On January 7 wiwibloggs published a report suggesting that Aidan’s Malta Eurovision Song Contest entry “Dai Laga” may not be wholly original and could potentially be in breach of the Eurovision rules.
The national press in Malta got wind of the report, and it ultimately sparked an investigation at Malta’s Public Broadcasting Service.
Today the broadcaster quietly uploaded a revamped version of the song, which essentially removes the backing track that put the song under suspicion.
Aidan — “Dai Laga” revamp
As wiwiblogger Padraig wrote, “the link in question was to a production track with the very long title ‘(Justin Bieber, Major lazer type) Come Alive Prod By Lttb’ on BeatStars. For a fee, artists can download the track for use in their own compositions.”
“And if you listen, it sounds strikingly similar to the original ‘Dai Laga’ backing track.”
“We used the popular music-identifying app Shazam on ‘Come Alive’ a number of times, and on almost every occasion it identified a different song. All of which have used the same BeatStars backing track, and in places are indistinguishable from ‘Dai Laga’.”
“Obviously, Cassar put his own slant on things — for starters he added extra instrumentation — however, it was hard to ignore what both our ears and technology were telling us.”
According to the Eurovision rulebook:
“The compositions (lyrics and music) must not have been commercially released before 1 September 2017.”
At first glance, this wouldn’t appear to forbid the use of samples, as long as the 1 September rule isn’t broken. But if we go back to the Beatstars website, we can see that the backing track was first uploaded on 18 September 2016, and a version was uploaded to YouTube even earlier, on 14 August 2016. Also, multiple artists sampled it between then and the deadline.
But it’s not longer an issue as the backing track has been removed, either because Aidan wanted to play it totally safe or because Maltese officials gave him a gentle nudge.
What do you think of the new version? Are you feeling the song as much now?
Can someone please make a comparison video?
The opening still sounds just like another song…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpGpQh_Skkk
haha they just removed the bought track from the song and now the instrumental is just the bits he added on top, it’s kind of empty now
Lol he was already my winner but I actually think it sounds better now xD
what does ‘dai laga’ mean exactly?
“Got a chance”, supposedly.
It doesn’t explain much, don’t worry.
The questions about the kid’s 5-year old “anniversary” and the enemy of his soul are still yet to be answered.
Oh no.
Not a bad change at all. It’s simplier, but more effective, in my opinion.
Who is he?
Aidan Cassar, born on 17 December, 1999. He comes from Zejtun, Malta. He is a Singer.
Google him to find out more.
Wow, I didn’t think it was possible for this song to get any worse
“Our original report sparked an investigation”
WWbloggs be snitchin! LOL
But yeah, good call on Aidan. I doubt it can go out and win it all, but fairness to fairness
I didn’t think it would be even possible, but it sounds even worse now.
I can’t tell the difference….just sounded quiter in the first verse
Honestly like it better this way!
Fair is fair. Well done Padraig for helping Malta sort this out. 🙂
Interestingly, since the lyrics and structure of the music stay exactly the same as before, my original “wiwi jury” comment and rating still stands. Sorry Aidan. Please try again next year.
Sounds better now in the chorus at least; more drive…