Last night 20 acts sang in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2015 semi-finals, but only 14 have advanced to tonight’s grand finale, which you can watch live from 20:45 CET on this link and this link. (Click HERE for the running order.). For several weeks the team at wiwibloggs have been running a fan poll — won by Amber — and a Wiwi Jury series of reviews — won by Christabelle. We have now combined the results and, surprise, surprise, these two ladies are tied at the top. The ladies both share songwriter Matt “Muxu” Mercieca and it looks like he is on to a good thing!
Below you can see our combined results, and then the individual results from our fan poll and our Wiwi Jury rankings. Click on a contestant’s name to read our interview with them. Click on the song to read our review of their song. Click here to see fan messages from the contestants.
Who do you want to see come out on top? Who do you think actually will? Let us know!
Combined Fan Poll and Jury rankings
| Singer | Poll | Jury | Total |
| 1. Christabelle | 8 | 12 | 20 |
| = Amber | 12 | 8 | 20 |
| 3. Jessika | 10 | 4 | 14 |
| 4. Chris Grech | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| 5. Daniel Testa | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| =L-Ahwa | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 7. Karen DeBattista | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 8. Ekklesia Sisters | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 9. Glen Vella | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 10. Deborah C | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 11. Dominic | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12. Franklin | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13. Lawrence Gray | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = Triology | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fan Poll Prediction: Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Please note: This poll was conducted with all 20 semi-finalists.
1. Amber “Warrior” 17.89% (777 votes)
2. Jessika “Fandango” 11.38% (494 votes)
3. Christabelle “Rush” 10.71% (465 votes)
4. Sisters (Ekklesia) “Love And Let Go” 9.35% (406 votes)
5. L-Ahwa “Beautiful To Me” 6.52% (283 votes)
6. Raquel “Stop Haunting Me” 6.08% (264 votes)
7. Daniel Testa “Something In The Way” 5.34% (232 votes)
8. Glen Vella “Breakaway” 4.05% (176 votes)
9. Karen DeBattista “12, Baker Street” 3.92% (170 votes)
10. Chris Grech “Closed Doors” 3.66% (159 votes)
11. Franklin “Still Here” 3.48% (151 votes)
12. Lawrence Gray “The One That You Love” 2.63% (114 votes)
13. Trilogy “Chasing A Dream” 2.58% (112 votes)
14. Deborah C “It’s Ok” 2.16% (94 votes)
=. Lyndsay Pace “Home” 2.16% (94 votes)
16. Corazon “Secretly” 1.75% (76 votes)
17. Domenique “Take Me As I Am” 1.73% (75 votes)
18. Danica Muscat “Close Your Eyes” 1.57% (68 votes)
19. Iona Dalli “Could Have Been Me” 1.52% (66 votes)
=. Dominik “Once In A While” 1.52% (66 votes)
Total Votes: 4,342
Wiwi Jury: Malta Reviews and Rankings
Plesae note: These reviews include all 20 semi-finalists
1. Christabelle – “Rush” (8.5)
2. Chris Grech – “Closed Doors” (8.3)
3. Amber – “Warrior” (7.9)
4. Karen DeBattista – “12, Baker Street” (7.7)
5. Daniel Testa – “Something in the Way” (7.5)
6. L-Ahwa – “Beautiful to Me” (7.3)
7. Raquel – “Stop Haunting Me” (7.2)
8. Jessika – “Fandango” (7.1)
9. Domenique – “Take Me As I Am” (6.9)
10. Corazon – “Secretly” (6.6)
11. Deborah C – “It’s OK” (6.5) **
12. Glen Vella – “Breakaway” (6.5) **
13. Dominic – “Once in a While” (5.8)
14. Franklin – “Still Here” (5.5)
15. Lyndsay Pace – “Home” (5.2)
16. Lawrence Gray – “The One That You Love” (4.9) **
17. Danica Muscat – “Close Your Eyes” (4.9) **
18. Trilogy – “Chasing a Dream” (4.8)
19. Iona Dalli – “Could Have Been Me” (4.4)
20. Ekklesia Sisters – “Love and Let Go” (3.0)
** Both Danica/Lawrence and Glen/Deborah finished with the same average score; to break the tie, we looked at which act scored the highest rating once the highest and lowest scores were removed. Lawrence and Deborah’s averages were higher and therefore both acts placed above their respective counterparts.
