She won the Malta Eurovision Song Contest in front of thousands of adoring fans. And on Tuesday morning Claudia Faniello looked as much a star in Kyiv as she delivered a visceral performance of “Breathlessly”.

Standing still and at centre stage, the Maltese stunner wears a hip-hugging dress with shiny embellishments, and it really pops against the gorgeous blue backdrop. At times the LED features close-up images of Claudia voguing to the camera. It also zooms in on her stunning décolletage, and we see Claudia singing between her own breasts. Yet owing to the stellar vocals and classy lighting, it feels somehow sophisticated and portrays a woman confident in herself and her stunning voice. The golden chandelier above her added a beautiful warmth to the performance as well.

This is a real grower. Prior to Eurovision it put me to sleep. But today Claudia proved her song has the emotional power to wake up an entire arena. The

Claudia Faniello — “Breathlessly”: Reviews and Reactions

Malta: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2017

Video coming soon

Malta: First press conference 2017

Video coming soon

Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews

Read all of our Malta Eurovision news here

Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)

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Denis
Denis
7 years ago

Good staging, boring song!

AngieP
AngieP
7 years ago

I’m not impressed by her rehearsal! And I haven’t seen it all cause for now we can only see almost 30sec.

It was beautiful! We know she’s a really good vocalist!
I’m not sure if I like the background!

Joe
Joe
7 years ago

Malta may qualify, but the other ballads need to fail for that (Denmark, Ireland, Bulgaria, Estonia, etc). Unfortunately, Romania comes after.

Americanvision
Americanvision
7 years ago
Reply to  Joe

From what I heard, Denmark came off as bland and Ireland had big high notes problems. So all she has now is Bulgaria and Estonia, which will be tough since they are two of the favorites.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
7 years ago

I still don’t think it’ll be enough to save it.

Ivan
Ivan
7 years ago

Malta in for sure .

M_K
M_K
7 years ago

She’s a decent vocalist, but that’s pretty much it. I still don’t feel the song, sorry. The staging looks quite regular, I’m actually getting a little tired of that shade of blue, to be honest. The Maltese song is a textbook example of kitsch, so they should have probably gone all the way (real candles, smoke etc.) to make it “authentic” (on some level, at least).

Ryan Hili
Ryan Hili
7 years ago

One of the best ballads this year. Claudia has a lot of potential and she shows it on stage. So underrated. I love it <3

Étoile
Étoile
7 years ago

A very elegant performance, bravo Claudia! :3

anonymous91
anonymous91
7 years ago

my fave rehearsal from today

1. Romania (glad there are no mountains or sheep, but something what really suits the song, it looks fun, youthful and happy)

2. Austria (Nathan really surprised me with the staging

3. Malta

4. Macedonia

5. Serbia

6. Netherlands (i am really ashamed of my country)

Daan
Daan
7 years ago
Reply to  anonymous91

I wonder if you will still be so dissapointed in our country when we win this whole deal!

Go Og3ne <3

anonymous91
anonymous91
7 years ago
Reply to  Daan

i hope not

Americanvision
Americanvision
7 years ago

Vocally, she’s on point! However, like Australia on Sunday, why the heck we need LED close ups of Claudia’s face?

With Hungary, Denmark, and Ireland left:
1. Romania (love or hate it, this is such a fun song and performance)
2. Austria (I wanna see more Nathan and his moon)
3. Malta (on the strength of her voice, it’s really good)
4. Netherlands (same but expected more)
4. Serbia (a little disappointed)
5. Macedonia (vocally subpar, very disappointed)

Americanvision
Americanvision
7 years ago
Reply to  Americanvision

I meant Serbia is 5th and Macedonia 6th

Eve
Eve
7 years ago

Yesss, go Claudia, my first impression when I hear the song was not wrong! She delivers EMOTIONS, nothing but pure emotions! And she looks stunning in that dress <3

Niko
Niko
7 years ago

Her song along Finland and Czech Republic are putting me to sleep big time! I don’t see it qualifying…

Eve
Eve
7 years ago
Reply to  Niko

This song and Finland’s song are completely two different kinds of ballads, and both wonderful.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
7 years ago
Reply to  Niko

Am with you, Niko.
This is such a step back from the Malta that sent “Warrior” and “Walk on Water”.
The close-ups of the face on the LED? Maybe if you look like Ira Losco but Claudia? Really?

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
7 years ago

I hated the song before, but this live performance was so good they might even be a borderline qualifier.