Maltese voice for Swiss Eurovision festival entry

Keith Camilleri, an up and coming Maltese vocalist, has been chosen as one of the six singers of the group six4one to represent Switzerland in the next Eurovision Song Contest.

Mr Camilleri, 27, will go down in the annals as the second Maltese to represent another country in the Eurovision. He follows Ray Caruana who had garnered a second place for the UK with his group Live Report in the 1989 contest.

Mr Camilleri flew to Germany yesterday to record the song, composed by Ralph Siegel and John O' Flynn and whose title and details remains under wraps.

"This is an amazing opportunity. At last, part of my dream is starting to materialise," he said when contacted at his hotel.

Mr Camilleri, who left the family business two years ago to start singing full-time, insisted that this big break did not mean he was shunning his national identity.

"I am proud to be Maltese and people have to understand that the opportunities of a singing career on our islands are limited. I see this is as a chance for Malta to be promoted twice during the Eurovision," he said.

Mr Siegel handpicked Mr Camilleri together with five other foreign singers - Liel Collet, from Israel; Claudia D'Addio, Switzerland; Andreas Lundstedt, Sweden; Marco Matias, Portugal and Tinka Milinovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mr Siegel is not a new name to Malta, having taken part in previous editions of the Song for Europe festival, with five of his submissions making it to the finals in the last contest.

However, a reciprocity clause in the new regulations, which have just been passed by the Maltasong board, prevents Mr Siegel from taking part because Germany does not have a similar selection process as Malta's.

The contentious clause was introduced after the participation of foreign authors and composers in the Malta festival had provoked the ire of the Union for Maltese Composers and Authors (UKAM).

Sources close to Mr Siegel's German company Jupiter Records said the composer had been initially considering submitting his song, now being sung by six4one, to the Maltese festival before the reciprocity clause was introduced.

Mr Camilleri had already worked with Mr Siegel, having placed fourth in the last Malta festival with the song Sunshine in Your Eyes. In February 2004 he finished sixth with the song Tango For Two composed by Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg.