Break-up makes singer a winner

The break-up with his girlfriend of nearly two years inspired the lyrics of Fabrizio Faniello's song I Do and landed him a ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest.

The lyrics speak of "you left me, still I know you didn't have a choice... our lives were torn apart, I know we'll get a brand new start... cause I do I do I do I do I do I do love you like a fool".

"It's hard to maintain a relationship in the entertainment business, because there are so many times when you have to be apart. My girlfriend used to say I'm not hers but everybody else's," he said when contacted at his home yesterday.

"Apart from that, it takes me forever to say I love you, so when I did utter the words she didn't believe me and called me a fool," he said reminiscing about the prose he wrote five months ago.

"She's no longer on the scene now, but I guess she brought me luck."

Fabrizio Faniello was still trying to take it all in yesterday and despite sleeping for just four hours he was running on a high and his voice oozed with enthusiasm and happiness.

The 24-year-old singer clinched the title with 7,729 points for I Do, a song he co-wrote and composed with Aldo Spiteri, beating Olivia Lewis, who placed second with Spare a Moment, by 106 points.

"I guess I can appreciate winning more the second time round. I also know what's in store," he said.

Like Chiara, this is the second time that Fabrizio Faniello will be representing Malta at the Eurovision Song Festival. He has come a long way from when he had placed an unexpected ninth in Copenhagen, in 2001, with Another Summer Love, at the age of 19.

The singer has matured into a seasoned singer with a growing international fan base, particularly in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Ukraine and Poland.

His latest single, Love on the Radio, from the album Believe, has become a big hit and is being aired on numerous international radio stations.

Whenever he is not touring to promote his album or performing at local entertainment places, Fabrizio Faniello can be found running his bar and restaurant in Bugibba. In fact, soon after the result was announced he headed to the bar where most of his family and friends were gathered.

His official website has been inundated with messages from well-wishers and fans saying he was "the best of all", "the sexiest" and "most fantastic", and wanting to be listed on his MSN internet chat line.

His up-tempo song, which he performed on stage accompanied by four singers and DJ Miss Roberta, went down extremely well with the public.

This year the public was the sole judge through 100 per cent televoting. People had 10 minutes to call in and vote, rather than the 30 minutes in previous years, and some of those gathered at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta complained that their votes were not going through.

Maltasong chairman Robert Abela said he had heard these comments, but had not received any reports of technical problems and all had gone smoothly.

He also pointed out that the number of votes though SMS or telephone were practically the same as last year, with a slight difference of 910.

Last year 62,857 votes were cast as opposed to Saturday's 61,947.

The decision to cut the televoting time to 10 minutes was taken after telephone companies showed the Maltasong board charts which proved that all the calls were made in the first five to seven minutes from the time that the lines opened. After the seventh minute, the number of calls drops drastically.

Discussing Fabrizio Faniello's promotional schedule, Mr Abela said Maltasong was trying to focus hard on promoting Malta abroad, prior to the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens on May 20.

"Fabrizio is extremely popular in Nordic countries so that's an advantage. Let's hope for the best," he said.

Since Fabrizio Faniello is contracted with the German record company Cap Sounds, Maltasong will be working with them to ensure they present a winning show at the final night.

So does Fabrizio Faniello think his song will go down well with Eurovision viewers?

"I wasn't planning to submit this song for the festival and the idea was to include it in my upcoming album. I think people will like it because while being commercial, it also has that Eurovision touch," he said.

Hamilton Travel will this year too be organising the official tour to the Eurovision Song Festival finals, this year between May 15 and 23.