WHF 66 Valletta, Malta Comino Gozo - DRAFT THREAD CLOSED

by **Malta Comino Gozo** » Sat Aug 13, 2022 4:19 pm

Welcome to the Draft Thread of the 66th World Hit Festival! This will be the place where nations will work and post on their entry that I (the host) will then eventually transfer to the IC thread once it opens. The final deadline for posting entries will be 29th August, 23:59 BST (with the Live Draw following soon after, subject to change based on numbers) + 24-hour grace period. The IC thread will be up soon after. However, nations are free to make minor edits to their entries as I transfer them to the IC thread. There will be a 24-hour grace period after the entry posting deadline for nations to ask for edits as I post/finish up the IC thread. After August 30th, all entries are considered final.

For this thread, you can use any format that you wish when posting your entry. The only things that will change as it is transferred to the IC thread will be the header (which will act as a link to your postcard and will be located at the top of your entry) as well as the text being aligned to the centre for uniformity's sake. Otherwise, the host nation will not alter the RP aspect in any major form, but minor additions are liable to be made that will only come at the very end of your entries.

As written by Kalosia for WHF26: The host (Malta Comino Gozo in this case) reserves the right to make alterations to your RP when copying it over to the IC thread. However, these alterations will be limited to cleaning up the formatting as well as adding (not deleting) RP regarding the situation in the arena (i.e. how the audience reacted). Substantial/major alterations will not be made without written permission, and any further changes to an entry within the IC thread will only be done upon written request by the user behind it, and with host discretion.

Remaining Deadlines

Sign-ups Close - 21st August, 23:59 BST
Draft Thread Close - 4th September, 23:59 BST (with the Live Draw following soon after, subject to change based on numbers)
+ 24 hour grace period
Voting Week- 7th September 23:59 GMT or earlier - 11th September 23:59 GMT
Winner Known By: 16th September

The Running Order

Is revealed in the IC thread! Official list soon.

Additional Information

RP and Stage Info: When determining your performance, you are more than free to use the show + host city details as you write your RP. If you have any questions about specific stage effects or trying to see what is/isn't possible on the stage, don't be afraid to ask me questions through the WHF66 OOC thread, through telegram, or through Discord. There is lots of information from the previous Worldvision and or Sport hostings hostings in Valletta the forums including WV#85 and WV#96 and the Dawwar ta' Malta Comino Gozo

What is a Complete Entry?: A complete entry, by technical definition, is an entry on the draft thread with a usable tune and a complete set of lyrics (all stanzas, verses, and etc. covered). This means I can transfer a post with just pure lyrics onto the IC thread and mark it as a complete entry. However, I encourage all nations to put in RP to your entries. It makes the entry look far more complete than just lyrics on the page, and while it won't guarantee higher points, it will signal to the WHF community that you are putting in effort than just beyond lyrics. However, since time is often a crunch (aka me every WHF so I relate). What will not be transferred is an entry with incomplete lyrics, just a header, or one considered too low-effort or inappropriate for the standards of WHF.

Additional Information on Headers: You are encouraged to include the names of your song's IC producers and IC lyric writers. This information will go on your header. I will supply the header template used by Euskirribakondara and Normandy and Picardy (which will be replaced by a graphical header on the IC thread). However, you are not required to use this particular header for this draft thread, as you are free to use whatever format you use.

Note:
It is not the intention of either the host or the Overseer to stop any user from competing at the World Hit Festival as that would go against the reason of the Festival which is to bring people together. Thus, these are the new measures that will be put in place in order to make sure that you compete.

The Host will alert you that the Draft Thread is open on Discord and the OOC thread. At this point, you will be able to post your spot on the Draft Thread and start working on it.
The Host/Overseer will send a telegram to everyone when the sign-ups close (or a week into the Draft Thread) to everyone who has not submitted an entry adhering to the above entry standards (this includes those who have yet to submit an entry), reminding them that the Festival Draft Thread is still open. A reminder will be posted on #worldhitfestival too.
Between 24-72 hours before the World Hit Festival Draft Thread closes (before the Draft Thread), the Host/Overseer will contact you if you have posted on the Draft Thread but have yet to reach the entry standards of the Festival. We will outline what needs to be done to take you over the edge.
If you need more time or assistance, please contact either the Host or the Overseer about this issue so we can sort out a fair way to get you to compete. If you don’t contact the Host or the Overseer if you intend to get your entry in a bit later, your entry will be outright rejected.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!

WORLD! START POSTING NOW!

by **StrayaRoos** » Sat Aug 13, 2022 5:29 pm

XX. StrayaRoos
"Secret" - Alana Liao
Language(s):English
Lyrics:Luci Asqi,Alana Liao
Music:Luci Asqi,Alana Liao
Tune:Andromache-Ela
Conductor:Tim Uyaiq

About the Artist

Alana Liao is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Panem in StrayaRoos, in 2017 she won the StrayaRoos Junior Song Festival, then followed it up in 2022 with a victory in the Senior Edition, which made her be Invited to Participate in Roovision:Century, where she finished 6th with her song Black Hole, after an Abysmal televote score of 6 points

About The Song

"Secret" is a single from Alana Liao's Debut Album,which is titled Black Hole, it was released on July 29, 2022

The Performance

The Stage is empty,apart from Alana,who's standing in a Red satin dress,as the spotlight is on her,she starts singing as the beat starts

Moving me
in the rhythm every time you look at me
The angels from above gave you to me
it is the gift that is so heavenly
the Greatest

as the first verse ends,Alana ditches the microphone stand and goes down one of the catwalks,Soon after the LED Lights turn Teal and other shades of Greenish-Blue

It’s all i could wish for
All i could need
Are you the one?
are you my Little Secret

the lights fade,then they come back on,then repeat several times,until the chorus' second part begins

If we were alone, it would be so great
If we were alone, it would be so great
it will fix everything, come with me
We won’t be alone
La-la-la-li-la-la,ah,ah

Alana moves down towards the stage and then moves to the other catwalk,where the cameras then pan around the venue,until they reach her again

Ah-ah,ah-ah-ah
Can't you feel it
Ah-ah,ah-ah-ah
This is our secret

The chorus begins again and the lights flash on and off again

Under the tree
Our hearts beat in perfect harmony
It’s beyond any fantasy
Your eyes on me

The Lights shine on Alana,as she takes a step towards the end of the catwalk

It’s all i could wish for
All i could need
Are you the one?
are you my Little Secret?

The Green-Blue lights combo occurs again

If we were alone, it would be so great
If we were alone, it would be so great
it will fix everything, come with me
We won’t be alone
La-la-la-li-la-la,ah,ah

The beat slows down and the song starts to finish

Ah-ah,ah-ah-ah
Can't you feel it
Ah-ah,ah-ah-ah
This is our secret

Alana yells "THANK YOU" and exits the stage

by **Malta Comino Gozo** » Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:21 am

XX. Malta Comino Gozo
"Memory of Mine" - Sidney Vella and Olivia Walshaw
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Sidney Vella and Olivia Walshaw
Music: Sidney Vella
Tune: Arcade Fire - Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)
Conductor: Zak Robinich

Sidney Vella and Olivia Walshaw

Heralding from Valletta, Malta Comino Gozo Olivia Walshaw and born in 1980, the daughter of a doctor is the youngest of 10 children and was an extremely competitive swimmer before moving on to singing. Sidney Vella was born in 1976 in Laqba. At the age of 15, Vella started attending the MCG Academy preparatory school in Mosatra, where he lived in Abbot Hall. There, he played varsity basketball and football. After graduation, he studied photography and creative writing before moving on to songwriting and singing something he had also had an interest in.

After several years of jamming sessions, Sidney Vella and Olivia Walshaw joined forces in the late 1990s. This new husband-and-wife duo dropped its first song, March of the Trolls, around twenty ago, with the song's opening guitar riff being a clear pointer towards their musical bearings.

The classic sounds of 1970s Blues Rock and Old-School Metal are most certainly at the root of vocalists and guitarist Sidney Vella and vocalist Olivia Walshaw's work. Still, they aren't the only elements shaping the sounds throughout their self-titled debut album, which is being released on September 26, 2022.

Their new single Memory of Mine is filled out with acoustic guitars and bass drum thumps that feel far more in line with the band’s earliest material. Sure, ‘Memory of Mine’ is kind of cheesy, but it’s effective cheese. Also, who doesn’t love cheese? Sweeping strings and an ear-catching melody make the new single a winning one. After spending a decade trying to be cooler and slicker than their original sound made them seem, the pair are finally leaning back into the earnestness and anthemic nature of their first decade. A blast of sweetness, the track mainly uses acoustic instruments, delivering it an airy, organic feel.

It seems as though time is finally catching up with them, and if their WHF entry is the beginning of their slide into becoming mature elder politicians of indie rock, then the least they can do is make some good songs out of it. So far with "Frantic fever" and "Memory of Mine", Sidney and Olivia seem to make getting older not seem so bad after all.

Background

Malta Comino Gozo hadn't had the best of debuts in the World Hit Festival. Despite their second place Sinnlichšukai the country then came second last just two contests later. WHF was harder to crack than Worldvision and with more widespread points and often fewer nations taking part MCG slowly began to find its rhythm with six top 10 placings. This wasn't without the odd break when viewership was low amongst the population and when they were busy hosting Worldvision. MCGBC had often discussed a full withdrawal from the contest on numerous occasions but continued to strive at it until their break finally came in World Hit Festival 65 held in Beepee. Attempting its WV luck they sent their famous rock genre which had often done well for them at Worldvision. This worked in their favour scooping up three sets of 5 points and their first-ever win in the festival. What had been hard and challenging times for MCG often coming so close to winning before failing to make the top 3 had all been worth it for this.

Scorpion was awarded at the MCG music awards in Valletta back in July with a beautiful trophy from the King William Academy of performing arts and popularity in the contest skyrocketed. In what was WHF fashion the winner would host the next contest. MCGBC along with SRNP from Normandy and Picardy met up via video call and MCGBC gladly accepted to host. It became MCGBC's mission to improve the contest which had seen its participants dwindling in the last few additions. This much-loved festival was under threat.

Musical culture is famously profound in MCG and MCG artists pride themselves on the world stage competing alongside musical giants from Britonisea and Todlichebujoku to name a few and are happy to prove that it doesn't matter how small the country you are anyone can achieve greatness on the worlds stage. Having WHF on home soil meant a lot to the Malta Comino Gozoans so support and talks were put in place with various broadcasters who have expressed interest in competing in the past. With that talks were held with the Broadcasters from Elejamie and Norrp who will debut this edition and Carrelie and The Alezian Union who would return to the contest after a break.

Sidney and Olivia would enjoy being in the festival bubble, being locals they had done most of these attractions before but that didn't stop them from getting their free heritage ticket and exploring their beloved home nation. Besides, they both leant a lot of interesting things they didn't know already like the fact that chocolate was once banned in Gozo back in 1912!

Performance

The duo would play their own acoustic guitars and the orchestra would play a vast array of instruments would be used including the drums, steel drums bass guitar, piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, glockenspiel, keyboard, synthesizer, French horn, accordion, harp, mandolin and hurdy-gurdy!

The home support was exceptionally loud as the Malta Comino Gozoan act took to the stage! Being the first WHF entry on home soil it was obvious home support would be loud! The beautiful postcard would play out on the screen before the hall and the viewers.

The stage is dressed in fake pink and yellow flowers amongst fake green leaves that are sat on top of plinths scattered around the stage. Sidney and Olivia shared a quick look and smiled a nervous smile as they got ready to sing. The song opens with the bongo drums, and violins and Sidney begins to play the guitar. The guitar in his hands sang the language of the heavens, those serenades that reach to the heart in quietness and are born to us as a song. Already we can hear the vast array of instruments with the MCG duo making the most of the orchestra. The beauty of the orchestra is in part that it takes so many working in unison to create such beauty, a beauty that exists in the living moment.

The conductor was the lightning rod for all we felt in our world yet felt too enormous to express in the medium of words. The camera work for the whole performance is slow and steady. We are mostly focused on Sidney as he's cast in a soft glowing spotlight.

There's been so much to tell you now
You got a lot to learn,
They already know
And I've been contemplating the best for me
Always keep me humming that old tune
All those days are numbered like the last one

The song picks up the pace a little. The camera focused on Sidney as he strums his guitar. As he sings "Golden sun" a golden spotlight showers the stage briefly in a captivating summery glow.

You see I've been living in a time gone by
Living in the memory of mine
I swear I can't help but notice your face
Don't you know it's looking like the golden sun
Your eyes look into mine, as we drift behind the tree
And baby there's nothing you can say or do

Sidney and Olivia sing the "Oh's" together in harmony glancing at one another and smiling as they do so. Both strum their guitars in unison, delight etched onto their faces.

I said no oh oh oh oh
No oh oh oh oh oh
No oh oh oh oh oh
No oh oh oh oh oh
No oh oh oh oh oh
No oh oh oh oh oh

The camera pans over the left orchestra and back to the duo singing and smiling proudly we can hear Olivia supporting Sidney now a bit more loudly. The lights around the stage glimmer.

Your touch on my growing mind
You're the fire we must hold in our growing need
And baby that is enough
You see I've been living in a time gone by
I swear I can't help but notice your face
Just another shadow on another mind

The camera pans from Sidney as he glances over to Olivia on his far left and smiles fondly. As we get to Olivia we see her look over and do the same as the couple share a brief moment together. We then cut to a brief close-up of some musicians in the right orchestral pit playing the double bass, xylophone, glockenspiel, keyboard, synthesizer, French horn, accordion and harp. Even in silence, there is a divinity to musical instruments as the viewers watch how their form interacts with bright lights, and how their sweet hues begin to sing. Each of them is a portal of sorts for the artist and this is why they and their music are so beloved.

Your effect on my memory of mine
You're the fire we must ... hold in our growing need
And baby that is enough
Oh yes, I just got to be strong

Despite the quite sombre lyrics, the duo remain quite light, bubbly and happy. The spotlights around the arena begin to whirl around like fireflies round the arena. The stage colours start to mix causing a viscous mix of peach.

Turn back the hands of time
The memories of yours and mine
Just let me walk around
Through the streets of the town
Of the town

LED flowers begin to crawl up the screens as we have a shot of the whole stage angled from the left.

I said no oh oh oh oh
No oh oh oh oh oh

The song builds from acoustic strums to a soulful, jubilant outpouring. The camera shot is now from the back of the arena steadily moving forward as golden confetti begins falling down from the ceiling all around the stage fluttering down onto the duo in a delightful array of shimmers as the stage lights reflect off of them. Glowsticks around the audience are now waving warm gold. The pair were having a tremendous time almost getting emotional watching the confetti and glowsticks. It was a magical sight. The stage is lit in gold spotlights and the orchestral pits in shady pink. The golden spotlights perforated the air. The "M" fades between a yellow and dim white amongst the shaded pink backdrop. The camera then pans slowly from right to left across the stage as the confetti rains down. The breathtaking pyro confetti sparkles as it pours downs. It's a captivating sight.

The LED screens shift scenes, the darkness moving down and away as the LEDs are filled with the canvas of pinky yellow hues. The lights dim slightly too, changing from black to pink and gold to match the LED. Both the duo remain animated twisting left to right every so subtly as they sing. The camera takes yet another upfront shot, slowly panning outwards as Olivia steps forward, hand on her heart, tapping her chest to the soft click of the beat. Her eyes shimmered as they hit the ray of a spotlight. A smile hits her face, as, despite her nerves, she is hitting every note. Sidney's vocals are tinged with sorrow as he continues strumming his guitar.

There we are
In this little town of ours
Growin' up I was counting down
Every single day
'Til we made our getaway
But you said you could never see yourself
Trying to make a life anywhere else

After a shot of the orchestra on the right and left, backlit by the various light panels and the floating point of light, the camera view returns to showing the stage from the audience's perspective. The lighting fades back to darkness, before tender beams of golden light, echoing the light strums of the guitar strings, fade into view on the upper stage. Sidney looks out into the audience avoiding eye contact as the camera cuts to him. The camera then cuts to Olivia. Her eyes are dreamy as they catch the light, and she regards the camera view with warmth and affection as she sings in unison.

Right
Your touch on my mind
You're the fire we must hold in our growing need
And baby that is enough
You see, I've been living in a time gone by...

The stage keeps its peachy glow now with some added purple lights. The beat builds once more as the stage lights flash gently to the beat.| We have a quick shot of a man in the orchestra playing the guitar, only his guitar in the shot.

Your effect on my memory of mine
You're the fire we must hold in our growing need
And baby that is enough
Oh yes, I just got to be strong
I just got to be strong

The background LED screens to start showing flowers blooming. We have various slow and relaxed shots of both singers and close-ups of the stage with the camera often putting away briefly to the orchestra.

Drifting in dreams
Through islands
Lost in the stream waking to find
The memories of mine

We have a right-angle shot of Sidney's right profile as the camera focuses on him and zooms in slowly so we are left with a facial shot as he raises his left-hand high. His glossy eyes shimmer with emotion.

I said no oh oh oh oh
No oh oh oh oh oh

Sidney and Olivia then spread their arms wide like an eagle and stamp their feet, right to the left before bringing their back inwards. Confetti begins to fall again. The lights around the arena twinkle deep pink and deep blue, and the camera, floating over the excited audience heads, moves towards the stage quickly. Sidney plays his guitar passionately his face concentrating on playing the guitar but also you could make out a smile appearing on his face again. The flowers grow up the LED screens slowly. We can hear Olivia supporting with the vocals, repeating the lines. The camera pans across the arena showing the whole stage lit in perfect baby pink and yellow. The confetti still showered down often catching the peachy-coloured spotlights causing a slight twinkle as the light reflected off of them.

The memories of mine
The memories of mine
The memories of mine
Counting the days
The memories of mine
Waiting for something to take me away
Waiting for something
To show me the way

The MCGozoan strong audience is on their feet cheering loudly for their home act. The conductor turns to the audience, and bows with a beaming smile. Sidney and Olivia had done their nation proud as they join hands and bowed to the audience and received another roar of cheers and applause. "Grazzi Valletta!" They both shout.

by **Elejamie** » Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:46 am

XX. Elejamie
"Since I Lost Him" - Aurora Cassidy
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Aurora Cassidy
Music: Soraya Esposito, Chris Basset
Tune: Mariya Takeuchi - Plastic Love (Ignore the sounds at the beginning and the end, copyright shenanigans took down the video I was going to use)
Conductor: Chris Basset

A promotional picture of Aurora Cassidy, kindly provided by her record label.

