There’s something really sad about all the hype that the Eurovision creates in Malta… it dies down way too quickly and it’s forgotten way too nippily.
Believe me, I’m not a diehard fan of the show, in fact I generally dislike most of the songs, and I especially dislike the voting system, but the Eurovision Song Contest is one of those very few things that brings the Maltese people together as one.
I don’t know what it is exactly, and I’m not sure I care.
Maybe the Eurovision brings us together because it presents us with a common enemy - the rest of the participants.
Maybe it’s because it gives us that very rare feeling of having a fighting chance against bigger countries.
Who knows...
Maybe we get all excited about it because it’s one of the very few ways, if not the only way, that Maltese singers can make it big outside our shores.
I know that some parents love it because it’s the only way that they can get their children to understand geography and to work out whose neighbour is whose.
It can be any of these things, all I know is that for a couple of weeks a year, we all seem to come together to support one thing. And even though in the grander scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter how we fare, we’re all behind our song like our life depended on it.
But of course, every year, whilst we’re all rooting for whoever is representing Malta and secretly wishing for Malta to win the contest for once, we have to pretend that we don’t give much of a hoot.
It’s like there’s some unwritten law which says that acting aloof about the Eurovision Song Contest is absolutely compulsory, and that if for some reason we should violate this law our heads will explode.
So, every year we sit there and fake our annoyance with the contest.
We make fun of the whole ordeal;
We turn into self-proclaimed cynics and sceptics;
We adopt Terry Wogan’s tone as though it’s second nature;
We criticise every other song that comes on, but carefully praise a few for good measure;
We share laughs and sniggers about hairstyles, eyebrows, make-up, and costumes and, we cringe every time the local commentators try to be funny;
Lately, we’ve also resorted to Tweeting ourselves silly with hilarious comments and crass criticism, but deep down, we’re all on the same page - we’re all hoping for one thing – that Malta does relatively well and that our singer makes us proud.
And we’re nothing if not persistent – did you know that this year was the first time since 2005 that Malta’s entry placed in the top ten? That’s 8 years of disappointments, and yet, our hopes get higher and higher every year.
Again, I’m not sure if it’s about the song, the singer, or just the vibe that the Eurovision seems to bring with it year after year, but whatever it is, I like it.
Denmark won this year’s show, but I really don’t get why. Then again, I’m tone deaf and I know jack about music.
To my mind the real winners were the Swedes – Malmo to be exact.
Not only did they throw a great show, they managed to instil some witty humour in it… and believe me, that’s one mammoth task to do.
As any stand-up comedian will tell you, humour is so subjective that the same joke could have one person rolling on the floor laughing out loud, whilst the guy next to him would be staring at you blankly like a deer on a highway.
What makes humour even more difficult to work with, is that it is deeply entrenched in culture. This makes coming up with humorous concepts that work across cultural lines an ‘almost’ impossible feat.
And yet Malmo managed… superbly.
They injected humour in everything they could, in every possible nook and cranny that they had control over, and it wasn’t overdone in the least.
Petra’s (the compere) script was impeccably written and executed like a boss. It was so good that unlike most of her predecessors she hardly needed to leverage her looks at all.
So, here’s the vote from this part of the world - my 12 points go to the Swedes and their gutsy ways, and hats off go to Gianluca, his contagious smile and, the rest of the team.
Until the next one, folks.