'My Dream' flies to Frankfurt

Malta's hopeful for this year's Eurovision song contest Thea Garrett leaves Malta today to record the vocals for the promo version of her song My Dream in Germany.

The 17-year old is now in full tilt for the contest; she has put her job as a makeup artist and animator on hold, but she has not let the contest get in the way of her other musical commitments, including with the gospel choir EnKor.

Malta Eurosong coordinator Peter Busuttil said the process in Germany would involve re-recording some musical parts using live instruments, and re-recording Thea's vocal parts for promotional purposes.

On the night in Oslo, Thea will be singing live, and she will need the best backing track possible to let her voice shine through.

When asked whether he was apprehensive that the song's arrangement would change drastically once in a foreign studio, composer Jason Cassar told timesofmalta.com he was not worried in the least. Mr Cassar has already been collaborating via Skype from his studio with the recording engineers in Germany and in Sweden, where re-recording, production, mixing and mastering are being held.

The end result, Mr Cassar explained, would be that the song would be more refined, with the use of live instruments as opposed to sampled instruments, and with better detail in the sound thanks to the mastering.

The next stages of preparations will include improvements to the video of the song, coaching to Thea ranging from voice to the way she replies to reporters' questions, promotion of the song through the internet, and shows by Thea in various activities.