Full of ‘vital energy’, Glenn Vella says live and let live

Malta Eurovision Song Contest winner Glenn Vella has been described by Italian pop star Riccardo Cocciante as a man full of “vital energy”.

“He has a vital energy, a very interesting joie de vivre and a very particular way of singing,” Mro Cocciante said after Saturday’s festival.

“Glenn has a very strong presence and (through his song) speaks about the problems he came across. That is really nice of him,” he said, flanked by 27-year-old Mr Vella, sporting a huge grin, soon after he won the Eurovision Malta Song Festival with his song One Life.

A self-confessed Eurovision fan, Mr Vella will represent Malta at the upcoming Eurovision festival on May 14, which happens to be his birthday, in Dusseldorf, Germany.

His song placed first with 90 points and was closely followed by Richard Edwards’s Finally, which won 88 points, while Kurt Calleja’s Over and Over ranked third with 69 points.

After placing second last year, Mr Vella decided to give this year’s song an extra push. “After last year’s festival, I wanted to have a better song this year. I always wanted to submit my song. I always wanted something that was in my style and I always tried to imagine what I would want to sing,” he said.

Wearing brown tartan trousers, a pair of black Doc Marten boots and a red blazer over a white top and black waistcoat, Mr Vella’s performance included three singers and two dancers – also in red and black.

Mr Vella, who won the festival on his fifth attempt, said he wanted to send out a message of tolerance. “The message is live and let live – let’s accept everyone as they are... whoever they are – let’s live life to the full,” he said.

His song received the highest number of votes from the panel of six judges, headed by Mro Cocciante, and the public televoting, which amounted to a third of the final vote.

For the first time in Maltese Eurovision Song Contest history, the six judges publicly read out their votes in the contest, a move aimed to remove “conspiracy theories”.

The show, compered by presenter Valerie Vella and journalist Keith Demicoli, also featured a surprise live performance by Mro Cocciante, who sang two of his most famous songs – Se Stiamo Insieme and Margherita – to a standing ovation.

British boy band Blue, who are also the UK’s representative to the Eurovision, sang two songs and Ivan and Melvin, from Winter Moods, gave a short, acoustic performance.

The Nationalist Party and Labour Party both congratulated Mr Vella on winning the contest and wished him success.