“The Maltese only ever do upbeat, jolly numbers, and this year’s entry is no exception. Composed by the trusted Eurovision veterans Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg (responsible for 2000’s Desire and 2002’s 7th Wonder), On again...off again seeks to erase the memory of Lynn and restore Malta to its rightful place among Eurovision’s high achievers. Malta has even drawn on a little German help, enlisting the prolific Ralph Siegel (responsible for nearly every German entry ever) as the track’s producer.
“Performed by Julie and Ludwig (or Ludwig and Julie, if you believe their website), On again...off again is dreadful but brilliant – cheesy, catchy and impossible to get out of your head. With Julie’s warbly bits and Ludwig’s operatic contributions, On again...off again is like Julie Andrews meets Jimmy Nail – a meshing together of The Sound of Music with Evita. Surely this doesn’t mean that we’ll get to go to Eurovision in Valletta?
“I don’t discount the prospect of this song winning. Though the song is not particularly favoured in the fan polls, nor was Ira Losco in 2002 – Maltese songs have a habit of engaging the European public, even if they irritate the fans. Malta’s place in the final is surely not in doubt, and with a Eurovision pedigree as impressive as theirs, another top 10 placing has to be on the cards. My prediction is that with a good performance, this will end up top five in the final.”
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Now, over to the fans. Here is a selection of the posts; obviously the patriotic contributions from Maltese fans have not been included, because it’s what other countries think that counts!
From Slovenia: Come on people. What happened? What are you people listening to in Malta? I was there on holidays once but something so bad didn’t catch my ear.
From Ukraine: This is the worst song I have ever heard in my live ! Vote for Xandee from Belgium, that’s a really a good song.
From Australia: Well as for of all you that believe that Malta will not perform well this year, I have in mind that they will be in the top five. The biggest competition in my eyes will be Denmark for sure! and Greece. With many younger audiences watching the song Shake it, I expect to see that Greece will do well, even though it’s a mix between Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias, as is the Spanish entry. I say get a life, and create some new music! Well as for Malta’s entry, good luck Julie and Ludwig, I have previewed all of the countries songs and let me tell you, yours may be by far one of the best. As for those 90 or so people who have commented on the Maltese song, quite abruptly might I add, listen to your own song once or twice and see how much work it needs done. Pop and opera is in, so go shake your bon bon’s somewhere else.
From Switzerland: Well, to be honest, the song belongs to the better 10 per cent of all the semi-final songs. Which means not that it was extra good, most of them were a total waste, especially the bad Greek song about which there was so much fuss. I just ask why? But for that, Malta was one of the winners for that evening so far....”
From United Kingdom: It’s a shame about all the negative comments on this song. I can’t quite understand it because it’s obvious that the Maltese duo have excellent voices – not many people can sing a song like this. Julie does a tremendous job. I really so hope Malta gets a good placing on Saturday night. I would have thought this song would have been a good contender for the top position – but the comments seem to indicate otherwise. Hopefully the general public will give Malta their vote. Performance on the night is crucial to win the public’s vote. Malta deserves to win this time around!
From Belgium: Malta usually has a good song... but this time: awful , just awful!
From United Kingdom: Malta stands a good chance this year. I think it should attract the votes of both young and old....plus many ‘sympathy’ votes. Malta tries their hardest every year and never seems to quite get the number of votes they need. I’d give anything to be in the Mediterranean sunshine this time next year. Vote Malta! Good luck Malta!!
From Italy
Vai Malta... hai una grande canzone... quest’anno potrebbe essere l’anno buono... sorry no English but wish you good result.
From United Kingdom: I only gave my personal view on this year’s possible winner. As always every year it’s the cheeseeest song that wins the Eurovision; no exception this year. You should be honoured I’m picking your song to win cause I’d love to be in sunny Malta this time next year. Question: Where would you do the Eurovision if you won ? By the way, fantastic show in Valletta on Malta’s entry into the EU. That showed me that Malta is pretty much capable of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005. Good Luck Europe!
From Switzerland: The Maltese song sounds like the yodel-artist in my hometown here in the Swiss Alps. Crazy! Seems to have a lot of fans, but in my opinion Europe has a real problem if this one reach top three, because it sounds like an 80s entry.
From United States: One other thing – Malta has sent a steady flow of excellent songs over the years. Malta deserves to win this time around.
From United States: I understand that yesterday they went to a restaurant and they were asked to sing their song – which they did. They got a standing ovation for it. I believe Malta has a good song this year. The voices are excellent. Due to the fact that the Maltese entry has pop and bit of opera, I believe this will appeal to a very wide audience. This song will surprise many on the night. As usual, performance on the night is crucial. Good luck Malta.
From Estonia: Why do you all write the same things? The song is too typical (the words) and so repetitive, like all eurosongs.
From United Kingdom: This is my bet for the winner. It has the right combination of voices and musical styles and a catchy tune. All in all the ingredients are there for this to collect the votes.
From United Kingdom: Must have a good chance of doing well. if not winning – it’s like a reject from a kitschy West End musical, but that never stood in the way of Eurovision success before. I’m afraid I don’t really like it too much simply because of his voice – he can obviously belt it with the best of them, but operatic voices and pop melodies simply don’t mix, OK?