After three months of auditions, the final 12 contestants have made it to the live shows of the X Factor Malta. The contestants took to the stage at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre to show viewers what they had to offer. In the end, two acts were sent home while ten remain in the running to represent Malta at Eurovision 2020.
The show kicked off with a group performance. The final 12 tackled Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and the song became the theme of the episode as each act went on to showcase their individual talents.
We don’t have the space to go over all 12 performances of the evening, but we will look at one stand-out performance from each category.
In the Groups category, girl group FAITH delivered their take on “That’s My Girl”, by fellow X Factor girl group Fifth Harmony. The song let them show off their close harmonies and showed that the group — who were put together at Bootcamp — have developed a close bond.
In the auditions phase, Boys category act Karl Schembri became known for his popera performances. But this time, category judge Ray Mercieca took him in a different direction. Karl performed “Smalltown Boy”, the ’80s hit for UK pop group Bronski Beat. The synthpop song let Karl show off his falsetto but still give an edgy pop performance.
It wasn’t a good night for the Overs category. All three acts ended up in the bottom three, with two going home. The remaining act was Celine who interpreted James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”. Celine focused on just the song’s chorus and used it to show off her unique vocal style. Sadly the performance didn’t connect with audiences as Celine ended up in the bottom three.
For the Girls category, it has to be Destiny. She performed the Kygo and Whitney Houston version of “Higher Love”, blending a soaring gospel-inspired vocal with a modern electronic pop style. Destiny showed that she was able to move away from her beloved soul classics and can deliver a contemporary sound.
We also want to give a mention to Bloodline. The duo gave a mash-up of the classic show tune “My Favourite Things” and Billie Eilish’s “Lovely”. They brought a gothic stylishness to the performance, showing off their elegant vocal harmonies.
But in the end, two acts had to go home. The two unlucky Overs were Ed Abdilla and Paul Anthony. Ed was immediately eliminated after receiving the lowest public vote. Paul was in the bottom two sing-off with Celine, with all four judges choosing to send him home. Overs category judge Alexandra Alden was in the unfortunate position of having to choose between two of her acts.
X Factor Malta – Live show 1 performances
- Group performance – “Born This Way”
- Jasmine Abela – “Crazy in Love”
- Kyle Cutajar – “Writing’s on the Wall”
- Yazmin and James – “Señorita”
- Celine – “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
- Justine Shorfid – “Always Remember Us This Way”
- Ed Abdilla – “Devil’s Robe” (original)
- FAITH – “That’s My Girl”
- Karl Schembri – “Smalltown Boy”
- Dav. Jr – “Life is Good” (original)
- Paul Anthony – “Feel”
- Bloodline – “My Favorite Things”/”Lovely”
- Destiny – “Higher Love”
- Sing-off: Celine vs Paul Anthony
The X Factor Malta continues next Sunday, with the second live show, including more performances and more eliminations.
What do you think? Which performances did you like? Are you happy with this week’s eliminations? Tell us in the comment section below!
Destiny will win, the whole Maltese show is built aroud her. Who ever doubts that?
Seriously Karl the standout performer of the boys category? How about we talk about his disgusting attitude which Howard commented to him about! This kid is arrogant and rude, can’t wait to see him ho home.
There are two sides to the coin and you cannot comment when you do not really know what goes on behind the scenes, it makes you the equivalent of a Maltese potato that absorbs and believes everything she sees and hears on reality TV.
Robyn, Karl was mentored to sing Nessun Dorma, but he wanted to go outside of his comfort zone and sing something more current adapted to his vocal skills. I think our judges where totally pissed off that the public liked him so much. He would definitely have been eliminated if he sang such an old fashioned song as Nessun Dorma. Howard wants to kill off the competition so that one of his groups wins the whole competition once again. That s what happened. It s not about Karl being arrogant but about him wanting to be current like the other… Read more »
Off-topic: In Spain, the eleventh series of Operación Triunfo kicked off last night, and it’s not exactly off to a glowing start with its lowest-rated season premiere ever.
Out of the six series of OT aired on TVE (seasons 4-8 were on private broadcaster Telecinco), this will be the first to not serve as Spain’s Eurovision national final. How much do you think that it might have factored into the ratings underperformance?
as long as CELINE is safe i’m good
Shes very original and i like her but dont you think she will have a hard battle to stay in next week?
CELINE doesn’t need no negativity! pls only spread positive vibes
Sadly these kind of shows almost always favours young white guys and girls. The Overs and the Groups usually do bad.
Last year both Ben Purplle and Petra made it far in the live shows and they were both Overs, unlike the groups which were the first to leave. On the other side, I don’t see this happening, as the Groups is a very strong category this year. If we go back to the 6 chair challenge of the overs, Francesca was an amazing contender, as much as it was for Chantal in the Judge’s houses. So I don’t think that it’s about that “the Overs and Groups usually do bad”, but it’s more about the choice of the judge to… Read more »
Destiny and Jasmine were the best !
Is it just me or does the ”overs” category sound kinda ageist, especially since it’s such a low bar to cross. It’s like anyone over the age of 25 is already a relic.
I came here to say the same thing, it’s unbelievable. How does this thing even exists in 2020? Imagine if it were about other persons, on this blog so politically correct……. how is this possible?
I know it’s not a bad term per se and I know it’s a practice for years now. I just think that 25 is such a low bar to cross. It’s an assumption that people over 25 are far less likely to participate in a contest. And if a contest was designed for newcomers only, I’d even get that. But it turns out that talent shows often let previously established artists participate. Which makes no sense on it’s own right, but here we are. Thanks for giving some good examples, Robyn. 🙂
It’s nobody’s fault, maybe it was a good idea in the beginning, but these shows are becoming weider and weirder. They look like a chance for ordinary people, but they are not, I would not advice my child to go to such competition. They crush your soul for ratings.
u know what they say – just because it’s over, doesn’t mean it’s really over
Smalltown Boy is an inspired choice for Karl to sing. Destiny is amazing, but Karl is killing it too.