While I appreciate the lengths Malta went to in order to put on a professional national selection, I’m not sure they had a particularly strong field from which to choose. I’m guessing that the eventual winner, Emma Muscat, is a household name in Malta because I don’t see much in her song. It’s a competent, upbeat pop song, and she has a good voice. But this didn’t leave an impression on me the first time around, and I struggled to remember the song’s title as I was making a list of the songs for which I still needed to write an initial review.

Look, it’s not a bad song, but it’s also not a winner. This is the kind of song I’d expect to see finishing in the bottom half of any of the bigger contests. I doubt it would have qualified for the final in competitions like Melodifestivalen, Eesti Laul or Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix. And as I said in my brief review, there are many, many words — far more than Muscat needs to get her point across. I would be astounded if this qualified from the second semi-final, which is shaping up to be the weaker one.

Final comment: don’t use a child on stage like in this performance — it’s emotionally manipulative. Junior Eurovision is a separate contest, so don’t conflate the two.