Malta 2026: Aidan with ‘Bella’
It's been about a week since Malta chose their entry with Aidan practically sweeping the jury at MESC and doing enough on the Televote to hold off Matt Blxkkxxksxs and his flute with ‘Bella’:
My view on this from Malta has generally improved since I first heard it before the final. As an aside, despite what my YouTube algorithm seems to think in throwing Aidan's entire discography at me, I have only listened to this a couple of times overall but the hook is quite strong and memorable, even if at the time I dint find it particularly interesting. That to me anyway suggests this might do OK on a recap and the USP of this is fairly strong. So far I've not eyed anything on the horizon particularly similar which is a good thing
Frankly though, I do get the sense this is something only a very established artist can sell to the full potential with a bit of a cringe factor to this, particularly if we get the full Brokeback Mountain styling. The whole "Bella" repetition whilst on the one hand allows audiences to get the point this is a romance song is just lacking in subtlety for me and a bit cliche.
Granted I'm not the target audience but it's still quite risky and a bit of an easy target to poke fun at, unless everything is delivered exceptionally. Aidan gives a strong performance but personally I'd play around with the styling and certainly drop the spotlighted diva handmoves which are particularly irksome, both as a move anyway but particularly for portraying what should be an emotional song as highly choreographed. The rose whirlpool is another bit of a pastiche that has the danger of taking away from the authentic appeal in a way perhaps highlighted by Louanne from France last year... Aidan does a better job I think in connecting and not getting sidetracked and conveying the emotion without looking rehearsed is the subtle balance needed in Vienna. Maybe the city's historical romantic charm will inspire…
It's a pretty good draw for Malta in the second half of semi 2 which is currently projected to be the weaker one. There's certainly a good chance at qualifying and Malta will be very happy to see the juries back for this song. Provisionally on my list to get through.
The final might be more challenging with this one of the traditional sort of songs that, unless framed as an actual challenger just tend to sink and get completely forgotten, something Malta themselves have historically struggled with and we're going back to 2013 for the last time they achieved a top 10 televote, interestingly with the last thing remotely like this. Juries are usually more kind and I can see this floating somewhere between 7th-15th with them depending on execution. Overall, I think this is heading for a mid-table position, perhaps a top 10 is just in reach if the televote does not completely evaporate between Thursday and Saturday.
Personal Rating: 12/20
Staging Potential: 15/20
Televote Potential: 12/20
Jury Potential: 15/20
Track Record: 5/20
Overall Rating: 59/100
Volatility Factor: 4/5 - I'm the least confident on this prediction from the four so far, low top 10 or an NQ both feature on the spectrum whilst the Televote could be respectful or non existent.