Aurora Cassidy was born in Playa de Rocas, NUPA, on 13th May, 1995. Born into an Anglophone family in the primarily Spanish-speaking tract of Nuevo Paraíso, she was the only child of notable Elejamian chef Richard Cassidy and his first wife Elaine. Her parents divorced when she was only a few years old and she would regularly go back and forth between the two houses. While it was easy and manageable at first, given that they ended up living in different parts of the same neighbourhood, she would end up moving to Blackport, SRTR at the age of 8 when her mother had a job there. She would move back to Playa de Rocas a couple of years later but didn’t spend too much time as she would end up moving again, this time to Birkirkara due to her father accepting a job as head chef at a restaurant there.

While she was living abroad and studying at an international school, she would get into poetry and would spend most of her time taking out poetry books to study them, as well as trying to write some of her own. One of them was even published in a local English-speaking newspaper, albeit as part of a competition when she was twelve where she would end up finishing in second place. Eventually, when she moved back to Elejamie at the age of 13, where she would settle back down in Blackport where she would resume living with her mother but would also join her high school’s glee club. This in turn not only led her to go over her old poems and try to adapt them into songs but it would also lead her into a career in songwriting. While she did still sing from time to time, not just in the aforementioned glee club but also in her spare time while she was getting her degree in creative writing at the Surter Arts Academy, she would spend more time writing songs for other people as well as poems.

In November 2018, she would meet Soraya Esposito, who was not only known as a concert pianist but also dabbled a bit in production alongside her younger twin brother Patricio (best known for being one half of Fata Morgana as well as his producer work post-breakup), through a mutual friend. Although things started off icy between the two due to the different styles and methods that they would use, they would soon start to get along a lot better and become friends. A few months later, Aurora would reveal that she was planning on releasing her own album and, indeed, had recorded herself doing vocal versions of old poems she had rewritten and adapted to not only fit her vocal style better but also to make it easier to sing. Upon listening to these vocal tracks, Soraya would then use outtakes and rejected beats she used for other people or herself to turn them into backing tracks. Once Aurora was satisfied with everything, she uploaded the finished album onto the internet under the name “Aurora Cassidy Sings the Blues” and then called it a day.

Fortunately, this gamble seemed to have paid off for her as, while it didn’t make a big dent on the singles charts, it did become an underground hit and the album received rave reviews, with some praising its lo-fi yet polished sound. While the money didn’t exactly pour in at first, resulting in her having to sell her car just to stay afloat (especially since she didn’t want to rely on her parents for anything), she was able to score a number of gigs which made her enough money to get by. One of them would eventually result in her getting a recording contract for a small label (that’s a subsidiary for a larger one) and she would get to work on her second album, which was self-titled. With the majority of it being produced or co-produced by Soraya, it was eventually released in October the same year, though she had to fight incredibly hard to prevent a re-release of her first one as she felt like a remaster or anything along those lines would ruin any magic she felt the original version had. There wasn’t a tour in support for the album for budgetary reasons and the fact that Aurora wasn’t really that green on touring in the first place but, rather, a string of unconnected performances in different places (even performing at the New Year 2020 celebrations in Coventry where she closed out the show). A third album, titled Cassette, was released in the middle of 2021 and she did go on a small tour which made just about enough of a profit to keep her label happy, primarily due to restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic not letting her make it as big as she would've wanted to. There's been no word on a potential fourth album, though.

Outside the world of music, she has two step brothers from her father’s second marriage as well as a younger half-sister from her mother’s current relationship. She’s also an avid chef and, had she not gotten into poetry and eventually music, she probably would’ve gone into the restaurant business. And she's somewhat shy outside of music; while she can handle herself OK in interviews if she's notified in advance and given a little bit of time to prepare, anything on the spot will just cause her to become flustered and unable to speak. She’s also a vegetarian, having given up meat while she was in university, though she does admit that she had once eaten something that she didn’t know had meat in it. And, in an interview with a magazine, she announced that she's bisexual and indeed she has dated men and women in the past, although she's currently single at the moment having broken up with her previous boyfriend at the end of last year.

The WorldVision Song Contest had been the premier musical competition for a long time. While Elejamie had received mediocre at best results at first before going on a long break, then a longer break after a one-contest return, it would soon become a respectable force following the 75th edition where they had finished second, just one point off from a tie for first place (where they would've won on tie-breakers). However, that would prove to be a curse as that was also the edition of the infamous "Monterra Screwjob", where a couple of nations had sent the wrong votes and they had to be corrected before the end of the show, which resulted in that single point being taken away and a boycott of the following edition in Rosario. While they would make the podium three more times after that (two second places in WV77 and WV94 as well as a bronze medal in WV91), they were unable to win the contest before their exodus following WV100 and the coinciding special edition; this was due to a plethora of reasons including a shrinking television audience, inconsistent results during the 80s and latter half of the 90s and artists becoming more apathetic towards taking part.

The World Hit Festival, on the other hand, was always seen as a niche competition at best. Although the competition did pick up a small amount of interest following the aforementioned Screwjob, especially when entrants for that edition Patricio Esposito and Yoni Maenilon promoted it after they stormed out of the Monterra Concert Hall, with interest growing more and more as the disappointments continued (even when the disappointments stopped for a brief moment, interest still marginally grew) Elejamian Broadcasting and Channel 3 repeatedly stated that they wouldn't really be taking part in the contest. The former due to the possible conflict of interest it would present with the WorldVision, even though the WHF was aired on their ETV Arts channel, and the latter because it probably wouldn't draw in enough viewers even if it battled the WV in the ratings.

Enter the CRTS, the Collection of Regional Television Stations, who are essentially a governing body for the fourth channels in the country. Due to EB not ruling out a potential return to the WorldVision even though they said they'll probably stop airing the contest once ratings are low enough, Channel 3 just generally being uninterested in that sort of thing and the digital channels passing over it for a variety of reasons (or were otherwise not asked in the first place), that left only one viable candidate. Upon buying the rights to air it from EB for a cool few million, the CRTS announced the contest will be simulcasted on all of its channels meaning that Nuevoparaísan viewers can watch it on TVNP, Burnetian viewers can watch it on BTV, viewers from Rosetta and the Elephant Isles can watch it on ITF, et cetera. There won't be commentary for the competition, although according to rumours it's because they can't find someone to recreate the chemistry Cerin Erali and Flynn Taggart had when they commentated the WorldVision, and commercial breaks will be included but apart from that they feel like it should still be an enjoyable experience for the viewers at home. And hopefully little to none of the issues that plagued the country's WorldVision run will happen here at the World Hit Festival.

After hiring someone to temporarily handle the whole business side of things in Lewis Montclair, who had also conducted the aforementioned WV94 entry, it was time to get to work on finding someone to represent the country. Fortunately they didn't have long to wait when they approached Patricio Esposito whose beef with the WorldVision is quite well-known. While he didn't have a song for them and was somewhat sceptical of the whole affair, he did manage to get them in touch with his twin sister Soraya who had a few songs in mind. She got in touch with regular collaborator Aurora Cassidy and, while they did work a new song not too long ago, they both eventually decided to re-send her 5th place entry to the 82nd WorldVision Song Contest, Since I Lost Him. While there were some concerns about whether or not such a thing would be allowed, a few representatives from the contest confirmed that the song would be OK to send. And after a quick call to Chris Basset, who had not only written the orchestral arrangement but conducted the entry in Tiferet and will conduct the entry this time around, the country was finally ready to debut.

While Aurora had spent some time in Malta Comino Gozo while she was growing up, she actually lived in Birkirkara instead of Valletta, which is where the contest will be held. Fortunately, she had been to Valletta a couple of times during that time so there wasn't really much new for her to do, really. Furthermore, both the other important parts of her entourage had visited the city before, Soraya because of an international piano competition in her teens and Chris because of a few concertos he was involved with (either as a composer or a violinist), so they were in the same boat. Still, they managed to find some things to do while they were there. The MUZA art museum was pretty much something that Chris and Soraya wanted to visit, so they pretty much went there. Aurora visited the Royal Palace for the first time in around 15 years, not just as part of a sightseeing tour but also for a nostalgic throwback to the time her father, the celebrated chef Richard Cassidy, cooked for the MCGan Royal Family for a celebration and she was invited as a guest of honour, especially since that was his only condition. They got some good pictures of the views from Mitżieb (which should also double as good cover art in the future) and a hearty breakfast in Citadella, even if Aurora's was a vegetarian one. Overall, a fun excursion, really.

Rehearsals were fairly smooth as well. While Aurora easily could've reworked her stage performance in Tiferet, something that she was leaning towards early on especially since they had a rear wall this time, ultimately she and her entourage decided to do a new staging. Partially because they couldn't figure out how to make the apartment fit with the staging, partially because it was recommended to her that doing something new might do a bit better than rehashing something she did a while back and partially because she figured it might as well be an interesting challenge. It probably helped that the stage wasn't as high-tech and the contest was a bit more low-key so there was no need to go overboard with effects, choreography and any other gimmicks along those lines. Ultimately, while she did retain a few elements of her original performance such as gestures, movements and bringing the backing singers onto the stage at the end to sing the outro, she and her crew were able to get a whole new performance done so there shouldn't really be that many issues.

And so, after rehearsals and breaks in between, we finally reach the performance itself. She was hoping that she would give a good show for her country's inaugural entry. Fortunately, even if she doesn't end up having a good placing, the CRTS have announced that Elejamie will be appearing at the next edition of the World Hit Festival (if only because I have a song I'm planning to use) so it won't be a one-and-done moment. Something that would hopefully help her relax a bit. Another thing that helped her relax was that Soraya would be there as part of the orchestra, at least for this performance, as she would be playing the piano parts. Eventually it would be time. She was called up and she went to her spot. Given that she had something planned for the performance, she didn't head out on stage just yet but instead waited for the right moment. But either way she was ready. And with everyone wishing her luck as she headed to where she needed to go, she was confident too. Here's hoping she can retain that confidence throughout.

N.B. While there will be some light synthesized music, as in the pure electronic elements of the song being played as a backing track, the majority of the song will still be performed ICly by the orchestra in accordance to the guidelines, even if not all of the instruments in it will be used, so theoretically it should be all OK. There will also be an electric guitar, drumkit, bass guitar and bongos added to the orchestra for this performance, with the latter two being added with Normandy and Picardy's blessing. Furthermore, while he said the tune was on the margins he did end up allowing it, so thanks for that mate. Genuinely appreciate it.

Shortly after the postcard came to an end, we quickly cut over to the conductor himself, Chris Basset. He looked into the camera and bowed with a slight smile on his face. He wasn't wearing much different from the time he conducted the entry in Tiferet. He still had the smart black suit with the matching tie and waistcoast, along with the pocket square made out a white handkerchief in his suit pocket and, while they weren't in frame, his shoes were shined impeccably. His hair was still combed back to be neat and tidy, his beard trimmed and styled to make himself look more professional. And he still had his trusty black and gold baton that looked like a giant pen. The only difference is that there was no pin in his lapel, whether it be an Elejamian flag one or something else entirely. He turned around to face one half of his orchestra and waited for his cue to start.

He didn't have to wait long. The camera then cut to a bass drum player hitting his instrument three times before we then cut to an aerial shot, one that was mostly centred around the string section, of the orchestra playing their instruments. After a shot of the violinists playing more of the intro, we then cut over to Soraya playing the brief piano section to end the lead-up to the song. She was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt that had the top two buttons undone as well as a pair of black flats, her normally windswept brown-ish hair more combed back to be neat and tidy, her piano being a normal black grand piano with the lid up. And then the main bulk of the song started, with the bass guitars, electric guitars and drums beginning to play in the orchestra while Soraya provided the necessary piano parts. The stage itself, however, remained empty although the rear screen just showed an establishing shot of a city underneath a VHS filter, much like the one from the single cover.

A few seconds before it was her turn to sing, Aurora started to walk down the catwalk with her microphone in hand and the camera tracking her until she was in full view, until she made it to the rear stage where she looked the way she came in. In fact, when she did finally sing, she quickly turned to face the camera, her hair flying in front of her face before she moved her head again just so it wouldn't be in the way when she started to sing. As for what she was wearing? A white sleeveless dress that went down to her knees, a pair of matching white high heels that had a strap around her ankles and a silver bracelet around her left wrist. She didn't have much in the way make-up wise, just a bit of eyeliner and some red lip gloss, with her hair looking just like it does in the picture in the Artist Background tab. At the second half of the first line, she leaned back a little bit so she was resting on the giant M on the back, a pose she kept throughout the second, third and part of the fourth lines. She leaned forward and started slowly walking down the steps as she carried on singing the rest of the verse, although when she reached the bottom the camera cut to a close-up as she sang the last line of the verse, her head bobbing a little bit while she sang.

I find myself tossing and turning and then staring at the ceiling
My mind starts to slowly wander as I start to remember
About how it all went wrong and how I got into this mess
How I was abandoned by the one I loved
So quickly

There was a quick close-up of the brass section as the trumpeters provided the necessary sting before the shot faded into a slow sweep starting from the string section. The violinists were playing their part as the camera slowly went up and to the right in a slow and smooth diagonal pattern with the camera tilting down to look at the stage, which just had Aurora standing around singing her song. At the end of the first line, there was a quick cut to the trumpets playing their instrument before the camera returned to a direct shot of Aurora singing, this time with an expression on her face that could be summed up as "keep a straight face to hide the pain" just to keep with the whole theme of the song. She kept that expression through the whole verse, although there was a moment during the third line where she slowly stuck her arm out to her side, as if she was telling something or someone to stop, though she lowered it at the start of the fourth line and slowly lowered her head throughout the rest of the verse.

Ever since I lost him I knew I had to settle on a façade
A distant, cold-hearted woman who is a complete enigma
The guys fawn all over me but I do not have much time for them
So I don’t get broken once again
And empty

As Soraya began to play the piano interlude, there was a wide shot of the stage as the spotlights started to turn on. Every first light showed a pink light, every second light showed a purple light and every third light was a blue light; not only was it another throwback to the whole 80s theme Aurora was going for with the song but it was also a reference to her own bisexuality. Of course when it was time for her to sing not only did the lights return to normal but the camera went to a medium shot of her. She was also standing on the left-hand side of the stage. During the first line she raised her free arm up as if she was about to do half a YMCA dance before she slowly lowered it in a circular motion during the second verse, sort of like a one-handed version of what she did in Tiferet. For the third line she looked left and right and during the brass interlude she flicked her hair, briefly moving any and all strands in her face, but for the fourth she slowly walked from one side of the stage to the other with a small spring in her step while she sang. As she sang the fifth line, she pretended to pull up a picture off the table and after that she leaned forward for emphasis, shaking the picture like what you're not supposed to do to a Polaroid. For the second half of the sixth line she looked to one side and to the other before she tilted her head down and pretended to throw the picture behind her.

Don’t try to understand my intentions
Don’t try to understand me
Gone are the days where I was so carefree
But I make the best with what I can do
When I’m home alone and there no one’s around
I stare at photos of us together
And the memories start to flood back

And then it was time for the brief musical interlude. There was a brief cut to the guitarist as he began to play his solo, which would soon fade into a slow truck of the stage, with Aurora standing in place as she (intentionally) awkwardly danced on the spot. Then there was an extreme close-up of the guitarist's hands as he played his instrument, presented as a faded picture-in-picture in the top right corner. Towards the end of the solo, the picture faded out and then the shot faded into a different one, one of Chris waving his baton while the string section along with Soraya started to lead into the next verse.

Indeed, when it was her turn to sing, we then cut over to an overheard shot of Aurora lying on her back, a small smile on her face as she held the microphone up to her lips to start singing. While at the beginning of the verse she looked up at the ceiling, trying to avoid staring into the floodlights for obvious reasons, as the first line headed into the second she slowly turned her head to the side. A second after it was fully to the side, the camera then cut to a shot which showed her head-on. Towards the end of the second verse and start of the third, she slowly began to sit up, moved her legs a little bit to provide a bit more balance, looked straight ahead of her and rested her hand on her chin, with her arm at a slight angle as if she was resting her elbow on something. This was a pose she kept as she sang the fourth line. However, as she sang the fifth line, she straightened her arm as she moved her hand up her face, all with an expression that looked like she was about to cry. She stayed like this throughout the penultimate and last lines, although towards the end of that last line she moved her head down and to the side a bit, as if she didn't want the camera to see her crying.

I think back to the time when he walked out
Without even saying a word to me
I stood by there waiting for him to come back
Hours passed and still no return
And then the realisation had hit me
He had chewed me up, then spat me right out
And I break down crying

There was a brief wide shot of the stage as it went dark before the spotlights started to shine bright white lights down onto the stage in time with the trumpets. There was a quick cut to the drummer playing a couple of beats on his hi-hat and snare before a quick segue over to the bassist sliding his fingers down the neck of his instrument; this was done so the camera wouldn't catch Aurora picking herself up off the floor. When it was her turn to sing again, Aurora just stood there at first, just facing the general direction of the camera most of the time although she would turn her head from time to time. There was also a quick cut over to the bongo player, playing the same notes in a perfect rhythm, just to let the guy have his brief time in the spotlight. However from the third line onwards, there was a faint glimmer of optimism on her face, with the camera slowly moving towards her as she slowly moved around in a small circle, sticking an arm out as if she was about to hold someone's hand. When she reached the end of the fourth line, she stood still and turned towards the audience, a small smile growing on her lips as the camera cut to a close-up of her face when she sang the fifth line of the verse.

So now I’ve told you my story about how I became like this
How my life came crashing down hard and how I reject new lovers
But I’ll be an optimist, maybe I will find someone new
Someone who will melt my own icy heart
Hopefully

There was a brief cut to the brass section of the orchestra, where the trumpeters and trombonists lifted up their instruments a little bit to play a brief sting. As a reverse cymbal sound played, one of the few synthesized parts of the song allowed to remain for obvious reasons, the camera cut to a wide shot of the stage. Much like earlier the floodlights were off but the spotlights were shining white lights down; the only differences here were that they were at different angles instead of pointing straight down and Aurora had her arms out and slightly bent. When it was time for her to sing the outro, three female backing singers (two white, one black) walked onto the stage from the right catwalk and started to sing along with Aurora. They were dressed in almost the exact same outfit as Soraya, the only difference being that they were wearing black heels instead of flats. While they mainly stood at the back of the stage, Aurora just swayed around the stage while she sang. Indeed, the camera would dart back and forth between medium shots of the stage, close-ups of her face and shots of the orchestra playing their instruments, including one moment where the guitarist lifted up the neck of his instrument to add a bit of flair as he played a certain part.

