She’s golden like the rising sun that shines over the Mediterranean island of Malta. And now Michela Pace has made it well and truly clear that she can handle her reggaeton-tinged banger “Chameleon”.
Over the weekend the 18-year-old gave fans their first taste of her vocals on the track during a performance at Café Del Mar. She brought pop-drops and sunny beats to the North-Eastern coast of Malta’s main island near St Paul’s Bay. This is how you make a stunning setting even more stunning!
Big stage show coming?
Her most recent stage may have been a small one, but we know that Michela — who hails from the Maltese island of Gozo — has big plans in store. She’s working with noted choreographer Ambra Succi (the genius behind Loreen’s “Euphoria” performance) for Tel Aviv. She’s also called on Front Row Pictures, who designed the graphics for Jamala’s mesmerising performance of “1944” in 2016. Bringing a big stage show to reflect the music video would certainly keep a good thing going. Michela’s video is among the most visually-arresting of the year.
Michela is being discussed as a dark horse to win the whole competition. As you can see from her live performance, the vocals are definitely there. But this dynamic song demands a dynamic performance. The live video makes it clear that choreography is essential to keep this interesting. But the foundation is there, and we’re sure she’s just keeping her staging a surprise.
Just say it with her now…
Chama-Chameleon! What is the Maltese entry this year actually all about? Chameleons are reptiles known for changing colour according to their mood, and the theme of colour is very prominent in the music video. The first verse is laden with colour metaphors: “I’m bluer than the ocean, I’m golden like the rising sun and, I’m red with hot emotion”.
The pre-chorus then takes the song to a place of empowerment. “And when they try to hold me down, inside a box I’ll find my way out,” she sings. That spirit of perseverance continues in the chorus where Michela expresses her doggedness and determination. “When life brings me trouble this I know, I never walk away na-na….We are technicolour watch us go, we never walk away na-na”.
Michela will perform in the 11th slot in the second semi final, in between Croatia’s Roko and Lithuania’s Jurijus. She has a strong position and a great track, so do you think she could bring Malta back to the final? Let us know in the comments below, or on Twitter HERE. You can also follow our YouTube antics HERE.
Pienso que esta canción tiene un buen potencial para ganar. Yo voy a votar por esta canción. ¡Muy bien y buena suerte Malta! Los 12 puntos de España van a ti
This will have the same fate as La La Love. She is a good singer, the song is gaining traction pre-contest but a singer of her genre, age and experience cannot and will not execute this type of song properly in front of 200 million people.
As others have said…not really learning a lot here. The track has a lot of backing vocals on it and the stage is too small to really indicate if she’s comfortable delivering any choreography. Having said that, nothing here was a disaster or a reason to be negative about it. Still a really high-potential entry.
In other words, usually when professional singers sing to a backing track its prerecorded or in most cases, miming
Oh she’s singing to a backing track smh ….like Belarus, wow, not allowed in Eurovision though, should really sing live she could just be singing the chorus bit there, I’ll wait to hear her real voice in the Semis.
I think that’s really a hard song to sing and if she delivers decent vocals on stage, this could do well in the competition.
Hard song to sing? Are you joking? The song is flat, very easy to sing without much effort.
Please notice that I’m not saying the song is bad or she’s bad. In fact I like the song
Just don’t say its a hard song to sing, you can’t say that except if you understand zero about singing
I just expressed my opinion, I’m deeply sorry. I just thought, that the vocal performance will have a big influence on that song, which, I think, has some unusual chord shifts and stuff.
Any link from the Gozo performance?
A doubt I also have with Srbuk, I’m afraid she’ll worn herself out quite fast. Plus, her vocal was overshadowed by the prerecs. I’ll wait until rehearsal and see if the backing can support her. I hope so. On the other hand, she’s shown versatility in this clip, sings well, and good enough for a great performance.
I see Malta in TOP 5 with juries, but not in TOP 13 with televote
Hi Malta, welcome to Tel Aviv. I have an uncomfortable question for you. Is your instrumental track full of backing vocals?
Lol as if not all countries have pre-recorded tracks. In any case, in SF2 she will prove you wrong 🙂
Yes it’s common on all the preparties, are even used for real on MelodiFestivalen, lots of national finals and suddenly it becomes a problem being played on a local club.
Don’t waste your time trying to explain. Some people just come on this site to hate on ESC even though they say they are fans of the contest 😉
I’m not a hater, truth is the truth, the song she’s singing here has 80% pre recorded vocals. I didn’t say she has no voice! We will see if she slays soon. And no, a few countries at pre parties didn’t have pre recorded vocals, see Greece, Israel etc…
I belive they start on sunday 5th
May 4th
Was there really any doubt? She nailed every performance on her XF journey. She’s got a great team behind her and an amazing song. Some of you have to stop being so negative guys … after all, she’s only 18, she’s got a bright future ahead!
Malta will be in the top 5, just wait and see!
Before this live video, I was afraid of that she wouldn’t have passion and deliver the song. However, now I am confident about her, she will not look like Blanche did on the stage. Still it needs a powerful visual and choreography. Let’s see what happens in the rehearsals! Chami-cha-Michela-on!
12th place in the final
in that case its great :). But i feel higher
I get a bit of ‘If love was a crime’ vibes (it’s of course the same team behind). They are also using the same stage director. This could place top 5.
I can see possibilities but I doubt it’ll boost high. Half of Bulgaria’s good result also happened because Poli Genova returned.
1. Pre-recorded backing vocals
2. Not impressed by the vocal but not at all bad
3. Same stage presence as Dua Lipa lmao
Overall, song is still good, but it seems clear that it needs a good stage show with colorful LED’s and this will smash it and qualify 🙂
She looks confident on stage and she sings really well. This will qualify for sure. Excited to see the stage show in Tel Aviv. Just one thing: Please stop that annoying advertising on YouTube! 🙂
ESC Fans complaining <3
Shure she can sing and she s a winner .
Well, she is great of course, but it was like 80% of pre-recorded backing vocals, we don’t hear her that much.
Was singing over the Karaoke version. Listening to it first gives a better idea of the 100% solo parts.
I thought I was the only one that thought about this and I was afraid to spit it out cause people would hate me lol. And she skipped the high note at the end which is the only vocally challenging part of the song, I hope she sounds great live cause the songs stands out a lot compared to Replay and She got me
I had no doubt since day 1 that she would nailed it. Otherwise Malta team would have never picked that song. Ira Losco said Michela is a 360° artist and she is right.
She can win this all ??
– amazing voice
– young singer
– huge talent
– summer hit song!
Lets admit she that she has a chance, even though a lot are saying Netherlands which honestly I do no know what is all this hype about that song ..
If you like Malta’s entry, that’s fine but there’s really no need to shade on other songs.
Agreed! Malta is AMAZING but no need to shade other entries
I love both Malta and Netherlands but I’m confused – isn’t being able to say you don’t like a song all part of being a Eurovision fan? David didn’t throw shade in a harsh way.
She looks confident on stage and sings really well. This is gonna qualify for sure. Excited about the stage show in Tel Aviv. Just one thing: Please stop that annoying advertising on YouTube! 🙂