Marc Anthony Bartolo — “Serenity”
Very earnest guitar ballad with some strings to give a fuller sound — it’s one for those who like to sway along to songs. Bartolo’s has a warm voice, but his vocals feel inconsistent: sometimes he hits his notes well, but other times I’m not convinced that he really meant to sing it that way (at least I hope so). There’s something about this song that’s making my hold back on my criticism, because I suspect he’s still learning his craft as a singer-songwriter and might come back another year with something a bit more coherent and memorable.

Malcolm Pisani — “We Came For Love”
There’s a fair amount of potential in this song: Pisani’s voice is particularly melodious and he carries large chunks of the track with minimal instrumentation. It has some However, (and I realise this has been a running theme in a lot of my reviews this year) he is often let down by those same instruments: namely, the drum machine and synthesizer. I realise that making use of these are probably far cheaper than hiring in session musicians to record live drums, guitars, etc. — but in this case it would have sounded so much more powerful and amplified the emotion in this song. Much I am a fan of synth, it isn’t always the right choice, and this is case in point.