I’ll just break your heart
But you are free to try
I get by day by day
And then I start again
I’ll just break your heart
But you are free to try
I get by day by day
And then I start again
I’ll just break your heart
But you are free to try
I get by day by day
And then I start again

Much like in Tiferet, the string section ended the song by performing one last flourish towards the end of the last line. This was because the studio version ended with a fade-out, something that would be near impossible to replicate on-stage with live instruments, so it'd just be easier to come up with an ending to it. Regardless, shortly after it came to an end, the audience started to applaud the song they had just heard with the camera cutting to a couple of shots of that not long later. The camera then cut to the stage, where the backing dancers stood with Aurora before they all took a bow. With a smile on her face, Aurora raised the microphone up to her mouth and simply said "Grazzi." Mostly because she didn't want to go overboard with thanking the crowd, especially since this was a bit more upmarket than the WorldVision. Either way, she gave the audience a wave before she, her backing dancers and the rest of her entourage headed backstage so the next act could get ready.

by **Achaean Republic** » Sun Aug 14, 2022 9:14 am

XX. Achaean Republic
"La Rosa" - Aretuza
Title Translation: The Rose
Language(s): Spanish
Lyrics: Eric Villegas
Music: Alejo Montenegro, Eric Villegas, Salvador Montero, Sergey Montenegro
Tune: Elefante-Junto A Tí
Conductor:Mro. Víctor Friedmann-Pereira

The stage was filled with roses. Red roses. White roses. Pink roses. Yellow roses. A stray tulip here and there. Another stray orchid—and they thought those wouldn’t survive in the balmy, sometimes cold, sometimes hot, eclectic weather that Malta had!—flowers and flowers strewn on the floor. The delegation joked that all the bees in the Maltese islands would arrive just in time to bite the performers in the Achaean entry! But they needed more and more flowers, more than the ones they tried to buy from the markets around Valletta, hounding the flower sellers and the Roma with picnic baskets. There were enough flowers on stage to emit a beautiful fragrance that bordered on the side of sticky and humid, making the stairs quite slippery and fragile. At least the bordered LED lights were visible, flickering with red lights and pink lights and streams of white lights in between the stairs, almost as if it were pushing through a cascade of flowers. Or blood. One could hope that Alejo Montenegro, vocalist of Aretuza, remembered to take his Benadryl before hopping onstage.

The orchestra on the left and right flanks of the stage were requested by the Achaean delegation to wear a small red rose lapeled on their pins, close to the heart. The stage was set for symmetry and elegance, two words you never usually see coming from an Achaean in the same sentence. But simplicity was in the cards tonight--taking cues from the minimalist staging set in Beepee, an explosion of reds and whites would soon follow on the stage, coincidentally reminding the Malta Comino Gozoans of their national colors and gallantry.

As the music began, the violins on either side of the stage could be heard. The conductor, who waved to the audience seconds before the presentation, slowly flickered his ivory baton to provide the cadence and rhythm to the orchestra. It was quite challenging for the conductor to manage two sides at once, when he is on the right and the strings were on his distant left. But through practice, both sides of the orchestra managed to communicate perfectly, without allowing themselves become drowned out by the crowd.

On the center stage LED screen, the following verse in Spanish could be read:

La rosa,
la inmarcesible rosa que no canto…

Then on the left, the same verse in English:

The rose,
The unfading rose that I do not sing…

Then on the right, the same verse in Matlese:

Il-Warda,
il-warda li ma tgħibx li ma tkantax...

The Maltese cheered on for the sudden display of their language on set, by a friendly nation. It was only fair for the Achaeans. It was also the second time the Achaeans incorporated a Semitic language in their performance. When it did, the Maltese crowd went wild, seeing how the nations appreciated their culture. Staid, romantic, fervently Catholic—the Malta Comino Gozoans and the Achaeans had a natural alliance (though not necessarily a dreaded voting bloc) that was built upon the mutual appreciation over their balmy, sunny islands between big seas in a Multiversal singing competition and transformed into a reliable partnership, despite not sharing any history with each other. The Achaeans spoke English well enough that they could get by in the islands’ winding alleyways, while the Maltese braved the controlled danger and chaos and liveliness of the Achaean Republic whenever they needed to let loose for a little bit. It was for many in the delegation a welcome omen that might signify a victory, albeit it wasn’t a guarantee. But it was important to try.

Aretuza competed in the Casals Sinfónico Popular, the second edition of the prestigious musical competition organized by AS1 to select the Achaean representative for the competition. They only entered the competition because the group felt they had not much going for them. Vocalist Alejo Montenegro, his guitarist brother Sergey, their pianist cousin Salvador Montero and drummer friend Eric Villegas—himself dating Salvador’s sister for quite some time—were interested in a challenge. The Rosario-based quartet (though Salvador was from San José de Ornitola in Santa Cruz and Eric grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, of Dominican-Achaean descent) were taking a break from practicing for their new studio album and decided to sign up for the contest despite never having recorded with a symphony orchestra. The stripped-down nature of the contest also afforded the team to create a deeper set of lyrics, charged with beauty and symbolism.

Eric is a voracious reader. He enjoyed reading poetry to his girlfriend who often responded in kind, though she wanted to keep smirking at her smartphone at times. He then stumbled upon Borges’ poetry complete poetry collection at a used bookstore for 15 corcinos. A steal, he said to himself! He bought it and quickly grabbed a coffee from the stand and started reading. Then came La Rosa, a beautiful poem that deconstructed the rose, so sweet by any other name. Borges—the time-shifter! Borges—the analyst! Borges—the intertextualist! There were so many layers to his poetry, ones that Eric admired. He then decided to base their entry for the CSF on the rose. A tried-and-true cliché to send to an orchestral competition, yes, but for some reason it worked—and clichés work for a reason.

The band, who was invited by the Achaean delegation to compete with big musical names like Itamar (who won the World Hit Festival before), Maya Kinto, and even Moloch. They weren’t even on the public’s radar once the contest began, until the last vote was counted, a tie-break was announced, and the victory, through a convoluted and inexplicable count-back mechanism that gave the victory to Aretuza after counting the Achaean votes due to preference. This led to some controversy in the Achaean Twittersphere, but something that blew over when all was said and done and the band performed their song once more. The anachronistic sound reminiscent of a ballad or a bolero, the mellow pop/rock beat, the strings, and the expectations for Achaea to do well once more (and maybe even win!) would provide a gamble that would pay off.

Valleta was a beautiful place. Small, compact, balmy, and warm. So much reminded the quartet and the Achaean delegation of Rosario’s well-preserved Colonial Zone and the sumptuous Cathedral, the Sobrado del Virrey, the forts and promenades overlooking the Caribbean Sea—only this time, the same forts were overlooking the Mediterranean. The Old Town was no exception, and they could enjoy the sights, drink some wine, have a delicious plate of kusku and aljotta, drink some wine, Segway through the city’s grid-like streets—if they were able to stand up straight after all that wine drinking—, hitch a boat to the beach, and maybe drink some more wine there. They liked their wine, and it was a nice replacement for all the cheap, cold beer they were used to in Rosario.

It was hard to gauge the atmosphere and the charts, even in such a small and compact city like Valleta, where everybody knew each other (wait—is that Manamma canoodling with Lewis on the pier!?[/i]) and where Achaeans could know more about the history of the walled city. But they couldn’t get a feel over how their song was doing—though, as the delegation repeated so many times, the World Hit Festival was quite an unpredictable beast, and the song that’s sounding off (barring the local one) may not necessarily win the contest. Try as they may, they couldn’t assuage the band’s concerns and the orchestra’s dalliances—their first symphonic performance after an Unplugged concert in 2013—over a few glasses of prime Sicilian wine. At least the wine tasted good.

The first strings could be heard right after the conductor used his ivory baton to tap the stand. First, there were three violins. Then there were four more. The violins slowly kept chiming in with their strings after every movement. The drummer used his feet to slowly tap the drum in a beat—not too hard as if it were a rock concert, not too slow to dull the rhythm. The pianist, however, was smoothly playing the specially designed piano for the performance, which took hours and hours of getting used to from that Yamaha keyboard that became a Casio and then another Yamaha. His fingers glided smoothly towards the piano as if he played it forever—a nice little bonding experience that involved so much trust and dedication from the orchestra to allow him to play a concerto or a lowly pop song in it. And if it matters, the keyboard was also covered with red and pink roses.

Alejo sighed and tried to do some deep breathing—breathe in, breathe out—before he sang. He was still recovering from decades of smoker’s cough that left him with a raspy voice and a potbelly no women but his wife found attractive. He sighed again, breathing in and out, in and out, feeling his chest being filled with air and expel all his nerves. He could see the audience, some carrying roses (though that was unintentional). And then he sang.

La rosa es inmarcesible, que no canto
Cuyo peso y fragancia es la mitad
La rosa en el jardín de cada noche
Y sulfura hielo en la tempestad

Nothing in this world lasts forever. Nothing in this world smells forever. A rose can only shine for as long as the handler can take care of it. How can a rose fade away, feel when its roots are cut off, or it is placed on an empty vase and left to wilt and rot and die? A rose does not speak. A rose does not sing. It cannot even cry. Caring for roses feels like a waste of time. And yet, we love them. They carry an essence of romance, of effortless sensuality that not many flowers can compare to. They represent so much passion, tenderness, fearlessness that bards and poets cannot live without them. Even Borges, methodical and abstract as he is in his poetry, defined the rose with so much care and enthusiasm he was enamored by it.

The front cameras captured the LEDs, now gleaning in pinks, reds, and oft-whites, just like the roses that covered the stairs. Many roses—tens of thousands of roses laid on the floor and the arena. The side cameras took a wide view of the stage with the orchestra on both sides, the rose-laden stairs, the lights, the LED screens showing the life cycle of roses being planted, growing, blooming, wilting, and finally lying dormant. In a wide pan, it was impressive to see Alejo in the center, trying to extend his arms whilst standing close to his microphone. Then another pan to a camera near the stage, then to the strings, then the flutes, then the guitars (the delegation wanted the Aretuza to switch to acoustic guitars to stay with the “unplugged” look, but they refused) and then the drums. It helped that the stage was changing from light and airy colors to the light-hue of dusk, the impending nightfall.

Siempre en su soledad
¿Quién la alquimia recogerá
Si esa rosa es tan hermosa? ¡Yo no puedo!

El mundo me alegró
Y el pasado será igual
Si la luna es el espejo de este tiempo

Que así arde y latirá
Que no canta por cantar
Sin alcanzar.

The cameras slightly withdrew from the stage when reds, whites, and pinks were flashing on the screen. From the far side, it was interesting to see the vivid display of colors as the strings played and the piano kept gliding its keys into the sudden intensity, the major changes coming over the keys. There was a pleasant aroma—a strong aroma, nevertheless, but pleasant—of the flowers invading the space of the stage, and more flowers and petals falling over the sky. The delegation needed to be careful to have the petals fall on stage and not on the sides to avoid harming any instruments that needed their crisp, clear sounds to be fully heard.

Another left-right pan of the stage skewered towards the audience featured a view of the audience in the convention center. The waving flags, the cheers, the elegant dresses, they reflected the notion of beauty and the elegance of time. There were a couple of Achaeans in the audience, easily identifiable by their fueguero flags and waving them proudly, shouting a “¡Carajo!” or a “¡Puñeta!” in Spanish and singing along. Then the fiery flag waved proudly in a camera shot. At an angle, the flame took the shape of the rose.

La rosa resurge viva de la escoria
Aún débil y tenue con sus espinas
Llama desde el Oriente su fragancia
Pues surge su color de la neblina

Another camera angled showed the roses growing, budding and flourishing on the screens, the scenery transforming from day and night and back to day in a harmonious cycle repeating across all the LEDs. Then a close-up of the stage continued to show the strings playing alongside the piano and a brief glance of the maestro whittling the guidance of the orchestra with his ivory baton to the woodwinds and the brass sections. It was hard for him not to be swayed by the rhythm—music was his passion, music was his life. He was guilty of indulging in the mindless and mind-numbing pop (or so he jokingly derided in front of fellow musicians), but he always wanted to assist in collaborating in an orchestra for a popular song contest. He couldn’t do it last time in Estegoa because of pandemic concerns, so it would be stupid to pass up this chance to perform in the Casals Sinfónico Popular and, as an extension, in the World Hit Festival!

A handheld camera pointed at Alejo, who was grabbing his microphone and slyly showing the head of his snake tattoo on his right arm. He almost slipped up by accidentally touching the petal-covered stairs, a tad confused by the tens of light beaming at his body and caking up his face, baking into his eyes a longing sense of nostalgia that almost fit in with the motive of the song. He never bothered asking Eric, though if the song was supposed to be happy or sad, tearful or hopeful, remorseful or redeeming. There were times it would be best not to ask what’s going on his mind.

Siempre en su soledad
¿Quién la alquimia recogerá
Si esa rosa es tan hermosa? ¡Yo no puedo!

El mundo me alegró
Y el pasado será igual
Si la luna es el espejo de este tiempo

Que así arde y latirá
Que no canta por cantar
Sin alcanzar.

Another long pan of the conference center could be seen with the flag-waving crowds overhead and almost engulfing the stage on the side. Another quick glance, the maestro could be seen engaging with the orchestra to the tune of the song. His baton waving, the rest of the orchestra rose and shut and rose and shut, all while avoiding the falling rose petals on the other side of the stage. Alejo in the middle, singing his heart out, with petals falling down from the stage and dropping into his suit (it was hard to tell if they were real or fake from the camera’s glance. Also, how would they clean up all the petals that fell to the floor? Even more important, they only had one chance to do this right—they better switch the rose petals into confetti paper if they won!) The petals, however, did not interrupt the rest of the performance. They made it look as if the stage—and above all, the performance—was covered with love.

Once the song was done, Alejo bowed his head and curtsied to the stage. He also waved to the orchestra on both sides and to the maestro, who also bowed his head and curtsied. The singer mouthed a “Grazi!” to the orchestra as he anxiously awaited for the rest of his bandmates to reach the stage and greet the crowd. “¡Gracias! Grazi! Thank you so much!” said Alejo to the waving and cheering crowd. The same three words appeared on the LED screens with the words covered in roses.

by **Norrp** » Sun Aug 14, 2022 3:57 pm

XX. Norrp
"Steven and Helga-Louis" - Everything There Is
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Steven Keller
Music: Helga-Louis
Tune: Snow patrol-Chasing Cars
Conductor: Zak Robinich

During its long existence, The World Hit Festival has established itself as one of the Worlds’ leading musical competitions and live concerts, providing a rich selection of new, popular and classical music. Norrp's World Hit Festival’s scope and plans to debut finally came when they decided to debut in Valletta for the 66th edition.

Steven Keller tells NPTV that he started to sing for himself and his friends at home when he was 13, but at the time it wasn't like people would really listen to him.

"All the years I was singing, I only wanted to show my friends what I could do," he adds. "But when I got to perform for the first time in front of the crowd at our national Final to be chosen for WHF, I felt it was no longer just for my friends. It was like an audience I was longing for and finally got to see. So my goal was to win the show in the end, and I did."

Steven’s singing career spans nearly 10 years. He said: “I am a professional singer, I am about to have a kid and that will sort out my professional career.” The singer’s debut single ‘This Time’ was released last year, “I still love singing. Even now I could jump in a sound-proof room.”

This tender love song is about getting by with just you and your beloved. Even though he is so uncertain about his love for this guy, he is content with him. When he is sitting in the coffee shop, looking out the window. He is looking for comfort and fulfillment in his relationship with her. He says, “I am not alone and lost here” meaning his love is so strong for the both of them that he can be content with him. He knows that if they are together they can go through any struggle as a pair. The song can adapt to your interpretation and still find it just as meaningful.

A ripple of applause fades from the audience and, as the postcard ends, the stage is set in grey and black and white. Steven stands alone centre stage, quietly, holding his microphone, wearing dark chinos and a dark blue t-shirt.

Zak Robinich musical conductor steps up to the podium and taps on the stand in front him, to get the attention of the player before starting up the orchestra. The music begins from the orchestra. The camera opens with a shot of a man playing the piano, slowly accompanied by the strings and woodwind section. The camera backs outwards from the man's fingers tinkering on the keys and fades to a shot of Steven. He is standing at the middle of the stage in front of the man wearing a dark beige suit and blue tie. There wasn't much on the stage other than the piano and him. He was slightly lit up from underneath him which made him look rather ominous on the stage alone.

Steven lifts his microphone, and begins as the camera pulls in to provide the audience with a good look at the performer.

Eyes look like an ocean
In the blue sea
You come and you go
That's all I can see
Were taught to find what lay beneath
The stony ground

The violins pick up pace and sound like a ticking clock. The camera pans outwards as spotlights slowly envelop the stage. We end with a close up of him singing before the lights fade gently to a light yellow tone.

Don't need no panhandlers
To get some kind of sign
Offing out and running away

We have a beautiful shot of a woman playing the clarinet solo. At the back of the orchestral pits is a choir who sing elegantly in the background to add some backing vocals to the song. Each choir member sings in tune. Theres another shot of the violas and violins before a shot of Steven that fades to black. The orchestra builds.

I couldn't be happy without you
All my thoughts are about you
The most beautiful man in the world
Your mountains when you are mad
Your rivers when your are sad
And those deep blue seas...

A spotlight appears as Helga-Louis walks onto the stage. The audience remains respectful but do cheer as she approaches in a long elegant white embroidered dress. She meets Steven center stage, and the pair turn to look at each other and stretch out a hand towards one another as they sang. Their delicate voices blend together. Both look rather sad. The camera fades in and out of lots of angles.

You've seen everything there is to see,
I know what's worth and what's not
Don't need a minute
And watch the shore
I couldn't be happy without you
All my thoughts are about you
The most beautiful man in the whole world
Take this sense of wonder make it go away

The orchestra calms and only a few instruments are left playing the song like the piano and xylophone. We have a close up of Steven from his left side as he sings to the audience in frony.

