The 2015 “Expert” Panel – MALTA

Warrior (Eurovision 2015 – Malta)

The ESC United “Expert” Panel is back once again reviewing all Eurovision songs and rank them accordingly.

You are probably asking yourself on how we pick our panel and the criteria. We looked at people from all walks of life to bring together a unique group of panelists with a wide range in taste. They all bring different skills and tastes to the table so who are they?

Anselm – The Alternative Guy
Arie – The Professional Musician
Daniel – The Noob
Katja – The Schlager Queen
Mike – The Smart One
Olivia – The Journalist

You can read more about them HERE

Disclaimer: While we picked, what we perceived individuals with a wide range in taste, it is subjective to a certain degree so just enjoy their thoughts and if you don’t agree, feel free to post your comments below.

Next up is another Warrior, this time it’s Amber from Malta. Here is what our Panel had to say:

Daniel – The Noob
Oooh, another song called “Warrior”. That’s certainly rare. But Malta’s “Warrior”  is not as good as Georgia’s. Amber is a real good singer and her voice is stunning for sure but unfortunately the song isn’t that stunning. It’s a good song no doubt but there are no chance of winning. Nevertheless, this entry is nothing to sneeze at but I don’t wand to venture a prognosis about her placing.
Points: 5/10

Katja – the Schlager Queen
another “riot” ballad coming up. When watching Maltese NF, it wasn’t my favourite (that was “Fandango” by Jessika Muscat and “Breakaway” by Glen Vella), but this grew on me and I thought by lowering the key (as Amber’s live performance was tad too screechy) it would make the song sound better. Instead we got a major devamp, with messy orchestration and the chorus, previously so evident, now totally bland. I do hope Amber manages to improve the song’s chances with her charisma, as the song alone is not good enough.
Points: 4/10

Olivia – The Journalist
Hmm. This is certainly a contrast to last yea’s folk entry. This year Malta’s entry is bold, biting, and in all, well sewn together.  It seamlessly mixes subtle folk instrumentation with dark dub-step riffs and beats. The melody isn’t anything particularly special, but the structure of the song is varied enough, with dynamic rise and falls, to make for an engaging listen. Amber is yet another talented and charismatic solo-singer in this competition. But whether she will be able to hold her ground vis a vis the other entries is yet to be seen. As we saw last year in the Moldovan entry, a strong singer can only go so far in masking an innately average song. In all – ok, but not my favourite by any stretch.
Points: 6/10

Anselm – The Alternative Guy
Warrior #2. Unfortunately the Maltese attempt is much weaker than the Georgian one. Not a very intense battle after all. Neither the old (more electronic) nor the new (more orchestral) version spark much interest in me. The biggest problem here for me are Amber’s vocals. I know this is a very individual thing but to me they don’t sound pleasant at all, not even in the studio version. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure she’s a great singer in general but this particular song just doesn’t do her voice any favours. There’s not much to be said about the song itself as it’s well-made but totally non-descript and soulless.
Points: 3/10

Mike – The Smart One
This version of “Warrior” is much better than Georgia’s. There’s a lot to like in this song.  The lead female singer has one of the best female voices this year and the song gives her ample opportunities to show it off, singing in more than two octaves.  I also appreciated her jazzy roughness near the end, which is certainly appropriate for the song.  I thought the instrumental accompaniment was good, even if bordering on the wrong side of lush, inappropriate for a song with this theme.  The verses were very good.  If it weren’t for the banality of the refrain with its choppiness and nonsense syllables, though…
Points: 8/10

Arie – The Professional Musician
Yet another song in the middle of the pack.   Despite the title, this song is definitely NOT a warrior.  It’s just a dense compaction of words that talk about defeating, fighting, etc with little or no original point of view or poetic nuance.  The chorus itself is little more than a beat while the verses seem to slither around with no goal.   Place on top of that the whiny, nag-like voice of it’s soloist, it drops 2 notches below mediocrity.
Points: 3/10

Overall: 29 Points

It’s official, Georgia wins the battle of the warriors. Unfortunately Amber was not able to convince our panel with only one individuals awarding it a good score. With 29 points, Malta ties with Poland but at least beats Monika thanks to Mike 8 points. Here’s the updated ranking:

Do you think that the panel got this right?!? Share your thoughts below and join the convo on our Forum. See yah soon!