Editorial: Ira Losco deserves a better song

As you all know, the Maltese national final took place last weekend. Our own editor Brandon McCann was at the scene, as he witnessed Ira Losco win the honour to represent Malta in Stockholm with her song ‘Chameleon‘. People were happy with her victory, but should they also be happy with her song?

Let us be clear: Ira Losco is a great performer. And a great personality. It came to no one’s suprise, that she won the Maltese final. Ira Losco gave the island one of the few ‘what if’ moments at Eurovision when she came second in the 2002 contest with ‘Seventh Wonder‘. Looking back at her charismatic performance one can not help and wonder: Eurovision has changed a lot over the last 15 years. Nowadays, the song remains sweet and innocent, but it has become rather dated.

But Ira Losco kept on developing herself and made severa albums and mature tracks. Her most recent works, before entering the Maltese selection this year, was the Pop rock album ‘The Fire‘ with her hit single ‘What I’d Give‘. It is a shame that her song ‘Chameleon‘ is less convincing then some of her previous work. In its present form, it lacks a proper build-up. It is no better than the country’s most recent marginal non-qualifier, ‘Warrior’. And that is not a very optimistic promise.

But Malta still has the chance to make things right. The rules to this year’s Maltese selection leave open the opportunity to change the song, whilst keeping the performer. This may sound strange, but we have seen several countries do this in the recent past. Albania did it when they traded in ‘Djell‘ for ‘I’m Alive‘. Belarus changed their song on multiple occasions, Alyona Lanskaya saw ‘Rhythm of Love‘ be switched for ‘Solayoh‘ and 3+2 got their uptempo song ‘Far Away‘ transform into the ballad ‘Butterflies‘. And also Ukraine has changed their song on several occasions, like with Alyosha in 2010.

Chameleon‘ may have won the preselection, but that does not guarantee that it will also do well in the competition in May. As I stated, the rules in Malta were changed this year, with the inclusion of some weirdly specific statements. Such as the fact that Amber was not allowed to return, and the fact that the winning performer was entitled to change her song.

So why not? Ira Losco has proven to be able to deliver songs in several genres. Malta still has all the options open to give Ira Losco the song she deserves.