It’s been a dramatic week for the X Factor Malta, with accusations of a contestant’s family sending SMS spam to encourage voting, the show producers declaring “zero tolerance” for rule breaks, and judge Howard Keith Debono laying down the law. In the end, the Maltese public and X Factor judges had their say and sent home two more acts.

This weeks theme was Movie Spectacular. In front of the sold-out audience at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre, the eight remaining acts sang notable songs from film soundtracks. They were all hoping to impress both the judges and viewers — and become one step close to the grand final.

We don’t have the space to go over all eight performances of the evening, but we will look at some of the stand-out performances of the third live show.

Opening the show was one of the two remaining Girls, Destiny Chukunyere. She performed “He Lives in You” from The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. Destiny served Nigerian-Maltese realness and — while the performance was very musical theatre — it showed that Destiny shouldn’t have much effort getting to the X Factor grand final.

After ending up in the sing-off last week, Yazmin & James were back with a vengeance. They returned to their roots, waaaay back to their Bootcamp performance from November 2019. They delivered a classy performance of their stripped-down version of “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease. It was enough to keep them safe for another week.

Kyle Cutajar isn’t one of the most show-stopping performers of the series, but we can’t fault his ability to show up and deliver a solid performance from week to week. He performed Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” from Batman Forever and perfectly showed off the warm, rich tones of his voice.

But for every top, there is also a bottom. The first act to be eliminated was Karl Schembri. After experimenting with popera, this week he returned to his comfort zone, performing “Nessun Dorma”. But it had been a rough week for Karl, which seems to have not endeared him to the Maltese public, putting him in last place and ensuring automatic elimination.

Facing the sing-off was Celine and Bloodline. Earlier in the show, Celine had showed off her gruff vocal tone with “What a Wonderful World” from Good Morning Vietnam, while the dynamic duo Bloodline performed Dua Lipa’s “Swan Song” from Alita: Battle Angel. After the sing-off, the judges voted to save Bloodline.

So, left in the competition are just six acts: Bloodline, Destiny, F.A.I.T.H, Justine Shorfid, Kyle Cutajar and Yazmin & James.

The X Factor Malta continues next Sunday with the series semi-final. There, the six remaining contestants will battle it out to be among the four lucky singers heading to the grand final. And with that, the potential to represent Malta at Eurovision 2020.

What do you think? Which performances did you like? Are you happy with this week’s eliminations? Tell us in the comment section below!

Read more Malta Eurovision 2020 news here

16 Comments
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Héctor
Héctor
4 years ago

We are here for Destiny. She should win, she will win. It’s just a matter of time.

Dawid
Dawid
4 years ago

Each time I see these posts Im like “Has Destiny won already? Oh ok, not yet.”. I’ll be shocked if she doesn’t though

Dawid
Dawid
4 years ago
Reply to  Dawid

Fact that everyone’s talking just about Destiny and that they should’ve just chosen her internally.

Scott
Scott
4 years ago
Reply to  Dawid

Amen to that

jofty
jofty
4 years ago
Reply to  Dawid

I agree they probably should have chosen Destiny internally. But I don’ t think that it is a given that she will win in which case there will be the obvious accusations of skullduggery. I hope I am wrong but I think we could be in for another (shock) Glennis Grace 2005 moment. Fingers crossed it will be a Maltese composition and not yet another derivative from the Bulgaria/Sweden axis which I think is in danger of killing off the contest – too many similar-sounding, bland, “desperate to qualify” entries by the same composers.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago

justice for CELINE, our fallen angel

Kris
Kris
4 years ago

For every top , there is a bottom
Lol , Robyn

everlasting
everlasting
4 years ago

Destiny will have the same destiny as Laura Bretan.

MALTESER
MALTESER
4 years ago

Wow Malta is now 4th in the odds after THAT Destiny performance… I guess we know who’s winning X Factor!

Joe
Joe
4 years ago
Reply to  MALTESER

Didn’t we already?

Guest
Guest
4 years ago
Reply to  MALTESER

Maybe it’s not because of Destiny’s performance. Justine and FAITH are amazing too <3

Nicky91
Nicky91
4 years ago
Reply to  MALTESER

we already knew, all this is rigged for Destiny

Frisian esc
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

They could’ve just internally selected her in that case. She simply is the most popular contestant. Her performances get the most views. + She’s got talent

GUEST
GUEST
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

nothing is rigged, it is in our hands to decide.

Nicolas
Nicolas
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicky91

Seems like it but an epic fail is coming at the ESC, maybe jury appealing but soul singers always fail on the televote side and being Malta that always get no votes on the televote because no neighbors (see last year), the final is not even guaranteed, see 2017 and 2018.

Joe
Joe
4 years ago

Using “What a Wonderful World” because it appeared in Good Morning Vietnam is a cheat. It’s like using “Stuck in the Middle with You” or “Itty-Bitty Pretty One” or literally any popular song that’s ever appeared in a movie ever.