Six days, 100 extras for a taste of Vodka

Dogs barked at Fort St Elmo, Valletta, as the tyres of an old Alfa Romeo crunched the gravel, before grinding to a halt under the dim light of the moon.

Just metres away a leather-clad, female spy abseiled through the roof into a secret room, pilfering the sensitive data from the computer's hard drive, and escaping just as the security men walked in.

It could be a scene from one of James Bond's films, but this time the hottest spy on the block was Morena, acting the part in the video for her song Vodka, which she will perform in May's Eurovision Song Contest in Serbia.

The video was shot mostly in the early morning hours in locations such as Fort St Elmo, Dock 1 in Cospicua, and Ħal Far.

Director Mark Vassallo said it took six intensive days to shoot the video and over 100 extras were roped in to complete the storyline for the four-minute clip, which includes a car and motorbike chase.

In a bid to lend greater authenticity to the scenes, the production team bought a second-hand Alfa, which they later exploded in Ħal Far, under the watchful eyes of the Civil Protection Department.

"There were a number of stunts Morena had to do herself, among them abseiling. At one point we were concerned because she got quite bruised, but she's a sport and soldiered on," said Mr Vassallo.

Contacted by The Sunday Times, Morena yesterday enthused about the video saying that she's a girl who loves adventure.

The only stunts she didn't perform herself were the scene where she had to plunge three storeys into the sea and the motorbike chase - she doesn't yet have a driving licence.

"I wouldn't have minded jumping into the sea, but everybody was scared I would catch a cold or something so we didn't take the risk," she said.

The Gozitan turned 24 on March 7 during the shoot, but she was so excited and pumped with adrenaline that she didn't give it a second thought until the crew turned up with a birthday cake.

"It was worth every bruise, every minute of sleep lost, and worth standing out there in the cold," she said.

Morena, whose real name is Margaret Camilleri, has barely had time to catch her breath since winning the Malta Song for Europe Festival in January and she has had to put her full-time job as school facilitator on hold.

She's giving numerous interviews, and undergoing regular vocal lessons with her sister, soprano Georgina Gauci. So far, she has travelled to the Ukraine and Latvia to promote the song Vodka, which was composed by Philip Vella and penned by Gerard James Borg.

Compared with previous years, Morena's promotion schedule abroad has been minimal, and the singer is not sure what impact this decision will have when it comes to voting patterns on the night.

In the past there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not it made sense to travel to so many countries and whether this kind of promotion worked. In the case of Fabrizio Faniello, the extensive promotion in a record 20 countries failed to drum up much support and he placed last with one point in 2006.

"You never know, it could work either way I guess," Morena said.

Maltasong chairman Robert Abela explained that this year the board decided that Morena would only travel when she was invited to take part in a Eurovision-related programme abroad.

"Before, we were travelling to several countries and giving interviews to stations, which at times had a viewership of 10 per cent or less. We felt it didn't make sense when it was so low," he said.

The good thing this year is that all the 43 competing countries, with the exception of Serbia (last year's winner) and the Big Four - Germany, the UK, Spain and France - will start off on the same footing and will first have to make it through the semi-finals.

Due to changes introduced this year by the European Broadcasting Union, there will be two semi-finals. Morena will be competing against 19 countries in 16th position, during the second semi-final on May 22. The final will be held on May 24.

On the night she will be accompanied by four male Swedish dancers, and Maltese singer Annabelle Debono on backing vocals.

Mr Abela said Morena's fate was in good hands and she had been signed up to G-Songs, one of the largest production houses in Sweden, which has polished the entry for the 53rd Eurovision in Belgrade.

This year's contest is somewhat ill-timed, because it coincides with Serbia's general election on May 11, which came early after a split over EU membership and Kosovan independence; a move that generated a lot of unrest in the country.

Mr Abela said the Serbian President had made a declaration that the state would be providing maximum security for all the delegations, which had to seek accommodation in hotels specifically selected by the EBU.

He gave assurances that the organisation of the contest was running smoothly and the venue provided a beautiful setting.

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