British singer Gary Barlow’s song ‘Let me go’ has been chosen as Malta’s entry for next May’s Eurovision Song Contest, blogger Jacques Rene Zammit posted on Facebook on Sunday.

The blogger was among many in Malta who likened the winning song – ‘Coming Home’ by Firelight – to the former Take That member’s own single, which was released in the UK on 15 November. The song was also likened to Mumford and Sons’ ‘I will wait.’

Richard Edward Micallef, frontman of Firelight, admitted on Sunday evening that his songwriting was inspired by artists such as Barlow, Mumford and Sons and James Blunt but, along with sister and fellow band member Michelle Mifsud said that, while the Pop/Folk song was similar in style to others, it was not the same. “The style of our song is in vogue right now, but the songs are not the same.”

This year’s edition of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest was once again tainted by controversy over the voting system. Many voiced their disappointment over the fact that televoting by the public only counted as one vote, while five members of the jury had one vote each.

Jessika Muscat’s ‘Hypnotika’ won the public vote but the song did not fare so well with the judges. The two Maltese members of the jury gave ‘Hypnotica’ 2 and 4 points respectively but the song did not receive a single point from the three foreign members. On the other hand, four out of five judges gave their 12 points to Firelight’s ‘Coming Home.’

 

The winning song by Firelight can be viewed by following this link.

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-02-09/news/firelight-win-malta-eurovision-song-contest-3911614464/