Congrats to everyone who chose correctly. Obviously an outstanding final outcome at a fairly recent previous ESC (8th for Gianluca in 2013) counts for nothing, as L-Ahwa found out; nor does any assistance from a record-breaking past ESC winner (Alexander Rybak), as it applies to Franklin.
My top picks were a mixed bag:
1. L-Ahwa, 13th (next-to-last in the final)
2. Franklin, 5th
3. Chris Grech, 4th
4. Raquel did not qualify
5. Danica Muscat did not qualify
6. Glen Vella, 3rd
7. Jessika, 9th
8. Ekklesia Sisters, 7th
9. Lawrence Gray, 8th
10. Trilogy, 10th
Dayum! L-Ahwa got buried, and Karen DeBattista didn’t get a single point.
Me still thinks they need a new musical arrangement for Amber (the reason she lost big points with me), lest it sound too generic against a wave of powerful music arrangements. Of course, that remains to be seen, depending on what the rest of Europe sends.
AMBER WINS AND CHRSITABELLE 2ND!
IT COULDN’T BE BETTER. WELL DONE MALTA!
Sometimes you just have to admit that the song that grabs your heart by the very first instinct is the right one without any ulterior motives. Congratulations Malta!
yes! ambeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr!!!!!
CLEAN SWEEP FOR AMBER!
Did get the last judge wrong? It doesn’t matter. Amber has clinched the title and will be going to Vienna as the Maltese representative.
Gasparyan gives her 12 points to Amber. I think this one is over.
Blasia (ITA) calls it for Amber, followed by Christabelle and Daniel Testa. I think Amber will get the call for Vienna.
Melzig (SWE) calls it for Amber, followed by Chrisabelle and Glen Vella. Amber leads with 24.
Amber wins the televote, followed by the Ekklesia Sisters and Franklin.
Nice to see Firelight doing very well for themselves. I thought they placed way too low in Copenhagen.
FIRELIGHT is an exceptional band. “Talk Dirty to me’ could have done marvels for Malta. That’s the way to go into the future…
Mavision yeah haha xd
How are the sisters anything like The Common Linnets? You really do need your ears testing if that’s what you think haha. They were magical last year, country and western pop. Not even a hint of that here?
@Mavision: They’re playing the Buranovskiye Babushki card. They’re thinking, “How can any of those countries say NO to them?”
@Jr esc nl – I agree with you on that one! I bet it will be God’s way of karma on these comments by sending them though LOL.
Buranovskiye Babushki + The Common Linnets = Ekklesia Sisters
please let it be amber,trilogy or karen actually most acts would be great! but i pray to god to let the sisters stay in malta and i’m not even christian…
Lawrence Gray reminds me Axel Hirsoux
How anyone can put the sisters in their first place is beyond me… Flat, old, cliche and at the end of the day they won’t be gimmicks either due to EBU rules.
@Mavision – Lawrence Grey was perfect, but his romantic style doesn’t stand a real chance on the ESC. Franklin’s song was received with mixed reviews and I sense that the juries will be split on this, even if he was pitch perfect, but the song itself is a bit old-school. It all boils down to what the juries view as ‘the secret combination’…
I feel another year with a generic bland male singer as winner… its ok..but malta will end up either not qualifying or place like 20th in the final as usual with any of those male singers that i expect will win…
12 points go to Ekklesia Sisters
10 points go to Franklin
8 points go to Amber
7 points go to Christabelle
6 points go to L-Ahwa
5 points go to Trilogy
4 points go to Lawrence Gray
3 points go to Deborah C
2 points go to Jessika
1 point goes to Glen Vella
It’s going to be another ‘Firelight’ surprise winner. Franklin, Lawrence and Daniel really pulled it out of the bag tonight – goes with the male theme too.