Please tell me
I'm not alone and lost here
That there is something that's made me feel this way

The camera is q uick shot from behind looking into the astonishing audience. As the verse continues, the violins and flutists and woodwind and drums kick back in and raise their pitch to match the sentiment of the lyrics. Steven remained steadfast looking down the camera, with a hidden pain up to this point, however as he finishes the verse there appears to be a release, an unclenching. The background displays a twilight evening scape and the screens on either side slowly came into life; they would be used to show a night sky later the stars twinkling away, and these LED screens being on helped provide this extra ambient glow. There was some slightly panning camerawork, but most of the focus was on Steven and Helga-Louis's subtle movements, whether a quite glancing pass of his chest with his hand, a searching look out into the distance, or, perhaps more certainly, their movement up from having been leaning on the microphone stand to being stood up more properly, and indeed swinging slightly to the instruments. The chorus backs up their lovely vocals.

You've seen everything there is to see,
I know what's worth and what's not
Don't need a minute
And watch the shore
I couldn't be happy without you
All my thoughts are about you
The most beautiful man in the whole world
Take this sense of wonder make it go away

We hear another build as Steven sings out as the camera rotates around him in a circle before panning outwards across the crowds. The orchestra crescendos aided by the brass section. We then have a wind machine blowing their hair gently. Their voice drips with emotion and is very clear. The stage lights glowing a brighter gold, the LED screen looks like some sparkles. Both sings to the audience and turn to face the camera on their left before it fades to a side shot of them singing forward. Both the sings sing with loads of grace and also sadness. We have a nice pan shot of both orchestra sections.
The conductor swings wildly as he instructs the musicians.

Take this sense of wonder
Make it go away...
Please tell me I am not alone and lost here
That there is something that's made me feel this way

The beautiful array of instruments rings out with emotion and gusto. Both their vocals are strong and powerful and full of sorrow. Steven sings outstretching his hand, his hand trembling as he does to the audience in front as we have a camera angle from the front. The music builds dramatically, as the pair shut their eyes before opening them again.

The most beautiful man
In the whole world
Take this sense of wonder
And make it go away

The lights and LED and music fade and the choir hums as the only lights left are 2 golden spotlights on the two singers. The camera is a centre view of them zooming in slowly. The music fades out as the pair embrace!

Please tell me I am not alone
That there is something that's made me feel this way
As now you've seen everything there is to see.

"Thank you so much!!" Both of the pair smiles as the audience gives them huge cheer, the debut for Norrp had been a good debut!

by **The Ice States** » Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:05 pm

XX. The Ice States
"The Free Waters" - James Brownsword
Language(s): English
Lyrics: James Brownsword
Music: James Brownsword
Tune: Space Oddity
Conductor: James Brownsword

[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1 (Theodore Lowney, James Brownsword)]
Cosmos Lord to General Burkes
Cosmos Lord to General Burkes
Get the solders up and put your missile on
(Ten) Cosmos Lord (Nine) to General Burkes (Eight, seven)
(Six) Commencing (Five) launch with airspace on
(Four, three, two)
Check ignition (One) and may my love (Lift off) be with you
[Instrumental Bridge]

[Verse 2 (Theodore Lowney, James Brownsword)]
This is General Burkes to ships of ice
You've really burnt the ships
And the court of ice wants to know your division
Now it's time to go chemical if you dare
This is ship of ice to General Burkes
I'm pulling the metal
And it's rising in a most peculiar way
And the ships burn very different today

[Chorus]
For here am I sitting in my warship
Far from Isborgir
The waters glow red
And there's more I need to do

[Instrumental Bridge]

[Verse 3]
Though Emerstead is hundreds away
The fire burns up to the sky
And I think my warship knows which way to go
Tell Klyprer I love him very much
He knows
Cosmos Lord to General Burkes
They are still there, they need to go
Once again, General Burkes?
Once again, General Burkes?
Once again, General Burkes?
Once again?

[Chorus]
For here am I sitting in my warship
Far from Isborgir
The waters glow red
And there's more I need to do

[Instrumental Outro]

by **Pemecutan** » Sun Aug 14, 2022 6:32 pm

XX. Pemecutan
"Terkubur Selamanya" - Andre Darmanto
Title Translation: Buried Forever
Language(s): Pemecutan Malay
Lyrics: Inka Yunita, Andre Darmanto
Music: Acwin Dwijendra
Tune: Lim Hyung Joo - Haengbok Hagil Barae
Conductor: Acwin Dwijendra

The fans of song festival was in hype back home after the country once again placed 2nd at the World Hit Festival. It was Pemecutan's third runner-up and second consecutive runner-up in the competition. After several bad results following their hosting in the 62nd edition, the country have a great comeback at the 64th edition. They almost won the edition with a neck-on-neck result with Beepeean delegation. Pemecutan replicate the success in the next edition although they were far behind in points collection than delegation of Malta Comino Gozo who eventually win the edition. The question would be, could the country win? Komang Ayu Tirtasari, the chief of delegation for the 66th edition stated that the delegation is focusing on performing the best that they can do to impress the crowd. "That is the only way to gained points. Doing great." This edition is their 14th participation in the festival. They have placed in top 5 for 3 times (WHF 55, 56, 58). One time third place (WHF 61) and 3 runner-ups (WHF 60, 64, 65).

The 66th edition is a special one. Just like the 56th edition, it is an orchestral theme edition. In the previous orchestral edition (WHF 56), Pemecutan, represent by Ayu Pratiwi was placed 5th. And for this orchestral edition, the organizer, UBC, make a special request to Acwin Dwijendra to make a new song for their delegation. Dwijendra is a renown composer in the country. He have recorded several classical album which also won Chakra Music Award. One of his biggest project is to introduce classic music to wider people. He understand that the classic music is rarely heard or known in the country especially from youngsters. So by given this WHF project, he is delighted. However, this is not his first involvement in WHF. He also conduct for the country's first orchestral edition. At the time, he had an opportunity to show the audience of his own rendition of Pemecutan traditional song, Janger Teruna Teruni. This time, he involved further by creating the composition itself.

Acwin Dwijendra, composer

The lyric of the song is created by Inka Yunita with the help from Andre Darmanto, the singer himself. Darmanto give the inspiration to what he wants to sing at the festival. The selection of Darmanto to represent Pemecutan is quite surprising. As the festival fans think that the official will do another pop ballad song, they select Andre Darmanto who is known as a classical singer. Darmanto is getting known after his participation at UBC owned television program, Talenta Pemecutan, roughly inspired by the Got Talent franchise. Darmanto is not the only singer in the competition but he is definitely the only classic genre singer in the competition. He success to wow the jury and the audience that he landed in grand final. Unfortunately, he was lost to a dance group, Akar.

Andre Darmanto, singer

Andre Darmanto born in a small town of Oongan. The 26 years old singer have a hard childhood. He is raised by his mother. While his father was died when he was 3 years old. During elementary school, he help his mother to sell homemade bread and cookies in his neighborhood. This activities is carried out until he graduated from high school. By then, his mother has open a small bakery store. While about his music taste, he has joined choir from young age and entered local competition in his young age. His school teacher then encourage him to be more serious in singing as the teacher think that Darmanto has a potential to become one. Darmanto still reluctant to think about it because he also have to help his mother at their bakery store. It was not until his college year that he pursue singing. But his choice to sing classical song seems to be unattractive. He become hopeless and thought to end his dream to be a singer. But his mother encouraging him to pursue his dream no matter how hard the path is ahead of him. Darmanto then try his luck at Talenta Pemecutan and he succeed to reached final. Eventhough he didn't won, he already happy that people start to see a classic genre singer as a true singer.

After Talenta Pemecutan, Darmanto focused on his study which make him rarely seen on television. However, he gets several off-screen performing act especially government events or wedding events. After graduated, he go back to his hometown and help his mother with her store. Baking is another thing that he like besides singing. The opportunity come later when UBC approached him to be the country's delegation for the 66th World Hit Festival. He was surprise at first and can't believe that he is chosen. He feels that he is not that famous. But with the special theme, UBC have a faith in him. He delightly accepted. He then collaborated with Inka Yunita to produce the lyric. Yunita however is not the official's first selection to create the lyric. But as Mitha Kemala busy with her television series and Mila Anjani busy with her new project, Yunita is approached. Darmanto give the idea for the lyrics as he wants to dedicated this song to his mother. He see how his mother work hard in providing him everything after his father died. He hope that this song can be a special gift for her.

The crowd are cheering as the postcard of Pemecutan is being displayed at the big screen. And as the stage light is getting dimmed, the clapping sound subside. The camera focus on Acwin Dwijendra, the conductor as he start to conduct the orchestra to play the intro of the song. A strong piano voice becomes the base of the composition. It grows goosebumps for the listeners. A string of lights then slowly enlighten the center of stage where Andre Darmanto is standing there behind a standing microphone. He looks handsome with his royal blue suit. He put a little smile a he grab the microphone. With a little cue, he start to sing the first stanza of the song. He give a powerful start as he blend in with the lyrics and the composition. The camera capture his sad expression which is relayed back to the big screen. The camera zoomed out to give his whole body view while the big screen showing an aurora feature which is harmonious with the swaying sound of the song's composition.

Darmanto soften his voice as he enter the second stanza. While the camera jump back and forth to capture the view between the singer, the composer and the audience.

Tubuh mungilnya sangat tegar
Terlihat tanpa ada cela
Tak ada yang pernah kan menyangka
Kisah yang dipendamnya

Memandang di kejauhan
Senyumnya indah merekah
Membalut luka goresan jiwa
Membekas selamanya

The camera zoom in nearing the end of the second stanza. It gives a close up look of Darmanto as he belted out his voice for the long humming. The camera slowly zooming out before giving a 360 degrees view of him as he opened wide both his arms while still maintaining his voice. Some lights coming from behind him. Swaying from top to bottom until it shines through him from behind making the part become more angelic. The camera then switch to the audience as Darmanta continue to humming. His voice is so mesmerizing that some of the audience is stunned or dumbfounded by it. Their eyes are glued to him and his voice.

Ha…..ha….
Ha…..ha….

A sound of violin give a cue for him to enter to the third stanza. While the camera turned to focus on him. Darmanto keeps his composure and focus on the lyrics. He realizes the lyrics is so closed to his heart that if he breakdown he could crying. He hold up his tears and strengthen his voice to catch on the fourth stanza. Once again he has to belted his voice to a higher note as he feels the lyrics that he sang. The camera seems like knowing the moment as it capture his sad expression in a close up. It is quite contradict about his expression. A combination of his sad eyes and his sweet smile is heartbreaking.

Ketika hati menyerah
Nafas pun terasa sesak
Dan air mata jatuh berlinang
Basah kedua pipinya

Kapankah cerita hidupnya
Kan berakhir dalam suka
Apakah cerita hidupnya
Hanya penuh dengan duka

He took a deep breath to calm down his emotion. Another violin strings give a cue for him to start the last stanza. He gives his last effort before he can't control his emotion again. The camera still looking at him in a close up view. Interchange with the view from Acwin and the ensemble team. His voice getting softer and softer as the song nearing its end. And one drop note from the piano become the clue of the end of the song followed by the lights are off altogether.

Berharap tuk selamanya
Senyumnya terus merekah
Dan semua duka yang pernah ada
Terkubur selamanya

Terkubur selamanya
Terkubur selamanya

There is a moment of silence as the picture of Darmanto's mother is viewed at the big screen as the last note of the composition is sounded. It's about a few seconds later that a wave of clapping and cheering can be heard. Some of the audience even give a standing ovation for his performance. The lights on the stage is lighten up again and Darmanto is seen with a blurry eyes. He is really hold up his tears. He give a bow to the audience. "Thank you, Valletta," he said in a tremble voice.

by **Izmedu** » Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:44 pm

XX. Izmedu
"Remember Me" - Irma Komusar
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Danica Perusko
Music: Dora Brdar
Tune: Kylie McNeill - Lend Me Your Voice
Conductor: Dora Brdar

wip

by **Aenglide** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:09 am

XX. Aenglide
"Set Me Free" - Ella Kristjanssen
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Ella Kristjanssen, Tam Brahölm
Music: Jan Parveld, Lars Sigmund Jenrik
Tune: Velvet - My Destiny
Conductor: Benjamin Kallef

Introduction

The 63rd World Hit Festival in Eritus, Scotatrova found the debut of Aenglide, who had sent in the folk-country rock band Kinokjð, with their song “Valkið Véjen”, or “Walked Paths” in Aenglic. After the country’s first performance in the contest’s history, Aenglide ended up with a fairly reasonable 10th place, with coincidentally, the same number of points, 10 points. Since this last participation, national broadcaster ÆTV has taken a hiatus from it’s World Hit Festival participation, and in WHF65 was close to participating, but ended up with a short-notice withdrawal from the contest. This edition, ÆTV has allowed Aenglide to return to the World Hit Festival, coming to the 66th edition for the Orchestral Edition in Valletta, Malta Comino Gozo.

Artist + Song

ÆTV internally selected Ella Kristjanssen, who is a singer-songwriter from the Aenglish capital city of Keterig. Ella Kristjanssen was raised and grew up in one of the handful of Aenglide’s religious household, as their family were openly Nordic Protestants. Also growing up around music, Ella Kristjanssen has continued to create music about her faith. This song reflects this very well.

Valletta

Because Aenglide and Malta Comino Gozo are well-established friends within the WMCA+ alliance, as Aenglide is an observer state of the alliance, and also because of the strongly established flight connections with Transcon and Ængflýr between the two nations, it was fairly easy for Ella Kristjanssen and the Aenglish delegation to arrive in Valletta, which was the host city of the WHF66, the third orchestral edition. Aenglide is quite used to the Fedex Forum, a popular arena in Valletta, but instead the Fairs & Conventions Centre of MCG was the venue of this event, which was a change for the Aenglish Delegation, who had been to the city and the island nation before.

Performance

The performance is with Pjötr Jamvus and Viktor Storren, the lead musicians of the Orchestra who came to Malta Comino Gozo with Ella Kristjanssen and the delegation team, who are the players of the grand piano and the drums respectively. A few other instruments are used in the performance, including some violins and cello, which are played by orchestra members which are from Malta Comino Gozo, including the conductor Benjamin Kallef, who was also hired to conduct the orchestra for Aenglide’s performance.

The performance is opened with a dim light which is pointed at Ella, who is revealed wearing a white dress. It also somewhat reveals the members of the orchestra, and reveals the arena’s stage being covered in a short layer of fog, to encapsulate the heavenly aura of the song. Throughout the few introductory verses of the song, there is a mix of camera angles, between a shot of only Ella Kristjanssen, to the members of the orchestra, to both of them through panning transitions.

Wishing upon a star
That life would become fairer
The night sky’s illuminated by your light
I’ll let you be my guide

The shining rays of hope
Seem so near, yet so far though
I tried to reach out for the glimpse of life
Only you know how to

As the chorus begins, the lights in the venue begin to brighten to reflect the power of the chorus. This reveals more of the foggy stage.

Set me free
Break me out of these walls
Set me free
Let me feel the rain fall

The glimpse of light that shone down on me
I’m who I’m made to be
Set me free

It is at this point of the song that the drum set, also borrowed from the Malta Comino Gozoan stage sets, played by Viktor Storren. It can be heard as this next verse is introduced, and throughout the rest of the song.

Uplifted by the grace
Of strength that found me
Every moment has me thinking of you
Why I stood lonely

Set me free
Break me out of these walls
Set me free
Let me feel the rain fall

The glimpse of light that shone down on me
I’m who I’m made to be
Set me free

And now I can see
The clear old boundaries
They no longer affect me

The rather majestic feel of the song, and especially around the chorus shows the audience with waving lights in the air, and the cameras pan around towards the audience to show all the lights, from presumably their phones, being shone towards the stage. There appears to be a countless number of lights.

Set me free
Break me out of these walls
Set me free
Let me feel the rain fall

The glimpse of light that shone down on me
I’m who I’m made to be

As the last chorus is sung for the grand conclusion of the song, this is sung powerfully, and the orchestra is shown once again.

Set me free
Break me out of these walls
Set me free
Let me feel the rain fall

The glimpse of light that shone down on me
I’m who I’m made to be
Set me free

As the performance ends, Ella Kristjanssen says “Thank you so much!” incredibly calmly towards the audience.

by **Carrelie** » Sun Aug 21, 2022 5:28 am

XX. Carrelie
"What It Means to Love" - Marie-Pierre
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Marie-Pierre Laurent
Music: Marie-Pierre Laurent
Tune: Frida - Liv på Mars?
Conductor: Éloise Aurent

Marie-Pierre Laurent is an old soul. Born during the Ides of March in 1985, her father was a military man and her mother a withdrawn and sickly woman. She was often in the care of her spinster aunts in the village of Arrésine, and that was no life for a young girl as herself to live. She did well in her schooling, kept her head high and tried to stay out of trouble, but over time something boiled inside her. A dark side of sorts, a side filled with self-loathing, hatred for the world and hatred for others. She grew pale, tired, weak, undesireable, before finally breaking. Intense sadness was hidden behind an aura of eccentricity, a half-shattered mask that was constantly slipping. Everything was slipping just out of her grasp. That's when she found Henryk, a rebel from just across the Douria-Arianos border. He gave her a reason to live, he gave her thrills and excitement, he gave her everything.

But everything comes with a price.

The more danger she put herself in, the more of a toll it would take on her. She suffered bruises, scrapes, scratches, but worst of all, torment. She was never in enough danger, she needed to be more at risk all the time, in order to please Henryk. There was no way out. Blood, tears, sweat - all were common sights to her. She needed to break it off somehow, but how? Henryk began to resort to violence when Marie-Pierre wouldn't comply, and what she had left of her family didn't seem to care much anyway. She was of no use to them anymore.

And so, one night under the shining moonlight, she ran. She ran as fast as she could go, in no direction in particular except back from where she came. She spent weeks relying on others, a year or two struggling, a lifetime with the bruises of the past. But slowly, and steadily, she rebuilt. The 20 year old fell head over heels for the art of music, and it's how she began to make money. She got the attention she so craved, and the validation she was never given, and more. She began to get noticed, signed, she went on tour, she released albums, but almost 20 years later she still hasn't really delved too deep. The childhood, the adolescence, and the adulthood - each have a plethora of stories to tell, but that of her time with Henryk has been the hardest of all.

The stage comes up on Marie-Pierre standing in rags, lit up by a single somewhat obstructed spotlight coming from behind. Her face is pasty and the stage somewhat dingy as silhouettes surround her. A large model moon stands behind them, and the silhouettes slowly move to reveal Marie-Pierre herself as the song begins.

I awake to the shining moon
In a cold, dark and dingy room
I see you as a silhouette
Broken man who has come to forget
From the shadow I step into light
Wonder if it wasn’t for night
Would I be in a different place
Without needing to hide my face?

