Cemetery shoot concludes Eurovision song video

The shadows lurking in an old cemetery in the confines of Rabat will come alive tonight as a young woman tiptoes through the creaky gate in search of her lover.

A scary moment that will make anyone's hair stand on end were it not diffused by the cameramen, lights and extras gathered at the cemetery to wrap up Olivia Lewis's video.

The video of her song Vertigo, produced by Where's Everybody? at no cost, should be completed tonight and launched shortly.

Director Mark Vassallo explained that the video, which includes scenes of fire and water, sees Olivia Lewis chasing the shadows in the hope of finding her lover.

The video was mostly shot at night in numerous locations from Vittoriosa to Buskett, Dock 1, Verdala Palace, and Palazzo Parisio. It was produced by Where's Everybody? team consisting of Pablo Micallef, P.J. Vassallo and Angie Laus.

Olivia Lewis has hardly had time to catch her breath since winning the Malta Song for Europe Festival last month, and, having just returned from Lithuania yesterday afternoon, she'll be packing her bags again to jet off to the Ukraine on Wednesday.

"The feedback I am getting is encouraging and people are coming forward to say they like the song. Other heads of delegations are also confident we'll make it through the semi-finals," she said when contacted.

Her fate is in good hands after she was signed up to G-Songs, one of the largest production houses in Sweden, which is polishing Malta's entry for the upcoming 52nd Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki.

Malta's place in the final on May 12 depends on whether European audiences choose Vertigo among the 10 favourites from the 28 countries competing in the semi-final on May 10.

Maltasong chairman Robert Abela said people seemed to like the song, but the committee was taking no chances to ensure that Vertigo went down well with European audiences.

Mr Abela said negotiations had been underway with Ruslana's choreographer over Olivia Lewis's final performance. However, this person was tied up until the end of this month, so they were now in talks with another key Eurovision choreographer.

"We need somebody who not only excels in artistic direction, but also worked with television in mind," he said.

He added that in the coming days Olivia Lewis will be choosing a Maltese voice coach who will be training her in the coming months and even accompanying her to Finland.

Mr Abela, who will be flying to Finland for the heads of delegation meeting this week, said the European Broadcasting Union had this year made big changes in the Eurovision's running order.

Instead of the traditional straight-forward draw, where the first country drawn sings first, this year the first five countries drawn in the semi-final and first three drawn in the final will get a wild card position. This means that these countries get to choose where they go in the running order by selecting their starting position.

Results in recent years have shown that countries appearing lower in the running order have a natural advantage, so it is actually a disadvantage to be one of the first countries to be drawn.

The decision will be in the hands of their heads of delegation, who are likely to choose a position close to the end of the running order.

After the first country selects its position, the remaining wild card countries can be influenced by the songs already positioned, choosing to go next to a song that differs in style, or keeping away from a song they perceive as a threat.

The draw will take place next Monday.

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