Time to head to Hamilton Travel and take a trip to Malta, y’all! The Wiwi Jury, our team of music unprofessionals, are set to review all 16 acts and songs from Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018.
We’ll be looking at one song a day up to the live final on February 3. Up first for the jury is Aidan, with his song “Dai Laga”. Will his tropical sound (albeit potentially “borrowed”) charm the jury? Find out below.
Aidan — “Dai Laga”
Note: “Dai Laga” has since been revamped, which removes the controversial backing track but generally keeps the same structure and original production elements. The reviews relate to the earlier version.
“Dai Laga” Reviews:
Chris: Although by very definition, “Dai Laga” isn’t original, at least Aidan is doing something different compared with a lot of the other MESC songs. It feels like he tries to go too far on this though, with the production sending his vocal bouncing from one octave to another. It just doesn’t sound right
Score: 5.5/10
Sebastian: Although he’s serving some sweet tropical flair, Aidan’s grand entrance to the MESC leaves a bit of a bitter aftertaste. “Dai Laga’s” arrangement and tempo is unmistakably fresh. But that beat is paired with some questionable lyrics that leave you wondering why he cries at night. No doubt, Aidan’s talent will ripen into something rich and tangy. But he’ll need a bit more time to cultivate his creative juices.
Score: 4/10
Barnabas: When you try to sound like Ed Sheeran but you lack that creativity, you might end up with tunes like “Dai Laga”. The whole song is plain and cheesy with cliche lyrics. Together with the backing track issues involving the song, it’s a very unfortunate package.
Score: 3/10
Luis: Malta’s got a bunch of tropical beats in their selection this year, but “Dai Laga” stands out amongst them. It’s fresh, fun and the three minutes fly by. However, there are a number of problems, beginning with the excessively processed vocals. While the lyrics aren’t the most inspired ever, the hook is kind of an earworm.
Score: 6.5/10
William: Among the more contemporary tracks in this year’s selection, “Dai Laga” smoulders with Aidan’s smooth vocals and some current production. While I don’t advise anyone to be their other’s dream (awkward), I do advise you all to channel Aidan’s vim and vigor — he is selling this! My main criticism is that the overproduced “show them what you doing” makes him sound demonic and as if he’s got a tough piece of steak stuck in his mouth. All in all a solid debut!
Score: 7/10
Deban: Overprocessed vocal chanting gibberish over a modern beat. This lacks authenticity, and instead, feels like a desperate attempt to be urban! Towards the end, the overall tropical vibe which feels forced begins to annoy me.
Score: 2.5/10
In our Malta Wiwi Jury, we have 17 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Robyn: 5/10
Angus: 4/10
Antranig: 8/10
Jonathan: 8/10
Natalie: 8.5/10
Bernardo: 6/10
Rezo: 8/10
Josh: 4/10
Jordi: 5/10
Lukas: 8.5/10
Patrick: 7/10
Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 2.5 and a high of 8.5.
WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.97/10
What do you think of “Dai Laga”? Do you think Aidan could win MESC on his debut? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below.
I am rooting for “Song for Dad” in particular, but Brooke is in 2nd, and maybe would be 1st if it wasn’t for that awful lyric “that shirt won’t get you laid tonight” which is completely OTT and not subtle at all….
No reaction video to Malta’s songs? I wanna laugh…
Just imagine it…
Reaction: Hmmm. Interesting. (Silence. Tumbleweed).
That’s what WE think. What do YOU think? Let us know in the comments below. Also don’t forget to like and subscribe. See you later! Byeee! (Music plays out).
There’s nothing good about this song.
1) The “unmistakably fresh” sound he brought up actually expired two years ago.
2) He cannot enunciate–I can’t even tell he’s singing in English throughout most of the song.
3) His voice isn’t pleasant to the ears, it’s only good for sign language.
4) His technique is appalling.
5) The lyrics are tragic–but that’s a problem with most Maltese national final entries.
Overall, a bland and unoriginal product combined with vocals that leave a lot to be desired. I’ll give it a 0/10.
(Also, from what some people from Malta have told me, he comes off as not nice, and he only cares about success rather than his artistry. Bling, not the music. A reverse Warholian expedition. Can’t support him in no ways, sorry.)
Oh No!
There’s nothing good in this NF let me add…
This song is a copy of euphoria!!!
Parts of the song I like and parts of the song I don’t get!!
As in why is he so happy about letting his parents down?
I like the random voiced parts ‘ Show them…..’
I think it’s one of the few non-bland songs though as it shows some personality. Too bad the music is an unoriginal product.
7.5/10
Review Part 1: Oh no! “I miss Franklin” were my first feelings listening to Aidan’s “Dai Laga”, which it turns out may not entirely be Aidan’s work anyhow. Ignoring the sampling issue, what is this song actually about? Is it about a kid who let down his parents because he couldn’t hook up with the “new girl in town” and instead cried like a baby and ran away to become a pop singer? And who will be the enemy of his soul? No idea. (Oh no.) The music consists of the 4-chord sampler round divided into the main hook chorus,… Read more »
Part 2:
If he doesn’t win this year, I hope Aidan comes back with something better. This song left more questions than answers. 3.5/10
Hmmm. Testing comment post, as my first few attempts bounced.
It’s not letting me post the review, so I might have to split it up into multiple parts. Sorry about that.
Part 2 is refusing to post, no matter how many re-writes I give it. The score is 3.5/10.
Interesting how that took about 10 re-writes before it would post. It would be nice to know what was wrong with the previous 10 versions.
Quiet boring and generic… Won’t get more than 4/10 from me.
I don’t really like that “tropical” style in general, it always sounds like a very lazy attempt of making a song sound “interesting”.
I think it’s going to do quite well in the Maltese national final simply because there are too many songs this year that sound alike. I’m not so sure about Eurovision though. It might (narrowly) make it to the final thanks to high jury votes but eventually end up in the bottom five.
I’m pretty sure he’s competing for last place. There’s no way the juries will hand him one single point after the scandal around the ripoff.
The juries have put Malta in the top 10 every single time since the juries were reintroduced except for the 2009 and 2012 finals.
I’m talking about MESC. There’s no way he’s going to Eurovision.
Liking this song
It’s current, it’s fresg and it has a tropical sound that makes you relax.
However, it’s repetitive, uninspired and it doesn’t stand out.
4/10
This is so underrated Song
A generic song with very repetitive chorus and little to say. Dai Laga part sounds like a repeat sound on a bubblehead figure. I think Aidan is a good singer, though.
4/10
Those who scored this higher than 5 voted with their pussies not with their ears. There is nothing original in this. If you’ve listened to pop music for the past 2 years, you”ll be sick of the tropical beat already. This is a trend 2 years too late, stale & sung through his nose. This scores a 0/10
A Godga stan always has flawless TASTE.
I’ve a strange feeling this’ll win. I hope to god this won’t!
None of the songs in MESC are worthy of an above 4 score
Why are you still interested then? Keep on hating 😉
Not interested in MESC after hearing their songs, none of them would qualify for the final. I am very much here for the rest of the ESC.