from 1992 and Chris & Moira from 1994. Two days later on the evening of January 26th, a combination of a jury (20% weighting) and  the Maltese public (80% weighting) chose their entry for Belgrade. In the end it was the public vote that made the difference, sending the singer Morena and her song "Vodka" to Belgrade. However the award for the unluckiest performer in any national final this year must go to Claudia Faniello (sister of double Eurovision entrant Fabrizzio) who had two songs in the final, and finished in 2nd and 3rd. 

23 year old Morena (real name Margaret Camilleri Fenech) hails from the island of Gozo, and has swept through the local music scene like a tornado, winning some of the most prestigious festivals, which include Festival Kanzunetta Maltija and being awarded Palma Tad- Deheb (Golden Palm Award) for her achievements.

While relatively new to the music scene, she has always been highly interested in singing ever since she was a little girl and danced in front of the mirror with a broomstick. Coached by her elder sister Georgina, who is a soprano, she slowly but surely began to develop her vocal talent. Once she was 18 she became the lead singer of the band Spectrum, and is still their front liner till this very day.

In 2006, she sang as part of a duet with Paul Giordimiana, the song was called "Time", and this was Morena’s first taste of the Malta Song for Europe festival. She placed 9th, but soon realised she was not about to give up on winning the golden ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest. Subsequently Moreno took part in several TV shows, and continued her collaboration with well known composer/producer Philip Vella, with whom she had worked in the past.

In 2007, she also Moena Eurovision songwriting veteran Gerard James Borg who immediately was very impressed by her, and the successful song-writing duo decided to invest their time and energy in writing "Vodka" and soon enough Morena was recording the song in the studio. A few months later she was performing on the "Malta Song for Europe" podium, belting out the catchy song which she prefers to describe as progressive pop. She won the festival, winning the media’s and people’s hearts on the way, and she is ready to launch herself on the Eurovision stage.

While Morena may be a new talent about to blossom, the songwriting team behind the Maltese entry are the most experienced Eurovision songwriters in this year's contest.

Philip Vella is one of the most successful composers in Malta, and winner of several music awards such as 'Best Composer' at  the Malta Music Awards, 'Best Sound Engineer', and 'Best Original Score'. He has been involved in many major projects such as the original song to mark Malta's entry in the European Union, the Small Nations Games official song, and he also composed the original score for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting held in Malta. 

He has composed four previous Maltese Eurovision entries "Desire" (2000), "7th Wonder" (2002),  "On Again... Off Again" (2004) and "Vertigo" (2007). Only last year's entry failed to make the Top 10.  Away from Malta he has written for many Eurovision national selections including Belgium, the Netherlands and Bulgaria and he has seen several of his compositions make it to the local charts, and has also worked with artists from several countries.  Philipe is also responsible for the soundtrack of many popular television shows and soap operas and even computer games.

Gerard James Borg is regarded as a highly creative concept creator and lyricist who amongst other projects, has co-written four previous Eurovision entries with Philip Vella. In 2001 and 2005, he was also close again to victory in the Maltese selection with two songs "Spellbound" and "Déjà Vu", which placed 2nd in the national contest. "Spellbound" went on to be voted 'Song Of The Decade', while "Déjà Vu" sung by Olivia Lewis shot to number one in the local charts.

Gerard has also written for several local and international artists. He has participated in several Eurovision selections outside Malta, most famously in 2006, he co-wrote "Absolutely Fabulous" for Queentastic, with Thomas G:son and Andreas Rickstrand, which finished third, in the Norwegian selection.

After the disappointments of the last two years, there is a lower level of expectation around this year's Maltese entry, but bookmakers and fan polls seem to suggest that "Vodka" has a better than average chance of qualifying for the Eurovision final.

SAMPLE LYRICS