As you limp your way to the door
It seems clear that you’re wanting more
Pieces of me you chip away
And I hope that I’ll yet be saved

You said you’d love me forever
Now look where that has gotten us
Is this what it means
You’re covered in shadows, but I’m covered in blood
Crying to the good lord above
Is this what it means to love?
What it means to love?

After another night in your bed
I can hardly keep inside my head
Need a reason to see the light
Need a reason, though it’s right
Clear smoke floating in the thick air
Though I no longer want to care
Want to shut out all the demons
Be the woman I can’t become

As you limp your way to the door
It seems clear that you’re wanting more
Pieces of me you chip away
And I hope that I’ll yet be saved

You said you’d love me forever
Now look where that has gotten us
Is this what it means
You’re covered in shadows, but I’m covered in blood
Crying to the good lord above
Is this what it means to love?
What it means to love?

Love?

After an extended note, Marie-Pierre almost falls forward onto the stage as she receives an emotional applause. She almost cries tears of joy as she's ushered off the stage, leaving it clear for the next act.

by **Acastanha** » Tue Aug 23, 2022 12:19 am

XX. Acastanha
"Dois Humanos" - Armando Abhargada
Title Translation: Two Humans
Language(s): Portuguese
Lyrics: Armando Abhargada, Davi Eskoleku
Music: Lucas Vardan
Tune: Sebastian Yatra - Dos Oroguitas
Conductor: Oscar Remida

Acastanha participation in WHF haven't been seeing a success. From its 2 participation, the country's delegation have always placed near the bottom. As with the agreement made by the two largest broadcasters in the country, for the third participation, it is RTP's responsibility to prepare for Acastanhada performance in World Hit Festival. Acastanhada chief of delegation, Sandro Leismena said that he hope the representative give a good impression to the audience so they can placed better. Mid-table position is the target.

For the special edition, RTP search for a more ballad song. A little traditional touch if possible. The choice goes to Armando Abhargada with his song Dois Humanos.

Born in Campo de Recife 27 years ago, Abhargada came from a middle class family. His father was a real estate agent while his mother is a stayed at home mom. He already fall in love with music since young age. His family support his singing hobby. He was given piano and guitar lessons. Aside from singing, his other hobby is in sport. He love to play volleyball and even become his school star player during his middle to high school years.

He moved to Cabo do Sol for his college. There, he landed a small role in local musical television show. That opportunity which makes him pursue his singing career. At the age of 20 he drop out from college and move to Porto Espinhosa. With the help of his father, he made connection with several musician which help him to pursue his dream. He landed a record deal then release his first single, Atração which met with a mixed review. It quite success and help him to be known. To elevate his fame, Armando joined as opening act for several tour of a more established singers. While he continue to released several singles until he released his first album 4 years ago. The album sold just fine. Although some of the singles from the album success to break into the country's music chart. His third album was released earlier this year and it met with positive review from the critics. The sale is also great. The album placed 4th on its initial release date. It stays in the top 10 for another 3 weeks. For 66th WHF, his song Dois Humanos is selected. The song tells a story of 2 person who fall in love and build home together. They are forgeting the love that they have. Start arguing but then they remembering again their love to one another.

A soft string sound from a guitar open the intro of the song. The song which represent Acastanha. At the same time the postcard of Acastanha is shown at the big screen. As the stage lights lighten up, the camera focused on the hole at the guitar which is played by Armando. It slowly zoomed out until Armando is seen in a whole. He is wearing a casual outfit, seating on a stool and playing the guitar wholeheartedly. He raise his head and face the microphone. He start to sing the first stanza of the song. His soft but rusty voice create a unique combination. The odd part is, Armando is not singing at the center of the stage. After capturing Armando's guitar playing, the camera turned to the center of the stage. The lights shine there and showing two persons seating fave to face in a garden-like place. Their are both holding hand together. Just like the lyric of the song, they speak from their eyes.

Dois humanos, olhando para
Nenhuma palavra pode expressar
Quando os olhos falaram
A vibração abre o coração mais profundo
Isso é um sinal de uma alma gêmea?

Dois humanos sentados juntos
Sentindo os sentimentos um do outro
Apenas os sons de batida
As vibrações se espalham por todo o corpo
Isso é um sinal de uma alma gêmea?

The guitar sound still dominant as he entered the chorus. And now the two persons stand up and start to dance smoothly following the rhythm of the song. The Latin vibe can be heard clearly as the music become more vibrant. The camera turn to Oscar Remida as he conduct the orchestra before switch back to Armando as the chorus is ended.

Dois humanos, almas gêmeas
O que você estava esperando
Apareceu na frente dele
Não deixe ir, não se afaste
Então juntos, para sempre
E ser eterno

Dois humanos, almas gêmeas
O que você estava esperando
Apareceu na frente dele
Não deixe ir, não se afaste
Então juntos, para sempre
E ser eterno

The music is soften again as Armando sing the third stanza. The camera give a wide angle view of the stage so it can capture both Armando and the dancers. Their movement become harsh and estranged as the lyric of the song implicate how their relationship break apart as time goes by. Both dancers walk separate ways and look up as the music grow stronger and stronger.

Dois humanos estiveram juntos
Tenha um tempo colorido
Sentindo-se esquecido
Ainda está no mais profundo do coração
Vibração do signo da alma gêmea
(Alma gêmea, alma gêmea, alma gêmea)

Armando press his voice as he reached the chorus stronger than before. The camera success to capture his hopeless expression who according to the lyrics hoping for the lovebirds to remember their love again. The dancers then dance alone reminiscing the lyrics into a movement. Then they are stop as they are facing at each other from afar.

Armando repeat the chorus again with the set of lyrics from the first chorus. The camera give a focus on the male dancer who step forward and reached the female dancer who do the same thing. Their passion is blend in and convert into the dance move as they cherish their love. While one and a time, the camera look onto Armando as he sing with a higher note for the last chorus which is a repeat of the second chorus. Remida is also highlighted as he passionately directs the orchestra. The tune then suddenly drop at the end of the chorus. And the dancers end their dance with a warm embrace. The lights on the stage are slowly dimmed until it become completely dark.

Dois humanos, dê uma olhada
Lembre-se de todos os sabores
O que foi esquecido
Dois humanos, almas gêmeas
Então juntos, para sempre
E ser eterno

Dois humanos, almas gêmeas
O que você estava esperando
Apareceu na frente dele
Não deixe ir, não se afaste
Então juntos, para sempre
E ser eterno

Dois humanos, dê uma olhada
Lembre-se de todos os sabores
O que foi esquecido
Dois humanos, almas gêmeas
Então juntos, para sempre
E ser eterno

The audience are clapping for the beautiful performance. It is quite fascinating to see a music performance where the dancers who actualized the lyrics become the main attention. The lights then spotting on Armando as he stand up from the stool. He bow down before saying,"Thank you, Valletta!". He wave to the crowd before walking back to the backstage.

by **Beepee** » Tue Aug 23, 2022 6:48 am

XX. Beepee
"Do It Over" - Gunner Boscher
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Gunner Boscher
Music: Justin Hawig
Tune: "Das Ist Unsere Zeit" - Howard Carpendale
Conductor: Zak Robinich (Malta Comino Gozo)

Gunner Boscher is back at World Hit Festival!

Last seen at World Hit Festival 56 with the song "Today Is" for Northern Beepee, he has returned representing Beepee in Valletta.

Since his last performance he has continued, both in a solo capacity and as part of rock-schlager band Fremdschämen.

"YESTERDAY IS NOTHING BUT A MEMORY"

The last time he performed in Tödlichebujoku Gunner had a wonderful time immersing himself in Tödlichebujoki culture.

Throwing himself into the full Sterblichengokai experience from the towering glass skyscrapers housing the wealthy banks and businesses to the luxury apartment buildings, Gunner marvelled at Esteoga.

"TOMORROW IS NOT ON THE HORIZON"

It was with a sense of glee that the Gunner found he would be heading to Malta Comino Gozo. Beepeean's have always enjoyed the Maltese hospitality, whether it be from the vineyards of Ghallieħa, a Beepeean favourite, to participating in the [url=https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=509608#p38959122]Dawwar Ta' MCG[url]. The tiny island archipelago holds a special place in Beepeean hearts.

Valletta is about as different to Estegoa as could be possible the winding historic streets and quaint shops compared with the wealth and luxury.

One thing that isn't different however, is the World Hit Festival. This bastion of refinement and class.

"HERE, TODAY IS, ALL THAT WE HAVE"

The theme of tonight's performance is the inspiration behind the lyrics written by Gunner Bosher and Justin Hawig, which is the story of Robert the Bruce and the spider.

The story goes that Robert Bruce hid out in a cave, dejected, following his disastrous first year as King of Scots. While waiting out the winter of 1306, he watched a spider on the cave wall try time and again to spin its web. Every time the spider fell, it rose to begin again.

The auditorium in the glorious MCG Fairs & Conventions Centre is a buzz.

Gunner takes his place centre stage. The stage is in darkness. The glow of lights atop the orchestra's music stand places the early focus on the orchestra and the magnificent set up provided by MCG1.

Gunner stands on the stage alone gripping his mic tightly.

Zak Robinich, the experienced Maltese conductor, nods to Gunner to inform him the song is about to begin. He taps atop his podium, to gather the attention of the musicians. Raises and drops his baton in time to the beat... 1... 2.. 3... 4...

The strings begin to draw, back and forth... the infectious beat of the violin strings are joined by double bass section bringing a deep, dense rumble behind the music.

Some members of the audience begin to clap along to the beat, slowly more and more of the audience joins in until the whole audience is clapping along.

A warm light shines down on Gunner, who is pleasantly surprised by the reaction of the audience.

On the giant LED screen behind the stage a friendly cartoon spider drawn in white outline on the black screen, begins to climb up and walk along the screen. The spider starts to weave its web, but falls the ground.

This world can be a trying place
Nothing comes easily
That doesn't mean you just give up
If you do you will never succeed

Gunner looks out over the audience as he continues his performance. The faces of so many looking back at him. He tries to remain relaxed.

The woodwinds, the oboes and basoon, rich and mellow in their tone, add to the cacophony of sound.

On the LED screen, the cartoon spider, once again, climbs up and tries to make his web, before falling to the bottom of the screen, and looking a bit grumpy as Gunner shrugs sympathetically to the spider as he continues...

If it's broken it can always be fixed
Nothing is so hopeless like that
Even if fate deals you a difficult hand
You've got to make it the best way you can

During the bridge, out from the back of the stage step three backing singers to assist Gunner in the chorus. Having the backing singers on stage makes Gunner feel more comfortable in himself, it's like when he's playing with his band. The backing singers clap their hands above their heads to the beat encouraging the audience, who apparently don't need much encouragement, to join them.

From the orchestra, the beat from the drums section kicks in sharp and making the sound more contemporary.

Don't give up
Don't give in
Don't look back
Keep goin'
Don't give up
Don't give in
Don't look back
Keep goin'

Do it over again, over again
If at first you don't succeed, take a breath
And do it over again, over again
Take a breath and try
And do it over again

On the LED screen, the cartoon spider tries a third time, he gets further this time than previously, but still falls down and his web follows him to the ground. He stamps one of his cartoon feet.

In the audience, most of the audience are still clapping along quite happily. Some have pulled out their mobile phones and are recording some of the performance, as Gunner continues.

It might take a thousand tries
It might seem impossible
But practice does make perfect
And soon you'll be unstoppable

Gunner can feel the heat from the stage lights a bead of perspiration clings just onto his left eyebrow. He hopes for a moment he's not sweating through his crisp white shirt (he's not).

During the next stanza, the cartoon spider tries again and this time he finally competes his web and smiles broadly from the screen then scrambles off the side of the screen.

Although it might be hard at first
You're incredible
When you finally reach the stars
You should know you are the miracle

As the bridge begins the backing singers again begin to clap above their head. The audience again reciprocate. It puts a little pep in Gunner's step. He's becoming less nervous and is smiling more as the the second chorus begins.

The violins and violas from the orchestra pit go in double time to add flair and lift to the second chorus. Their sharpness contrasts with the warmth of the other instruments.

Don't give up
Don't give in
Don't look back
Keep goin'
Don't give up
Don't give in
Don't look back
Keep goin'

Do it over again, over again
If at first you don't succeed, take a breath
And do it over again, over again
Take a breath and try
And do it over again

Following the chorus and prior to the outro, there is a brief moment for the orchestra to shine rousing together into a crescendo.

The cartoon spider comes back onto the LED screen, still smiling and proud of his achievement. As he scuttles across the screen from one side to the other, he leaves behind him"Do It Over Again" written in web effect letters.

Gunner smiles, having relaxed into the performance. A glint is in his eye as he sings the outro. He acknowledges his backing trio, who come to join him in the centre of the raised circular stage. He continues...

Do it over again, over again
If at first you don't succeed, take a breath
And do it over again, over again
Take a breath and try
And do it over again, over again
If at first you don't succeed, take a breath
And do it over again, over again
Take a breath and try
And do it over again

As the song comes to a definite end. Gunner stands breathing heaving, but in ecstacy from the adrenaline of the performance.

Behind him on the LED Screen the "Do It Over Again" begins to fade.

Gunner and his backing singers acknowledge the talent and hard work of Zak Robinich and the orchestra, before bowing to the audience, then heading off-stage for the next performer.

by **Normandy and Picardy** » Fri Aug 26, 2022 12:45 pm

XX. Normandy and Picardy
"J'ne peux jamais trouver les mots" - Luc Bonhomme
Title Translation: I Can Never Find the Words
Language(s): Normand French
Lyrics: Luc Bonhomme
Music: Luc Bonhomme, Marcel Dumoulin
Tune: Diodato - "Fino a farci scomparire"
Conductor: Marcel Dumoulin

Luc Bonhomme, 21, the young singer-songwriter from Saint-Lo who will be flying the flag for Normandy and Picardy in Valletta. Luc wrote the song alongside his friend Marcel Dumoulin, 23, who has already made a name for himself within the Normand music industry, having written several songs for the prestigious Festival du Cherbourg, to which Luc is widely expected to receive an invitation following his participation in this contest. Bonhomme, one of the youngest ever participants to represent Normandy and Picardy, was chosen via SRNP's Culture Jeune network, run under the auspices of former Head of Delegation Simone Derrida, which promotes young Normand and Picard musical talent as part of SRNP's remit to develop and promote Normand and Picard culture, and help a new generation of talented artists across disciplines shine forth. It is hoped Luc's performance in Valletta can show the success of this programme, and provide a further foundation for his already budding career.

As the postcard played, Luc psyched himself up for the final time, and prepared to step foot onto the stage. He felt the heavy weight of expectation lying on him, both that of his nation, hoping to restore its honour and retain a title, but also his own expectations. He of course wanted to make sure he performed well, as he did every time he got on stage, but this time felt different. Perhaps it was the fact he was aware of the millions watching, what this could mean for him. So, in a sense, the expectations were those of others, but also his own. He had felt somewhat conflicted by this in the lead up, but hoped to channel that into the song itself, and the internal conflicts that it exposes in its protagonist, and what we mean by love. But one thing Luc loved to do was perform, and perform he would. A cue from the technical director. Stepping out onto the stage. The Normand staging team had had a headache trying to figure out how to get the most out of this stage, but perhaps the most wasn't what was needed, perhaps the simplicity of the stage would allow the song, at once simple yet deep, to shine forth. At least, that is what they, and Luc - who had been rather heavily involved in this, as in every aspect of the entry - hoped. In any case, it was almost time for the entry to begin. Luc steeled himself as the hosts introduced him and the Normand conductor, Marcel Dumoulin. Whilst the main conductor provided by MCGBC had experience of conducting in Normandy and Picardy, SRNP had allowed Luc to bring Marcel along with him, despite his perhaps questionable back catalogue of conducting experience; the two nevertheless were close, and Luc hoped his being there would help.

The lights dimmed somewhat before the song started, actually almost fading into black in some areas, though the use of the strip LED lighting to allow the orchestra to see what they were doing (though for the opening verse, only the piano and drums would be needed in any case) ensured some light remained in the background. In its way, this actually was useful, insofar as the concept was that the performance opened in a hazy, dark, almost pre-dawn sort of mode, allowing for the play of light and shadow. The background LED strip lighting was thus turned off at this time, as was the lighting surround the M logo, but the odd spotlight shone down. Indeed, a spotlight, with a slight orange-brown colour to it, shone faintly down on Luc himself, who was sat on the front steps of the stage, about half way down. He was wearing a white, high-collared shirt and a pink blazer and trousers, like this. The opening shot was actually not on Luc but at the hands of the piano player, as he played the opening notes, before dissolving into a view of Luc, lifting his head up from a rather downbeat position and at first looking slightly beyond the camera, as if searching for something. As the verse progressed, the background LED Came into life, though it was a rather dark blue colour, essentially an Oxford Blue; though the camera shot was close, this provided a general ambient background. The spotlight coming down on Luc, at an angle from the top right of the stage from the persepctive of the audience, continued to warm in colour, essentially looking like the light from a streetlamp or somesuch, and allowing for the interplay between light and dark, the passing of shadows ac Luc sung, his face moving, the slight movements of his arms, the cameras picking up on how the light interacted with the dust in the air. This was close, intimate, one could even forget the orchestra on either side of him, or the fact he was even competing in a major international contest; this was little consolation to Luc.

J'étais plus jeune alors
J'ne connaissais pas le sens d'l’amour
Je connaissais bien mon corps
Mais j'ne sentais pas mon propre cœur
Peut-être que je le ressens toujours pas
Comment je le saurais ?

As the verse progressed, the camera had panned around slightly, rather than Luc moving around to meet the camera, but for a brief moment, the singing of 'excuse', Luc gave a deep look through the camera, directly reaching out to the audiences watching. A tilt and zoom out of the shot followed, to allow for Luc to pick himself off, dust off his jacket which had been deliberately ruffelled and made to look, well, not too dishevelled but rather well worn. Luc, followed by his spotlight, slowly walked up onto the main stage platform, now beginning to open up a little, let down his guard, engage with the camera, almost as if he were chatting with an old friend, before, as the verse came to an end, he took his position behind the microphone stand centre stage and placed the mic on the stand.

