It's Glen Vella for Malta!

The last song to be selected this weekend for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest came from Malta's Preselection.  A highly competitive National Final with many experienced performers, including two-time ESC participant Fabrizio Faniello, "Malta Eurosong" was definitely packed with a number of strong performances.  After sixteen songs and a close finish, the winner was Glen Vella with "One Life":



Vella, who will turn 27 on the night of this year's Eurovision Final, came in second place after last year's Malta Eurosong with "Just a Little More Love" (which, if you close your eyes, you could easily imagine being sung by Michael Jackson).  "One Life" is a catchy, danceable number, quite a departure from the inspirational ballads that TVM has given us over the past few years.  Malta hasn't sent a solo male singer to Eurovision since Fabrizio's 2006 performance (which, incidentally, came in last place in the Finals that year).  In fact, in Malta's 23 Eurovision appearances, they've sent songs performed by solo males only seven times, with two of those performances bringing up the rear of the leaderboard.  However, three of those male-driven performances ended up in the Top Ten.  That hit-or-miss track record for Maltese men makes Glen's chances hard to predict this year.  "One Life" is positive and energetic, and they have the benefit of having the United Kingdom (the closest thing the island nation has to a Bloc voting ally) casting their ballots in their semifinal.  But will it stand out enough?  We might have to see what other nations send before a prediction can be made...