Earlier today, the Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — gathered in Valletta to discuss the contestants participating in Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2016 (MESC). As we search for Malta’s new Eurovision royalty, we turn to Christabelle with her entry “Kingdom”. Do we want to be a part of Christabelle’s kingdom — or are we seeking independence? Read on to find out…
CHRISTABELLE – “KINGDOM”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ty8Nf1fsUU
“KINGDOM” REVIEWS
Antranig: “Kingdom” is by far the best entry in the Maltese field. Christabelle does everything she did right with “Rush” last year and takes it to a new level. It’s incredibly catchy and the lyrics are spectacular. She can do no wrong in my eyes — it’s the type of song you put on repeat for hours on end. You can consider me a loyal subject of Christabelle’s “Kingdom”!
Score: 10/10
Deban: Christabelle’s sass, energy and vocals SLAY! This power-packed pop anthem delivers, and sustains merit from the very first note. It’s upbeat, memorable and crafted with masterful touch. Regardless of its ranking at the MESC finals, I want the maxi-CD.
Score: 8/10
Josh: YAASS Christabelle! “Kingdom” is anthemic, addictive and fierce. Christabelle is bringing that brilliant pop vocal that we grew to love in “Rush” in MESC 2015 to something that, in my opinion, is far more powerful and mesmerising. I fear another second place this year for Christabelle after Ira Losco but if this went to Stockholm, I’d be happy to back Malta in 2016. YES MA’AM.
Score: 9/10
Patrick: Christabelle slayed last year and will surely repeat that this time. When the shortlisted songs came out and I read “Kingdom” I knew it would be good and I’m glad that I was right. Dark, mysterious sounds followed by her great voice and the catchy chorus make the song brilliant. The only thing I fear is that people could forget the song in Stockholm a bit, but I’m not a fortune teller. Good luck, Christabelle!
Score: 8.5/10
Robyn: “Kingdom” is like “Warrior” crossed with “Heroes” and a bit of the “Only Teardrops” flute. But it actually works – a super catchy diva anthem flipped into a big pop floor filler with folky accents. Christabelle brings a great sense of drama and attitude to the song, and seems a very capable performer. My only wish is that she will ditch the bedazzled shirtdress of Xarabank in time for MESC.
Score: 8/10
William: Drive, hope, sensuality — the build-up to the chorus pulsates with all kinds of everything. And it doesn’t slow when Christabelle reaches a banger of a chorus. Like her entry from MESC 2015, this is three minutes of relentless, infectious, pop. All hail the queen!
Score: 9.5/10
In the Maltese Wiwi Jury we have 18 jurors but only have room for six reviews. The remaining twelve scores are below.
Anthony: 9/10
Bernardo: 9/10
Cristian: 9/10
Denise: 9/10
George: 7/10
Luis: 6.5/10
Maria: 7.5/10
Mario: 8/10
Ramadan: 8/10
Renske: 8/10
Rezo: 6/10
Zakaria: 9/10
The highest and lowest scores are dropped prior to calculating the average score. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 6 and a high of 10.
This hella good!! Chameleon is boring…
Please Malta, choose Christabelle. Kingdom is the catchy song in MESC and she needs a chance to show the song to the world.
Christabelle caught it right this year. Really good pop song, infectious and she is capable of performing. It also reminds me of “Sunshine” by Shaya from the Greek NF last year, and “Only Teardrops” at times. She will surely do really well but I think that we won’t see her in Stockholm this year. 8/10 and my 4th.
regardless of Christabelle’s confident vocals and the synthesized instrumentals adorning the song’s dynamism and upbeat ride, the melodic range for the chorus and the pre chorus is rather limited and underwhelming. At times, the chorus channels Bojana Stamenov’s ‘Beauty Never Lies’ and the pre chorus echoes snippets from Tina Karol’s ‘Show me Your Love’. while the song’s theme is one of empowerment, it doesn’t translate into a cathartic ‘home run’. 7/10
um @ there only being one 10 for this immaculate song, thank you blogger antranig for providing this, i forgive you for your previous misdeed of hating caroban 🙂
Sorry to disappoint but I think she’s going to be 2nd again :s which it will be kinda fair because Ira’s Chameleon is very good
2nd again after Chameleon
O think this is good but light up my life and chameleon is better.