Mais ce n’est pas une excuse
Pour la douleur que nous avons partagé
Je pourrais derrière mon ignorance me cacher
Mais ça, j'ne pourrais jamais faire

As finally the rest of the orchestra was put to some use and the strings announced the beginning of the chorus, there was a quick flourish of the background lights from left to right. Various lights on the rigs dotted around the stage would fade in and out during the course of the chorus with their brown-gold hue breaking through the sea of blues, as the background LED, the surrounding LED strips, and the M logo were lit up in various, alternating shades, the shades varying such that it looked like waves were rippling across the background. This all went on behind Luc who, now behind the mic stand, held tightly onto it during this first chorus, both channeling the emotions the song required, but also almost charging up, preparing for the bigger moments to come later in the song. The orchestra and Marcel, dutifully doing his best to conduct them, were given their moment to shine, with shots especially of the strings playing. Otherwise, it was mostly a case of the usual pans around the FCC, but generally focusing on Luc and his performance.

Et dans chaque regard d’amant
Je vois ton visage dans le reflet
Dans chaque sourire, dans chaque larme
Quelque chose de cassé, j'ne sais pas
Encore, je peux pas trouver les mots
J'ne peux jamais trouver les mots

As the strings played following the end of the chorus, the camera feed naturally focused on them, before, as the backing dropped back to piano and drums, announcing the start of the next verse, the shot slowly faded away as if commanded to by the playing of the piano keys, before fading back to show a much closer, yet still full body shot, of Luc, who had now removed the microphone from its stand, as he walked out to the edge of the stage on the left, and again recounted his tale of love and loss, melancholic yet healing. Where even up to the end of the chorus he had been somewhat restrained, more emotion, the emotion being built up, slowly began to come out in the expressions, in the flowing drifts of his arms, in the contortions of his face, the glancing of his hand down along his body to go along with 'la chair', the flesh, his flesh which had led him astray, or to an incorrect vision of love, perhaps as a mask for his true feelings because the truth was even more difficult, because he couldn't quite say it. But enough of the pondering, back to the song...

Parfois les mots viennent trop vite
Pour que notre chair les ressente
Parfois la chair crie trop fort
Et couvre toutes les significations
Et parfois, le silence parle pour nous
Quand on a trop peur ou trop honte

Or is that enough pondering for you? Ah, thought so, but nevertheless, some will come. We get a shot now essentially looking over Luc's shoulder, though he continued to sing towards the camera. In the background of the screen however the viewing audience could see a man who looked a fair amount like Luc, but dressed all in black. A younger Luc? His shadow, or the shadow of himself now he finds himself in this rut? Perhaps he just needs to get a grip? Who knows... But anyway, our dancer glances over Luc's shoulder towards him, before dance-walking, moving generally to the rhythm, out to the opposite side of the stage before, just before the beginning of the second chorus, we get a shot that begins looking at the dancer in black before turning to look out towards Luc, the two staring at each other.

Mais ce n’est pas une excuse
Pour la douleur que nous partageons
Et j'pourrais me cacher derrière ma lâcheté
Mais j'ne ferais jamais ça

And so, the strings stirred into life again as the chorus began once more, and the search golden-brown hinted lights sweeping through the sea of blues slowly began their procession once more, adding an extra level of depth rather than everything just becoming, well, blue. The majority of the action this time around, however, were provided by Luc and his double, who copied his movements as he moved around the stage and finally seemed to begin to allow the emotion to carry him and move him about, flowing, swaying (though not so much that he couldn't sing of course), arms outstretched, walking, not just walking around, running his hands through some of the more searching of the lights. The shots cut between those of Luc and his dancer, before they overlapped and appeared in the same shot, Luc reaching out to one side, the double to the other, and such, and then they went their separate ways again.

Et dans chaque regard d’amant
Je vois ton visage dans le reflet
Dans chaque sourire, dans chaque larme
Quelque chose de cassé, j'ne sais pas
Encore, je peux pas trouver les mots
J'ne peux jamais trouver les mots

In order to provide a transition into the bridge and the final chorus, we once again get a series of sweeping shots of the orchestra and the string section especially. This provided time for the dancer, the shadow, Luc's inner demon, former self, perhaps still himself now, to make his getaway off stage, and for Luc to return once more to the centre of the stage, and once more behind a microphone stand. The lights in the FCC dimmed, the background LED screens especially, and the majority of the lighting was replaced by a single spotlight shining down on Luc. During the first two lines of this bridge section, we get a close up, torso shot of Luc, arms outstretched, singing directly into the camera, twisting, moving slowly. The movements slowly gained force, became more erratic, more pleading and strongly reaching out, and, with the final line, everything built up. With the call of the "trois mot"s, the shot slowly zoomed out as the lights around the stage flashed in time with the beat.

Et je sais que je suis coincé sur la première ligne
Car la vérité, je ne le sais pas dire
Et tout c'que c’était, c’était trois mots, trois mots, trois mots, trois mots

This all built up to the burst into the final chorus, which was accompanied by a final explosion of light, a flash which seemed to momentarily wipe away all of the blues into a new golden-brown-orange ocean, in a very nice, traditional, final climactic moment of the song. All that was missing was the pyro curtain etc. Is this, perhaps, trite? Maybe, but then in a way that does fit with the theme of the song, in terms of the expectations imposed or imagined. Things settled down a little, and the blues returned to the LED, but now they formed not waves but the night sky, a sky full of bright, twinkling lights like those that filled the FCC, whilst Luc filled it with the emotion almost oozing out from him as he sang, vigorous movements, almost melodramatic (think Raphael's 2 entries for Spain in Eurovision, if that's a reference that has any bearing for you at all - if not, ignore it), almost forcing their way out. As the chorus neared its close, as Luc sang "Encore, je...", behind him, a new dancer appeared, this time a woman all in white. The lost lover? The lover scorned and hurt? Either way, she walked up behind him, and, with the final 'trouver les mots' before the long closing instrumental, having finally reached him, she placed her hand on his shoulder. Luc turned to meet the dancer and almost seemed to melt away, before picking himself back up once more. The pair went into hold before they began to twirl, very traditionally waltz-like, around the stage platform. Behind them, the LED screens which had been showing the night sky looked down to show a cityscape at night, which those who know Normandy and Picardy would recognise as the skyline of Rouen, its famous cathedral's towers and spire reaching out into the endless night. All very sweet and romantic, so sweet and traditionally romantic, the sort of love you hear about in fairytales, that the image began to slowly fade and become black and white, as if the audience was watching an old soppy romance film. However, this was to end in heartbreak once more, as, towards the end of the instrumental, the dancer slipped away, leaving Luc alone on the stage, all despondent, and thus puncturing the big finish and reintroducing the melancholy of earlier. Passing the microphone stand, he took the mic from the stand once more and sung the final line, before returning to sit, alone, looking out beyond the camera as at the start, with the night sky behind him.

J'ai peur de dire que je t'adore
De le dire mal, j’ai trop peur
J’eu peur la première fois que j't’ai vu
Maintentant, j'le suis encore
Encore, je peux pas trouver les mots
J'ne peux jamais trouver les mots
Non, j'ne peux jamais trouver les mots
Non, j'ne peux jamais trouver les mots
J'ne peux jamais trouver les mots

That was it, his big performance. Although Luc certainly wasn't unhealthy, the performance had certainly drained him. He nevertheless managed a "Merci Vallette, Merci tout le monde", taking a bow, and walking over to hug Marcel. They'd done it. Now they could relax, whatever result came their way...

by **Yu-Gi-Oh SEVENS** » Sun Aug 28, 2022 2:47 pm

XX. The Sevens Federation
"ESHAY BAH!" - Bankstown Eshays
Language(s):Eshay,Pig Latin,English
Lyrics:Unknown
Music:Unknown
Tune:Mozart-Piano Concerto
Conductor:David Koch

Another WHF,another Sh**ty entry from The Sevens Federation,this time it has Eshays,also known as Goha's worst Teenagers,so lets begin

ESHAY BAH!

15 or so couches are on stage,and each eshay is holding a Knife,and has a Vape Pen in their mouth,then they yell
ESHAY BAH!!!!

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

The first couch is cut by knives then starts to burn

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

Homework drops from the sky and then lands on top of the burning couch

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

Another Couch on stage is set on fire and the blades of some knives start to melt

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

The Melting Knives then start to burn their hands

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

The Vape Clouds surround another Couch and it sets on fire,and the melting knives start to screw their holders over

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

ESHAY BAH!!

A Loud shout of ESHAY BAH! rebounds around the Arena

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

Another couch is set on fire, and A Few eshays drop dead of Smoke Inhalation,and 3rd-Degree burns to their hands

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

Another Couch is set on fire and more eshays drop dead

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

the 15 remaining eshays shout ESHAY BAH!

ESHAY BAH!!

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

Another Couch is set on fire and 12 more drop dead

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

Another Couch gone,and another 3 dead eshays

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

The 6 left yell ESHAY BAH!!

ESHAY BAH!!

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

Another Couch on fire and another 2 dead eshays

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

ESHAY BAH!
We want some Vape,for after school
then some Knives
and then A Couch Burning (Hey!)

2 more Drop dead on the Last Couch Burnings

Our Parents Don't even know About the Shit we do after school
(They Think we do Homework)

ESHAY BAH!!

the final 2 eshays Drop Dead and then the Song Ends,6 Couch Burnings and 24 dead Eshays later,and the crowd celebrates that the Sh*t is over,until SBI Comes on at least

by **StrayaRoos Barrier Islands** » Sun Aug 28, 2022 2:57 pm

XX. StrayaRoos Barrier Islands
"MRRP" - Random Emu
Title Translation:Potato
Language(s):English,Emu
Lyrics:Googel Doks
Music:Googel Doks
Tune:Beethovens 5th
Conductor: Conductor Emu

The Emu Comes on stage,and the Audience start to Boo,and the song hasn't even started yet,the emu holds a potato in its claw and sings (badly and Off Key)

I Have A Potato
I Will Eat it
then go on a Spree
and Kill Everyone
In Deez Nuts in your mouth
MRRP!

Potatos start falling down from the sky,as well as vegemite,then 100 animals are let loose on stage,and 35 drown in Vegemite (oh well)

My Potato is my only Love
My Life is Me,My Potato and I
Because i love it

Concrete is mixed in with the Vegemite and bashes a few Koala Heads (Fun!)

I Send Concrete down from the Sky
and i bash Several Koala heads (YAY!)
the eshays help me kill them

The Eshays are then released,and start threatening the animals

I Have A Potato
I Will Eat it
then go on a Spree
and Kill Everyone
In Deez Nuts in your mouth
MRRP!

My Potato is my only Love
My Life is Me,My Potato and I
Because i love it

I Send Concrete down from the Sky
and i bash Several Koala heads (YAY!)
the eshays help me kill them

by **Alezian Union** » Thu Sep 01, 2022 5:50 pm

XX. Aenglide
"Epilogue" - Carlijne Siegrist
Title Transcription:
Title Translation: Epilogue
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Benzourie Hoorenzijn, Hamid Ruslan Aziz
Music: Benzourie Hoorenzijn, Hamid Ruslan Aziz
Tune: Mia Negovetić - Forgive Me (Oprosti)
Conductor: Michaelo Loevegners

BACKGROUND

Rough illustration of the South Alezians' when they were told about WHF's orchestra requirements

Before the dawn of time, aka before reunification, North Alezia, Pantabang Islands (through North Alezia), and South Alezia has competed in World Hit Festival. North Alezia competed for the first time in Monterra, Kalosia with "Kalimat" sung by Rahmat Zahulafi-Yamaqzul where he earned 6th place with 24 points. This is considered as the first time that Alezia scored a top-10 position in any music competition, showing an optimistic trend in the future which continues on through the last North Alezian participation in World Hit Festival 58 in Le Havre, Normandy and Picardy with Aminah Al-Laila's "Atas Nama Sang Cinta".

Meanwhile, as in the Worldvision Song Contest, South Alezia used to score poorly in the World Hit Festival. Poorly made songs put South Alezia as a regular on the bottom part of the scoreboard, one time even failing to qualify back in World Hit Festival 53 held in Bovingdon, Britonisea. However, with the success of South Alezian entries at Worldvision, the Alezian public trusted a South Alezian entry to represent the entire union which is happening now.

After World Hit Festival 60 held in Britonisea ended, the Alezian Union decided to temporarily withdraw and rest from the festival. The Alezian Broadcasting Authority never released a press statement describing entirely as why the nation didn't participate anymore, and this caused rumours. The Alezian netizens at Arico.net shared rumours such as ABA withdrawing due to budgetary issues, focusing on Worldvision, the latest poor results of the Alezian Union at Worldvision (the worry that the same trend would repeat at the World Hit Festival), into the bizzare conspiracies. However, the most true rumor is the fact that the Alezian Union withdrew from the competition for a creative break and researching artists.

But now, after resting for five editions, the Alezian Broadcasting Authority (in a rather surprising quick public press event) announced that the Alezian Union would return to the World Hit Festival, with them selecting South Alezian ballad artist Carlijne Siegrist.

ARTIST INFO

Carlijne Siegrist at a photoshoot before their departure to Valletta.

When you think of South Alezia, ballads should be something far from your mind. You would think that South Alezia's on their best if you ask them to write boppy pop songs or perhaps rock. But just not ballads. Enter Carlijne Siegrist.

Carlijne Siegrist is a South Alezian singer mostly focusing on ballads. Born in Wilhelminastad (directly north of Doorsbreekenstad's northern borders, where there is a split road where if you go left you'll meet Wilhelminaden, if you go right you'll meet Wilhelminastad), Doorsbreeken, South Alezia on 22nd of June 1994 as an only child to Benjamin Siegrist and Helena Siegrist (nee Suryawan). Why do I have to mention her parents, because both Benjamin and Helena has a reputation as singers back in the 80s. Before marrying, Benjamin and Helena would partner up as a duo known as "Benjamin and Helena" (yeah, not that creative), where they would go city to city participating in various events and concerts. This ability to sing eventually passed down into their daughter.

Like most of South Alezians, eventually Carlijne and her parents escaped Doorsbreekenstad due to the ongoing military dictatorship by General Hoojvinken (at the dictatorship times it was named Baerland) and trekked the road secretly into Pantabang Islands, eventually entering North Alezia and successfully registering themselves as temporary residents of North Alezia. It's not until reunification that Carlijne returned home.

Study-wise, Carlijne finished her tertiary education in 2008 at the prestigious University of Zafizamarrah majoring in South Alezian Cultural Studies. There she also started to sing professionally, participating as a Soprano at the University of Zafizamarrah's Campus Choir. In her years as a choir member, she has successfully helped her team won various awards, including the most famous one being earning a gold at the Alezian Choir Festival, the first time in 15 years at the time. This made her generation well known as the "UniZafi Choir Dream Team Chapter 2".

A lot of the Dream Team member eventually made it into the music career, including Carlijne. She participated in Alezian Idol 2014 and got 8th, where she auditioned in Metropolitan Zafizamarrah, then enter the top 20 where she would earn top 3 six times, bottom two twice, a wildcard, until she got eliminated. However, her last song in the competition went viral on the Alezian internet with her cover of "To Be Damned" by Rozan Karan. After that, she would end up releasing albums such as "Living", "Not", "Teringat", and "If You were my Doppleganger". These records created recognition for her, so much that she would be recognized as one of the most famous South Alezians in North Alezian internet pre-reunification.

After reunification , Carlijne and her family went back home to Wilhelminastad where Carlijne would continue her music career where she would start releasing songs in Dutch such as "Politie", "Liefje" and "Straat 3". All of her previous singing talent and repertoire introduced her to the ABA, who selected her to represent the Alezian Union at the 66th World Hit Festival.

SONG INFO

Rough illustration of the South Alezians' being confused about orchestra arrangements.

South Alezians aren't designed for orchestra and ballads. Usually, for arrangements, they would give it to the Northerners (they're more emotional per capita). However, just like Carlijne is one of few South Alezian ballad singers, Benzourie Hoorenzijn (which also happens to be Carlijne's cousin) and Hamid Ruslan Aziz are renowned for being South Alezia's top ballad and orchestra composers, as both studied the art of it in North Alezia.

Carlijne, Benzourie, and Hamid discussed about the lyrics and symbolisms that would be utilized for the competition. They then realized that just in time for World Hit Festival is the week of South Alezian remembrance of their past (Memoriam Day, Hari Peringatan, Herdenkingsdag), mostly about World War 2 (which South Alezia participated in under the Dutch crown), but now also incorporating the South Alezian Revolution of 2021 (even though it didn't happen in September.) . Then they decided, as a tribute for South Alezian history, the song should talk about turbulence of South Alezian history.

"Epilogue" talks about a South Alezian girl going through time fighting against evil in history, where she had nearly given up on a lot of occasions, yet she refused to because she believes that eventually, she would achieve the epilogue that she dreamed of, an epilogue of peace, an epilogue of happiness. The song talks about nameless graves (a very common theme in South Alezia, unfortunately), escaping from dictators, identity erasures (common on the Hoojvinken era for those who escaped into North Alezia), accusations of being a North Alezian spy, and many more.

The song represented the dream of past generations of South Alezians hoping that they would see their freedom to decide what they want to do with their country, what path they want to choose, which friend to befriend, and many more. And fortunately, that dream has been achieved through reunification after passing the fog of turbulence and winning the challenge against time. And as such, the song also represent the gratitude of present South Alezians for being free, where they also have their own epilogue with their own missions and their own turbulences.

RP

The Alezian Union and Malta Comino Gozo has had a very strong relationship, especially over the past years, added with the introduction of the WMCA Alliance. One of the agreements signed in that organization is a creation of a less-complicated intermember visitation exchange process, allowing citizens from each country to enter other WMCA members with relative ease. In the week precedding the live broadcast date, Carlijne and her team departed directly from Mukhlis Krasnaya Novogrody International Airport and directly flew to Valletta, Malta Comino Gozo.

The journey there was fun in itself, the team got to get the Airezia First Class experience (normal thing since Airezia and the ABA are both SOEs (State-Owned Companies, both would work with each other, combining their abilites and sharing facilities. In this case is ABA asking Airezia for a direct flight to Valletta). The team were enamored by the beautiful landscape of the Malta Comino Gozoan capital, filled with the harmonious fusion between modernity and natural perservation. The team decided to take a trip around the city everytime they were done with rehearsals for the day, especially considering that the Malta Comino Gozoans generously giving every delegates "Heritage Tickets" that the team's definitely going to use. With them, they mostly visited Cittadella and witness the history behind the Great Pirate Raid of 1513.

Every single place they visit create a new story for each of the delegate members, each place strengthened their ambition to do well in the city that has welcomed them with open arms.