Ekklesia Sisters were off their game today. And Jessika still has a problem pronouncing “fandango”. I was still not sold on Amber, but I think an entirely different musical arrangement could make her song better.
@davved: Daniel ain’t going. He’s an easy non-qualifier at Vienna.
daniels song sounds like the typical generic song that malta has sent with male singers in the last few years….
@Erin: Absolutely. Alex Rybak may very well be the reason Franklin gets the ticket to Vienna. But then again, that is a very good song, anyway, and Franklin sang it very well.
Keep an eye on the scores for Lawrence. I have a feeling that, if anyone scores a huge upset, it could be him. I picked him for 9th before this contest got started. I’d keep an eye on the scores for Trilogy (my 10th pick) as well.
I am now calling Daniel too, can’t make my mind up LOL.
Amber, Christabelle, Daniel, Franklin, or Lawrence for me. TOP 5!
@ Erin – In that case, It’s Franklin or Lawrence. He is amazing at the moment, even better than last night. Perhaps my new favourite 😡 gah.
chris song is ok.. but boring…it will be forgotten about at esc..
ekklesia sisters to eurovision….
If juries have Alexander Rybak’s involvement as the composer of Franklin’s song in the back of their minds, that may affect their vote. It’s worth noting that Malta has been sending male performers in a row for the last couple of years…I am obly certain about one thing: If it was up to the Maltese televoters, they would send the Ekklesia sisters in case Italy sends Sister Cristina…
Franklin has been amazing again tonight, now to see if Lawrence Grey can put in a good performance for a possible win. Jessika fell flat, again. As well as Karen, again. Trilogy were also very good, even though I’ve never liked their song.
CHRISTABELLE or AMBER please!
No to the nuns! 😀 😀
Amber probably falls. The winner should be Ekklesia Sisters or Franklin.
But even L-Ahwa (and I dare say Amber, which many here seem to have picked) had better look out for Franklin!
L-A?wa has 2 advantages none of the others have: A past participant who finished 8th, and they are offering something completely different (once again, as far as Gianluca is concerned) from all but a very, very few.
I felt that Chris Grech’s hoarse falsetto voice became squeaky and somewhat unpleasant as the song progressed. Amber wasn’t pitch-perfect when she had to make the transition from the verse to the chorus, but overall she did a good job.
I have a feeling the Bezzinas will be the juries’ favorites.
GO CHRISTABELLE
50% Ekklesia Sisters
40% Amber
10% Franklin
My broadband will not play fair with me, but it stayed stable long enough for me to watch Chris Grech. The calmness of Carl Espen and the fury of Softengine in one package. Methinks he’s still on course for a possible win.
Amber vs Franklin
Malta would be very proud to send Amber for the Eurosvision in Austria.
Lawrence Gray please!!!! Or Karen or Amber!!!!
Lawrence Gray FTW.
Jessika is the worst!! The song is so bad and she sing very bad too…
I don’t understand how you can like it very much
Chris Winner!!!
L-Ahwa for the win!
If the nuns would have to change outfit then there is NO point in voting for them. The novelty factor would vanish, and therefore it will just be a weak song sung by 6 weak singers. I think Christabelle did very well last night, considering her past track record of not being able to sing live. Jessika fell flat, so she needs to improve tonight for any chance at all. Amber was amazing after a shaky start, I think these are the top 3 if it weren’t for the nuns. Good luck to all tonight!
Please, Malta, send Daniel Testa! 😀
1 amber
2 karen debattista
3 trilogy (based on live performance)
4 chris grech
5 Deborah C