Once you know you’re golden, you are unstoppable honey! And so it goes with Brooke Borg, who finished as runner-up to Ira Losco in last year’s national selection in Malta. A year later she’s come back to slay the competition and has now been crowned your favourite leading into the competition on Saturday, February 18.
Brooke won the poll in landslide, earning 872 out of the 3,565 votes cast. That’s over 24%, y’all. She also managed to conquer the Wiwi Jury, finishing in first place with our panel of music un-professionals as well. One juror described her entry as “head and shoulders above anything else in the contest.” H.E.R.E. Brooke is here!
But it’s not going to be a walk in the park.
Janice Mangion finished in second with her Maltese-language song “Kewkba”. Her poignant and powerful ballad was enough to capture the attention of our readers, much like the way she captured the attention of the audience at our Wiwi Jam in Valletta during Junior Eurovision in 2016.
Readers appear to be on par with the Wiwi Jury on this one too. The Wiwi Jury ranked Janice second out of the field of sixteen, with one juror saying: “She manages to show vulnerability and fragility amid all the big notes, making this touching ballad all the more touching.”
Rounding out the top three in our fan poll is Malta Eurovision Song Contest veteran Claudia Faniello.
Her country-esque ballad “Breathlessly” fared very well with our readers, receiving 298 votes. On the flip side, she only managed to rank twelfth out of the sixteen artists with the Wiwi Jury. Hopefully the live delivery will translate into votes in the live show. We know she can sing very well indeed.
MALTA EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2017 POLL RESULTS
1. Brooke Borg with “Unstoppable” – 24.5% (872 votes)
2. Janice Mangion with “Kewkba” – 13.1% (468 votes)
3. Claudia Faniello with “Breathlessly” – 8.4% (298 votes)
4. Kevin Borg with “Follow” – 8.1% (287 votes)
5. Maxine Pace with “Bombshell” – 7.2% (256 votes)
6. Rhiannon with “Fearless” – 5.9% (211 votes)
7. Richard Edwards with “You” – 4.9% (174 votes)
8. Jade Vella with “Seconds Away” – 4.3% (152 votes)
9. Franklin Calleja with “Follow You” – 3.8% (136 votes)
10. Deborah C & Josef Tabone with “Tonight” – 3.8% (134 votes)
11. Shauna Vassallo with “Crazy Games” – 3.2% (114 votes)
12. Cherton Caruana with “Fighting to Survive” – 3.1% (111 votes)
13. Raquela Dalli Gonzi with “Ray of Light” – 2.9% (105 votes)
14. Crosswalk with “So Simple” – 2.6% (91 votes)
15. Miriana Conte with “Don’t Look Down” – 2.3% (82 votes)
16. Klinsmann Coleiro with “Laserlight” – 2.1% (74 votes)
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I don’t hate Brooke, and I think most Wiwibloggers like HER very much; it’s just that the song “unstoppable” sounds a bit… stoppable (when compared to “Golden,” which lost to the failed song “Chameleon (Invincible)”!!)
So there’s no hate here, just honest criticism of the song itself. 🙂
Kewkba feels way more natural and Eurovision ready than Unstoppable and Breathlessly. I suppose Unstoppable could do okay however Breathlessly is going to get lost on a lot of people, especially with that shocker of a first verse.
If I was to pick a winner it would be Kewkba.
Rehearsal Previews: http://www.tvm.com.mt/mt/eurovision/
Janice, my vote is guaranteed. Emotions run high, tears wash down my face….this song hits home, only Maltese people will understand.
Why everyone seems to hate Brooke why? :'(
Do they wanna finish in top 10? Send Brooke. Do they wanna win, send Janice.
All the hate for Unstoppable is unbelievable
Brooke copy paste Russia 2016… Can give please something different from other years?
Blandest selection on offer this NF season, mostly a bunch of “nothing” songs. Then again, the Maltese rarely ever offer anything to get excited about, probably the “safest” country ESC-wise…
@loppp7: Brooke being blocked by Janice would undoubtedly be a bitter pill if it were to happen. Her stage director had better bring something better if she wants to beat “Kewkba” (I’m saying this, having not seen clips of ANY of the rehearsals).
Brooke will win. Does she deserve it? NO
And yes, Brooke is overrated by eurovision fans.
I hope Brooke will finish second right behind Janice and Kewkba 🙂
Brooke please win!!! You’re the best for Malta surely.
I will bet on Janice and “Kewkba” to bring on the tears, and that will vault her to victory. Franklin will once again do waaaaaay better than most people think. I would bet good horse money that he finishes 2nd. I’m going with Claudia for 3rd.
Let’s have Kewkba win! It’s a much better song than Brooke’s and it’d be amazing to have Maltese back at the contest the same year we have Belarussian’s debut!
Brooke is overrated by eurovision fans only becuase she had best sogn last year and lost only because winner song sang betteer known singer in Malta.
Kevin than Maxime was best choice for Malta this year.
@Polegend – Malta already confirmed that whoever wins, wins with a full package. Since there was some upset over song change last year, they confirmed that the winning song won’t be changed, translated or significantly rebooted. So, if Brooke wins, we get her with Unstoppable as it is. Same goes for everyone else. This is it.
Brooke or Franklin for the win!
I really believe ”Unstoppable” is the best choice for Malta while ”Kewkba” is the best second choice. However ”Kewkba” would definitely score high especially with the jury votes but I believe ”Unstoppable” could even score higher than ”Kewkba”. While ”Unstoppable” can appeal well to the jury, it could also do well with the televote. Unfortuantely being Malta…I don’t imagine ”Kewkba” scoring high with televoting 🙁 The best safe option for Malta is ”Unstoppable”. It’s too early to say it would not qualify..it will finish at the bottom of the scoreboard…it’s too early to say. With a good revamp of ”Unstoppable”… Read more »
Post melfest snippets!!!!
Kewkba is the best
If Unstoppable wins it would be my favourite along with italy for the moment…..#mediterranean power!! 😀
Only NINTH for Franklin?!!
Where are your hearts? Hahaha. 😀
Let’s face it, she’s probably the only one those voters listened to or cared about. Brooke Borg should definitely go to Eurovision, but she needs a better song that would stand out. For me, the best choice would be Kewkba. Anyway, I predict Brooke to win MESC, with Janice 2nd and Maxine 3rd.
12. Claudia
10. Janice M.
8. Brooke
7. Jade
6. Maxine
5. Rhiannon
4. Raquela
3. Kevin
2. Cherton
1. Franklin
After many times listening to all songs and trying to create a top, I decided there are six songs I wouldn’t mind seeing as a winner: Bombshell, Breathlessly, Follow, Ray of Light, You and Kewkba. It will very much be decided by the live performance. Knowing Maxine Pace can deliver live, I am giving a slight edge to her. Her song is really memorable and different from all other songs this year. Having a Kewkba as a winner, though, would add so much to the language diversity this contest celebrates. It will be a battle of vocals among Claudia, Raquela… Read more »