PERFORMANCE

(The audience applaused for the return of the Alezian Union, expectations are really high as the stage was dark for the start. As the conductor Michaelo started moving his hands for the orchestra to start, the scene started with a slow zoom in to Carlijne standing on the center of the stage behind a standing microphone surrounded by smoke next to Benzourie who also played the piano as the lights started to light up revealing Carlijne wearing an old South Alezian-style dress. In the television sets, the scene would start in a black and white setting with black borders on top and bottom of the screen)

Had to run away,
Running 'way from all the blame,
My lips locked without a say,
With my picture out the frame

(The camera continues zooming in slowly while effects of handwriting that you would see in old photos appearing in parts of the tv broadcast, writing things such as "Doorsbreekenstad, 2 April '42" , "Tjintakoe", "Mijn liefhebbende vrouw" and "De waarheid", indicating phrases of love and truth used at the time. As the camera started to stop zooming, the writing also dissapeared)

I know that it's not me,
But my heart accused myself,
Breaking through the line of fate
Living the truth of oneself

(The camera stopped to show Carlijne singing with a very serious face, where she closed both of her eyes at the second sentence just before the chorus.)

Pages of my story kept on turning on
Where would the story continue on?

(The camera quickly changed its view to show the stage from far, where the background showed photos of South Alezians at World War 2, a family having fun, a farmer, a soldier, a merchant selling their things to a bureaucrat, and other photos while the lights started lighting up and moving up and down slowly.)

The dreams that I had, tears that fell from my eyes,
Will everything go on to end with a smile?
Where's the end? Epilogue?
Will it be something to argue?

(The scene then came from a steadicam that walked slowly around Benzourie as he played the piano and then moving on to Carlijne who looked at the steadicam as she realized the presence of the camera)

If everything ends now, conclusions are made,
If no one cries my name, why even matter?
'Tis the end? Epilogue
Will it be something to pursue?

(The camera then shows Carlijne singing from the right side as she spreads her right hand forwards for the third sentence before slowly returning it back to its normal position from the fourth to the fifth sentence and the background and the TV scene turned into a black screen with the writings of the last sentence "will it help me win against the clock?" in English, Alezian Dutch, and Indonesian.)

I want to see, how it all ends.
Where, it will land me,
Not the end, Epilogue
Will it help pass my heart through the fog?
Will it help me win against the clock?

(As the camera prepares for the next scene, the scene then turns back on now with colour representing the change of time, where Carlijne also had changed her clothes, transforming her 1940s outfit to a much more modern outfit, a white gown. With this, she separated the mic away from the stand as she walked to Benzourie playing the piano where a steadicam followed her to there.)

Truth to be foretold,
Over words that once untold,
Even with the heart of gold,
But the story remains bold

(Carlijne faced the right side of the stage singing while Benzourie kept playing the piano to the best he can)

Pages of my story kept on turning on
Where would the story continue on?

(The camera quickly changed its view to show the stage from far, where the background showed photos of South Alezians the 2021 revolution, a horde of people gathering in front of the General's building, South and North Alezian flags flown together, protests, fights against the General's police, the reunification party, and other things.)

The dreams that I had, tears that fell from my eyes,
Will everything go on to end with a smile?
Where's the end? Epilogue?
Will it be something to argue?

(Around this time, the camera returned to the front, Carlijne returned to the center and returned the mic back to its stand, where she would stay there and sing, as she spread her right hand "calling" four of her backing singers in wearing the same clothes as her, they come in and stopped just behind Carlijne)

If everything ends now, conclusions are made, (they are made...)
If no one cries my name, why even matter? (why even matter?)
'Tis the end? Epilogue
Will it be something to pursue?

(The camera zoomed out again showing the whole thing the scene from the top as it flies like a drone and then on to the audience, and then the camera quickly shows a close up of Carlijne as she prepares for the shout until eventually she successfully did the final part as the camera zoomed out showing the background's photos falling and fire pyrotechnics fell from the ceiling.)

I want to see, how it all ends.
Where, it will land me,
Not the end, Epilogue
Will it help pass my heart through the fog, yeah!

(The camera then showed a close-up of Carlijne again preparing for the end, until the everything and lights abruptly turned off at the second sentence... before turning a single spotlight into Carlijne while the background once again showed the last lyric "Will it help me win against the clock?" before moving the spotlight into Benzourie playing the last bit of the piano.

Not the end, Epilogue
Will it help pass my heart through the fog
Will it help me win against the clock?

(The lights turned up slowly as the audience applaused greatly for the Alezian Union, where Carlijne, Benzourie, and the backing dancers stood in a line and bowed to the audience. Then Carlijne shouted "DANK JE, TERIMA KASIH, THANK YOU VALLETTA, LONG LIVE PEACE, LONG LIVE ALIKA'AI!" before leaving the stage together with the team for the next entry. Phew!)

by **Todlichebujoku** » Sat Sep 03, 2022 2:21 am

XX. Tödlichebujoku
"Teisiunīun Iścilmēs" - Küösti Mákelá & A Estamba Dasê da Pilsêta de Estegoa
Title Translation: Celebration of the Righteous
Language(s): Platains
Lyrics: Rada Albesco
Music: Küösti Mákelá, Kai Unruh
Tune: Two Steps From Hell - "Shiver Me Timpanis"
Conductor: Aašeli Saito

Though Estegoa100 has recently stepped back from participating in the World Hit Festival, the broadcaster opted to return for the 3rd Orchestral Edition of the contest, having hosted the last one in WHF56 in its home city of Sterblichengokai, also known as Estegoa. Pulling on a past entrant in that season's Lauluküselü, composer and producer Küösti Mákelá, the broadcaster matched him up with the prestigious Grand City Choir of Estegoa, or "A Estamba Dasê da Pilsêta de Estegoa" as it is known in Lagoan. Taking a very different bent from earlier Tödlichebujoki Orchestral entries, "Teisiunīun Iścilmēs" is sung in the classical Platains language, and brings a very bombastic element to the contest, with thumping drums and horns to get blood pumping and heads nodding, and probably destroying those with more conservative and delicate tastes in the realm of orchestra. Playing on the theme of good versus evil, particularly in the light of recent national struggles earlier touched upon in entries such as "Quarter To Two" by Almatsi Mustonen and "TO THEIR KNEES" by Vimma, "Teisiunīun Iścilmēs" weaves an atmosphere of triumph and celebration, in contrast to the earlier themes of catharsis and vengeance.

The camera view aims downward upon the stage, a watery deep blue light rippling through the darkness upon where the choir, A Stamba Dasê da Pilsêta de Estegoa, stands on both the upper and lower steps, with the center stage left open. Around them on either side, the orchestra is arrayed out, just barely visible. As the music begins with an opening flourish, light washes over the stage, revealing the choir dressed in velvety red robes with golden embroidery, their arms upraised and their eyes closed facing up, and the orchestra is lit with a soft golden glow from below, and otherwise is very dimly lit for dramatic effect. The camera view focuses on the orchestra, panning close by the instrumentalists as they play, with a glowing bank of fog in the back ground that flashes occasionally with bright white light like lightning strikes. Pulses of red wash over the choir on center stage as they begin to sing, gesturing out as one unit as mist creeps along the stage floor

0:42-0:54
Iś tamsos
Pacilome
Iś canćios
Ir in śuiesan,
Nuostabiai
Deganćian

The lighting dims down as the instrumentation fades away just a bid, just before the drums and horns kick in and two dancers take the central stage in between the upper and lower groups of choir members. One is dressed in gold and white, with elegantly streaming ribbons whirling behind the dancer's every movement, as they duel with the other, clad in black and red, a sort of formal suit augmented with matte black armor plating, and a very pale skin tone. Jets of fire erupt from along the stage edge as they push back and forth, transitioning to white sparks, before returning to brilliant orange-red flames. Lit by an array of lights set at their feet, the choir continues to sing

1:27-1:47
Per scausman
Per pīctin
Inveicti
Cliūtis

Su scaićiais
Ateina
Galia paceisti pasaulin

Tegul
Dransa
Tiesa
Meilē
Cīla
in virsun

Tegul
Dransa
Tiesa
Meilē
Cīla
in virsun

Ooh...

With the "Ooh", the lighting opens into a bright white-gold color, suffusing the entirety of the stage, the top of the background screen filled with brilliant blue sky. In a way, it's like the eye of a storm, a moment of respite and peace amidst the adversity, a beacon of hope. But of course, the fight is not over. The golden dancer warily stalks around the fallen red-black one, who writhes on the ground, readying to fight once more. And of course, with the return of the horns and drums, the lights plunging back into red and darkness, punctuated by flashes of imitation lightning and bursts of flame, they come back to life and continue their battle. As it rages on, the tone of lighting and effects grows lighter and lighter, more bright, more golden, with sparks instead of flame, and the golden dancer gaining the upper hand

2:14
Pagirc
Mieras
Brolīa
Ir laisvē
Ici dangaus

Per scausman
Per pīctin
Inveicti
Cliūtis

Su scaićiais
Ateina
Galia paceisti pasaulin

The background screen depicts a dawning sun, lights piercing and slowly burning away the fog effect in the back, the golden dancer standing victoriously with a foot over the fallen dancer of darkness and corruption. The choir makes one last grand gestural flourish as a final blast of white sparks completes the performance, with brilliant warm light soon pervading the camera view and washing everything out

by **Kalosia** » Sun Sep 04, 2022 5:07 am

XX. Kalosia
"Soñalmi" - Luísë Ermani
Title Transcription: Sonjalmi (alternative spelling)
Title Translation: Dream of me
Language(s): Kalosian
Lyrics: Marku dëli Flori, Renardu Fabióni, Gabriél Kartas, Karla Neroni
Music: Domeniku Bari, Gabriél Kartas, Valentinu Martes
Tune: Symphony — Zara Larsson (live orchestral performance)
Conductor: Gabriél Kartas

After Kalosia unexpectedly withdrew for the first time in ages from the 64th World Hit Festival, it was anyone's guess as to whether the nation would participate in the 66th WHF in Valletta. Not to mention that the recent hosting of the 100th WorldVision Song Contest would have reasonably caused shocks to RTVK's finances, it was fair to argue that the nation was not going to be present at the orchestral edition. Although, it was perhaps because of the orchestral edition that Kalosia eventually appeared on the list of countries confirmed to participate in Malta Comino Gozo.

With the limited budget in mind, the broadcaster opted for an internal selection process. Given the limitations of the orchestral edition, letters were sent to particular music organizations in an attempt to reach individuals whose talent would be best suited to write a piece that makes the best of those limitations. Eventually, RTVK was approached by Gabriél Kartas, musical director of the Palmañe Centre of the Arts. And he had a vision.

Gabriél's submission was received quite warmly by the RTVK WHF team. It became a favourite among the committee tasked with selecting the entry, so it was an easy decision to grant the musician the selection of his piece. In parallel, he organized a quick audition among the regular vocalists at the Palmañe Centre of the Arts, in search of the best voice for the song. In the end, he proposed 26-year old Luísë Ermani to the delegation, who accepted the proposal and flew her over to Monterra to work on the final mastering of the song.

The entry is titled 'Soñalmi' (Dream of Me). It is based on a piece by the renowned Kalosian painter Ǧorǧu Mendeta, titled 'La rëgardë d'unë fanťelë' (The glance of a maiden). It was commissioned in the 1580s and portrays, on one side, a maiden on the background of a fading starry sky. On the other side is a sunrise with the rays of the sun designed to be striking, behind a man dressed as a seafarer. The general interpretation is that the man is going on an adventure at the break of dawn, leaving behind the maiden who awaits his return.

Lyrically, the song is told from the perspective of the woman. If you pay attention to the words, there are lines not only describing elements of the painting but also interpreting how these individual elements affect the maiden. Musically, effort was put into the arrangement to emphasize the orchestral nature of the song, and the staging is also planned to reflect the message behind the song.

For the big night, Luísë is wearing a stylized dress that takes inspiration from 16th-century Kalosian fashion. Yet, it looks sleek and no less modern. As the Kalosian postcard finishes playing, Gabriél is introduced as the conductor of the entry. As he begins leading the orchestra, Luísë walks onto the stage as a silhouette. She approaches a mic stand and starts singing.

Stavu ja soñandu ti
Oñë notë u miu letu
Sapendu kë ami mi
E sej plu kë un amiku

The general mood was pretty somber and intimate. The cameras focused on Luísë as she attempted to build a connection to viewers.

Poj li steli vanonu
E voľu solu a korerë
Da kestu grandë ošanu
Kë ja në pošu komprenderë

The cameras slowly introduced a bit of movement, slowly zooming out.

E vene unë albë moltë tristë
Li raǧi di sol kañanu mia vitë
E kadë ti manka toku miu
Speru kë rëkordi tu…

Now warm shades of yellow light came on, like a sunrise, as Luísë sang the chorus.

Se në vidi mi ankorë, soñalmi
U toji vjaži, ja ti spetaru
Ťerkalmi
Uv oñu angolu di tia vistë
Staremu insemë uv un mondu novu

Now as the beat kicked in, a man—a backing dancer—walked in. He was dressed in an outfit that also looked inspired by 16th century men's fashion, although fitted for comfort and ease of movement. As he approached Luísë, she started interacting with him, looking into his eyes as if to sing to him directly. There are backing singers as well, but they are relegated to the corner of the stage, somewhat out of sight.

Speru kë aj sentitu feliž
Kadë au venitu a tia vitë
Niu amurë era sempliž
Ma belu komë unë melodië

Luísë takes the mic off the stand and follows him as the lights go crazy.

E stavu ja penšandu ti
Vivendu a tia imažë
Forse staj soñandu mi
Forse ja san tia piturë

In the last line of that last part, the lights suddenly went off except for a few that gave off a cool tint. The two also suddenly stopped moving. Now Luísë moves to the center of the stage while the man wanders around.

E vene unë albë moltë tristë
Li raǧi di sol kañanu mia vitë
E kadë ti manka toku miu
Speru kë rëkordi tu…

Luísë stays in the middle as the lights in the background give an absolute show, and as the man interpretively dances around the stage.

Se në vidi mi ankorë, soñalmi
U toji vjaži, ja ti spetaru
Ťerkalmi
Uv oñu angolu di tia vistë
Staremu insemë uv un mondu novu

Things calm down and, in this next part, various props are rolled in . The cameras focus on carefully crafted close up shots of Luísë and the orchestra to distract the audience and viewers from any background movement. At this point, tension picks up as well, and the audience claps along to the strong beat.

Ah ah ah, A~ah ah ah ah
Ah ah ah, A~ah ah ah ah

In this final pre-chorus, as the final setup is taking place, the cameras mainly close up on Luísë, who sings really emotionally but masterfully into the camera.

E vene unë albë moltë tristë
Li raǧi di sol kañanu mia vitë
E kadë ti manka toku miu
Speru kë rëkordi tu, oh-oh…

Now the camera zooms out, giving a full glimpse of the stage. The props entail things like plants and 16th century-style building props.

Se në vidi mi ankorë, soñalmi
U toji vjaži, ja ti spetaru
Ťerkalmi
Uv oñu angolu di tia vistë

The dancer passes by Luísë and she follows him along, as she does some simple choreography (while singing) in sync to his much more complex moves. On top of that, the ad libs helped breathe new life into this work of art.

Soñalmi, yeah…
(U toji vjaži, ja ti spetaru)
Oh oh oh, yeah~yeah… (Ťerkalmi)
(Uv oñu angolu di tia vistë)

Luísë paused her moves real quick to sing the final line of the song:

Staremu insemë uv un mondu novu

And immediately after, she and the man dance together briefly before they make their ways towards opposite ends of the stage and posing. On the background screens, on the left side is a faint starry night sky while on the right is a bright orange and yellow gradient, hiding behind a powerful, beating sun. The final shot of the entry is a reenactment of the painting that the song is based on.

The audience cheers, and Luísë breaks away from her pose. "Thank you Valletta, gražia!" she thanks the audience, just a few moments before the dancer comes over, embracing her. She also gestures towards Gabriél, the conductor, who then takes his own bow before they all vacate the stage so that the next act can set up.

by **Caribou Island** » Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:45 pm

XX. Moorland
"Folklore" - Sarana
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Sarana, Felix Erksen
Music: Sarana, Wendy McKnight
Tune: Folklore
Conductor: Jens Jensen

Of wandering forever and the earth again . . . of seed-time, bloom, and the mellow fruits of the harvest. Of the big flowers, the rich flowers, those flowers yet unknown - how they bloom! Where shall there be place for the weary to rest their heads? Where shall the lonely heart find solace under the light of a cold, searching moon? What doors are open for the wanderer when the bitter winds bite? Which shall find in their father, to know his face in any land, in any time save the one currently lived? Where? Where the weary of heart can abide forever, where those weary of wandering can find peace, where the tumult, the fever, the fret can be smoothed like a furrowed brow and be forever stilled.

Who owns the earth, commands dominion over the passing seasons? Did we want the earth that we should wander it to see our fill, to take advantage of all offerings she brings? Do we need the earth in such desperate sense that we can never be stilled upon it? Whoever needs the earth shall have the earth, whoever wants the earth shall never find it. Only the former may be still upon it, may rest within his own place, dwelling in one room forever, intimate in a way unknown to the latter with the singular patch he has chosen to spend his life with.

Does he know of the need, desperate pressure, ravenous cacophony of a thousand tongues that seek answers through the horror of of a thousand foreign streets? He shall need a tongue no longer, she shall need no tongue for the silence of the earth. He shall speak no word through rooted lip, no language but that of the solid rock and ephemeral winds, the language of the seasons caressing his every sense. There will be no cry when the summer rains pound or the vine wells with sweet reward.

The glaciers crack and crumble while rainfall grows hard with rime and cold above, the flies cloud around the fallen, the adder lisps against cold breast, the fallen cup rolls out of a grave grip: the earth endures. The dead tongues withers and the dead heart rots, blind mouths carve tunnels through buried flesh: the earth endures. Hair grows in April and in the very next flowers grow from the buried breast, weaving upward like fresh locks born anew: the earth endures. Life may come back time and time again as death takes its toll, but the earth needs no renewal: it endures.

Flowers of love, whose strong lips drink downward into death, how sweet they smell, how little of the rot from which they draw life is shown in their beauty. Hearts broken and twisted by final kisses, and yet in those glories they remain. Immortal love, an impossibility, save for a love with that which endures.

The earth endures.

Thoughts of death had long followed Sarana like a shroud, ever-present. She wanted to find something that would last forever, which is what had drawn her to music. To make something that would outlive her, eternal in the vast mythos of humanity, undying for the inevitability of continued culture. Her music was a way to abate the madness and allow herself a few moments of calm in the storm of desperate need. Her music would endure if she made it, but she would not. Still she sang, if only to share that same sense of eternity, her words twisted on a liar's lips, crooning a melody that would ensure a part of her lived forever.

A dark background, a Moorish classic, starts off the scene. Fake barren trees with gnarled, twisted branches break up the dimly lit tableau. Sarana is near the front of the stage in a simple white shift, thick black hair flowing over her shoulders. Fog floods the stage, creating a vision of a haunted forest.

Folklore, spirits, stories bleeding
Ink pooled on pages
Under covers, whispering prayers
Searching for the truth

Small golden sparks begin winking in and out of the trees, a combination of small bulbs built into the trees themselves, strung along on near-invisible wires, and programmed into the background LED screens. They punctuate the darkness and remaining fog in a rhythmic pattern matching the beat of the drums and swelling of strings.

Cold eyes, hungry, feast on unseen
Lies that make the world seem bright
Keen mind is reeling, laden with memories
Though not mine, feel almost too real
I’ll tell them all

When the music picks up on the next verse, pages begin to fall from the rafters, a steady flow. Each page is printed with stories of folklore from across the various participating nations: of Moorish witches and Carrelian spirits, the gnomish rogues of Rilamark and the dragons of Toblijubidokuji. The lights and lasers flash over them, a brief iridescent array flashing across thousands of fluttering pages.

I turn the page, why is it blank?
I’ve read enough, I’m making my own tales
I fill the page, scrawl in my own blood
Searching for something that’s worthy of legend

Vast currents of wind from wind machines hidden behind large panels on either side of the stage stir up the fog, creating a swirling current through the trees and the sparkles that still wink across the stage. The lights glow up and gold glows on the screens behind, casting a halo around Sarana and shining through the black forms of the trees around her, showering the audience in dappled light. More pages fall and are caught up in the vortex, swirling around her like a tornado.

Visions, fading, mythos making
I have seen unfathomable things in dreams
Minds are unchanging, memories are fading
Done all I can to create a
New history

The music goes out gently and the winds still to a still, the stage lighter than she began it as but still dimmer than normal lighting, a moody mixture of gold and grey.

I turn the page, why is it blank?
I’ve read enough, I’m making my own tales
I fill the page, scrawl in my own blood
Searching for something that’s worthy of legend

by **Ikslund** » Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:50 pm

XX. Ikslund
"Holy War" - Rabet Hesseken
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Rabet Hesseken
Music: Rabet Hesseken, Tonen Ferkel
Tune: Holy War
Conductor: Aldi Farkonen

A fall from heaven
No god let me in
Till hell came calling
Collecting fallen
Rise up (rise up)
Rise up (rise up)

The blood of saints
Brought Eden to blossom
I heard about a weapon
Path to armageddon
Rise up (rise up)
Rise up (rise up)

Demons storm the gates of hell
Our power grows, no god can quell
The might of one
That takes the form of all
(I’m still burning burning, I’m still burning burning oh)
I’m still burning up
(I’m still burning burning oh)
I’m still burning up

Carillon bells ring
The archangel's dancing
Endless rolling thunder
Split skies torn asunder
Rise up (rise up)
Rise up (rise up)

I saw divinity
Seraphim singing
Ancient tongues upon their lips
They didn’t deserve it
Rise up (rise up)
Rise up (rise up)

Tear it down, this trembling peace
The shaking earth, the heaving seas
Past heaven’s gate
The cries of angels fall
(I’m still burning burning, I’m still burning burning oh)
I’m still burning up
(I’m still burning burning oh)
I’m still burning up

I once thought that there was no way
That this is how life would stay
No way to topple a tyrant
If we fight as one
It can be won
I once thought that there was no way
That this is how death would stay
No way to topple a tyrant
If we fight as one
It can be won

Unholy host came to raze
This firmament I set ablaze
Bricks crashing down
Like walls of Jericho
(I’m still burning burning, I’m still burning burning oh)
I’m still burning up
(I’m still burning burning oh)
I’m still burning up

I’m still burning up
(I’m still burning burning, I’m still burning burning oh)
I’m still burning up
(I’m still burning burning oh)
I’m still burning up (I’m still burning burning)
(I’m still burning burning, I’m still burning burning oh)
Now you’re burning too

by **Rilamark** » Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:56 pm

XX. Rilamark
"Petals" - Mira
Language(s): English
Lyrics: Mira
Music: Mira
Tune: Petals
Conductor: Selka Vaina

About twenty years ago, at the close of the old and the dawn of a new century, five people were standing on a railway platform in the gently sloping hills of the inner river lands, gentle ripples of grass and spring blossoms, the titanic power of the northern mountains spilling southward until flattening out onto the glassy plane of sea just out of sight in the distance. This little station, nothing more than a suburban adjunct of the larger town which, behind the concealing barrier of an earthen tide, swept in a scattered fashion away a sparse mile or two to the west and north, had become in recent years the favoured form of arrival and departure for travellers to and from the cities of the coast and the far off metropolises of the east. It now, in fact, was capable of accommodating a much larger traffic than the central town station - a village station, if even that could accurately describe the provincial nature of the setting - could hope, the latter being situated a small number of miles to the north around the inexorable bend of the rails. It was for this reason that a considerable number of people were now assembling themselves in typical Moorish order on the platform, and from suddenly unstilled gestures and craning necks, a quietly suppressed excitement that somehow seemed to infuse the drowsy mid-March afternoon with an utterly electric vitality, it was possible to feel the upcoming menace of the approaching train.

Observers on this quiet afternoon, had their been any to pay strict attention rather than be consumed with their own thoughts and anticipation of a future diversion by which their attention could be consumed, would have felt in the complexion of this gathering a somewhat mixed quality - a quality that was at once unknown and intimately familiar, alien and native, cosmopolitan and provincial. It was not a single native quality of the usual crowd that one saw on the station platforms of the typical Riverland town as the trains passed by. This crowd was thoroughly mixed, a varietal bouquet of flowers bearing the strong colouring of worldly know, that undetermined and indescribable element of fashionable sophistication that one might find in a place where native and alien populations have come together for some grander purpose. Such an inference here would be wholly warranted and wholly correct: the village of Vilavil not one mile on the other side of the hill at the station's back, in the denser clustering of hills of the north, was a well-known resort for the wealthy and the mixed gathering on this station was fairly representative of its population. But all of these people, both strange and of the land, had been drawn here by a common cause, an event which was first interest in the lives of any in this region on this particular afternoon. This event is the coming of the train.

It would have been evident to any outside observer that of the five people who were at one end of the platform, three - the two women and the boy - were connected by the relationship of blood, which in these lands flowed as richly as gold for all that it was valued. A stranger would have known at a glance that the boy and the girl were brother and sister, the older woman with caring lines carved into her eyes and lips their mother. Theirs was a relationship of tone and texture, time and energy, all of the grain and temper of a shared sense of spirit. Even the shrinking shadows of children were cast in the same shade as the older woman's confident frame, a frequency of familial energy that could only be matched by a lifetime of care and understanding. The mother was a woman of small but solid figure, nearing her fiftieth year with a head of blackened hair and a face full of dynamic energy, youthful bloom in full cheeks that settled themselves onto a thin face and neck. Her hair was brushed back from her face with severity and pinned in place at the nape of her neck, unmasking the thinness of her hair that otherwise frizzed and fought where it bushed out around her shoulders. The expression of her eyes, both brown and rather worn, was one of thoughtfulness and reflection, giving her face at once an expression of grave sincerity and strong native intelligence. Milky soft skin draped itself over her frame, colourless save for the red splotch of a nose that made its home on the prominent peak of her face, fleshy and broad, more masculine than not.

Upon seeing her, it was not uncommon for a stranger's first ponderance to concern itself with thoughts of her origins. Something in her temper and appearance gave the impression of a large family, the tribal look of one capable of looking after and being looked after in turn. They might feel certain of her having brothers, and that if those brothers could be seen they would almost certainly look as she did, at once solid and hale, age belied only by the creeping of thinning hair and skin at the edges, a parchment worn down over time. Yet this quality that led to fraternal comparisons was not a quality of sex, for save her broad nose and shoulders, was entirely female in appearance. It was a quality of character - one decidedly poised for the masculine.

A final impression may concern her life, one of being above moral judgement. No matter the course of her life's flow, no matter any crimes of avarice or ignorance charged to her soul, no matter what suffering or cruel consequences may have sprouted from her actions, her life was somehow beyond those accidents of occasion, running as wild and guiltless as a child, a river, or an avalanche - a force of nature that took neither credit nor blame.

The girl at her side was perhaps in the middle of her first youth. She was a tall girl, nearly six feet tall, large, and loose of bone and limb, almost gaunt in her proportion. Her comportment was one of a creature that did not quite understand the dimensions of its capacity, space taken up that had previously been free and clear of her physical interference. It was a strange thing, to call such a girl a woman, and yet the descriptor may now be more apt than it may have been even a year earlier. How quickly life could change in the riotous rush of youth. Both women were evidently creatures of boundless energy, but where the mother suggested the constant, calm, and almost tireless force of a river, the daughter was plainly an impulsive creature of the earth whose spirit possessed a terrific but unfortunately undisciplined vitality, a bolt of lightning come loose, ready to expend such energy with a whole-souled and almost frenzied bend onto any person or object which found itself in their grand affection.

The difference between the two women was also reflected in their faces. The face of the mother, for its earthen flexibility, the animal-like intentness with which her eyes observed the whole of the scene around her, and the mobility of a mouth she set to contorting itself to show the constant relative effort of her mind, was nevertheless the face of a woman whose spirit had an almost elemental quality of calm. The face of the daughter was high-boned and similarly broad, generously marked with a scattering of rust coloured seeds on a skin that matched that of her progenitor. At moments it bore the terrible spirits of wind, the tortured strains of hysteria, nerves stretched to a breaking point and then some, furious unrest and the dissonance of soul that led her to shrink against her much-shorter mother, shrinking with the impending exhaustion and collapse from her own overwrought vitality, nervous and gaunt features smoothed with tiredness.

The boy, younger than the daughter, to any stranger would have been an unknown figure, face firmly buried into the woollen skirt of his mother, frame hidden among russet folds.

Now, each in their own way - calm purveyance and darting glances - the two women were surveying the other people on the platform with a ravenous and absorptive interest, bestowing on each a wealth of information and comment, suggesting an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of all who set foot in their community. Murmured gossip flowed between the two like the rivers, gentle ebbs and flows of idly anxious conversation like the hills around them.

It was not much later that suddenly a commotion was stirred by one of the groups upon the platform, at its very edge in the direction of oncoming trains, a great clamour that soon overtook the rest of the overpopulated assemblage. A singular shout rippled out like a gunshot the very moment smoke was suddenly apparent in the sky -

"Train!"

And there it was, a beast of iron and flame, wreathed in blackened smoke as it wound its way around the bend and straight on to the station. Modern trains, of course, were sleek and electric, quiet creatures that sped across the landscape of a modern nation. But this, this was a heritage train, many of which wandered the lands of these parts for those who wanted a more historic, luxurious experience. It was no wonder the sole passengers on board this land-bound ferry would have chosen such a method of entrance, to enhance the spectacle. The slow narrowing of eyes from the river woman and the fierce downward spearing of lip ends on the tall woman punctuated their feelings on the matter. Not that those feelings did. Matter, that is. No, and it was likely one passenger on board had most certainly expressed her own feelings on the transportation in much a similar way.

The beast lurched to a standstill and from its belly, moments later, came the conquering heroes: a man in flashy suit and blinding teeth, twin fire eyes burning with pride and greed; a stone woman in grey pantsuit and grey mood; and a girl, not much further past her tenth year, fidgeting in perfectly coiffed ringlets and pristine dress shoes, a shiny bauble marched forward. The station's visitors burst into applause and unseen photographers who had been near the back suddenly launched a veritable barrage - questions and flashing cameras and comments.

The winner of the Eurovision song contest caught the eyes of the two women and bowed her curled head and scurried forward, breaking away from the shiny man and scurrying past grasping hands and adoring coos to slip her small fingers into the pale grasp of her mother.

Over twenty years later and 1999 was a distant memory. Stories could have been written in the time between, but who had the time? Mira had grown up, from a child star to nothing less than the darling of the Riverlands, her voice recognisable to the millions of inhabitants of her home region. When the time came for a representative to be chosen for Rilamark's first entry into the World Hit Festival, the first time in decades they had exercised their rights as a constituent kingdom of Moorland, she had been the obvious choice. She could only hope she would do her family proud - her family in the sense of blood, but also the family bound to her by the endless networks of aquatic arteries and veins that ran through their homeland.

She stood on the main stage, swirls of pink and green surrounding her, hues of purple fading in on the first deep plucking notes as the orchestra began to sing. Then she joined in, her dress of petals spilling around her, a ballgown that almost resembled a topiary or bouquet more than it did a dress.

I watched the gardenias bloom
Coaxed out of hiding from winter’s gloom
‘Cause the snow had left just muddy scars and some leg room

Dancers in full-coverage bodysuits that were encrusted in synthetic flowers danced around her, though it was difficult for her to see from her vantage point stuck in her massive ballgown. To outside observers it would appear to flow and shift like a real dress as she stood or the motorised wheels gently rocked her to create the illusion of movement, but she was essentially surrounded by metal wires and beams connected to a mobile platform under her feet that kept her floral dress from falling apart by her moving too much in it.

Fresh petals flowered and fell
The cycle of seasons turned just as well
The autumn came followed by ice and the snowmelt

I feel the winds brush on my skin
A vortex of my natural kin
I feel my youth slipping away, not blessed with their eternity

She could see several of the dancers swing out on aerial silks over the audience, showering petals over the crowds nearest the front. Eventually they ended back behind her and were out of view again, but the audience seemed to enjoy what they were seeing.

I saw the willows weeping soft
Sorrowful branches held aloft
A summer eve, passing dreams, memories

A camera passed by her face and she remembers to stare alluringly into the camera, her bejewelled lips blowing a kiss to the audience at home.

Basking in fall’s golden glow
Green caught aflame in one final blaze
Like summer heat but soon all turned to ash

I feel the winds brush on my skin
A vortex of my natural kin
I feel my youth slipping away, not blessed with their eternity

After the last verse she crooned wordlessly as faceless dancers surrounded her, their bodysuits encrusted in synthetic petals following the choreography she couldn't match in her massive ballgown.

I see the gardenias bloom
Their petals will adorn my tomb

Whenever my winter arrives
I’ll brave the unforgiving ice
And thought I know that time must run, I’ll enjoy my time in the sun

The lights went grand and matched the music as the orchestral swings took the song out, showering petals on the assembled people. A politely applauding audience covered in petals, standing in intervals, were the last thing she saw before being wheeled off the stage.

by **Axuva** » Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:58 pm

XX. Axuva
"Simeon" - Dancing On My Own
Language(s): English, Korean
Lyrics: Simeon
Music: Simeon
Tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsEVgvCB6PE
Conductor: Jong-Il Kim

[Intro]
Yeah, one, two, three

[Verse 1]
Wakin up early in the mornin’, no ones home
No noise from my phone cause I got disturb on, ay
And now it’s time to put on my favorite song, yeah
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Cause I don’t know why but I’m feeling fine, But I don’t care

[Refrain]
Suri deol kkae meorin apado
I’m doing all of this solo
No one by my side I don’t got time I’ve got to go
This is my life, worry bout yours
Cause I am my own true love
I'm dancing' on my, on my, on my, on my own

[Verse 2]
It’s nothing personal but I need to heal my soul
Cause these energies I just cant take no more
Balman dongdong gureuneun nae moseubi miwoseo
But doing all this work to accept fake love
No I dont even care, yeah

[Chorus]
Ill be dancin, dancin, dancin on my own
Yeah, I'll be dancing on my, on my, on my, on my own
Im dancing on my, on my, on my, on my own
Cause I am my one and only
real true love

[Verse 3]
If this is love no I dont wanna be in it
Cause all you do is talk talk, spewing negativity
My head ain’t clear so the break is for the best tho
You think that I’m chasing you for your love
But I’m not cause baby I can go on my own
But for the next time now I know to take it slow
Nagaseo nonjiga dodaeche eonjeinji
Deo isang eorijianeun nai ije got you and me

[Refrain]
Suri deol kkae meorin apado
I’m doing all of this solo
No one by my side I don’t got time I’ve got to go
This is my life, worry bout yours
Cause I am my one and only true love
I'm dancing' on my, on my, on my, on my own

[Chorus]
Ill be dancin, dancin, dancin on my own
Yeah, I'll be dancing on my, on my, on my, on my own
Im dancing on my, on my, on my, on my own
Cause I am my one and only
real true love

[Bridge]
I don't need you to be my answer
I don't care and i'm feelin cool
I don't need you to be my answer
I'm doing what I usually do
I don't need you to be my answer
I don't care and i'm feelin cool
I don't need you to be my answer
I'm doing what I usually do
I don't need you to be my answer

[Chorus]
Ill be dancin, dancin, dancin on my own
Yeah, I'll be dancing on my, on my, on my, on my own
Im dancing on my, on my, on my, on my own
Cause I am my one and only
real true love

by **Teesdexxia** » Sun Sep 04, 2022 4:02 pm

XX. Teesdexxia
"Song Title" - Artist
Title Translation: (If any, eliminate this line otherwise)
Language(s): Language(s) of the lyrics of the song
Lyrics: IC songwriters
Music: IC song composers
Tune: Add the link to your tune here
Conductor:

Early Sunday morning,
Love came without warning,
One look of yearning,
Fierce passion in him aborning.

Who’d’ve known,
What fate had sewn,
Love can drive one mad.

“Hello, my dear, may I stay a while”,
The younger man returned the smile,
And it was just like that, over a simple chat,
His heart became engulfed.
From that one whim,
The more he saw him,
The more he believed love was true.

<Chorus>

Every chance, he got he’d spend with the man,
In his head, their future together he’d began to plan,
He poured all the love in his heart in this direction,
But this was not shared affection.

Truth hit him in the heart,
Once a 3rd came into view,
It unravelled all he knew.

<Chorus>

His worried mind asked the question,
And the ultimate denial of his confession,
Disfigured the love in his heart into an obsession,
He wanted sole possession.

by **Malta Comino Gozo** » Tue Sep 06, 2022 8:43 am

WHF 66 Running Order

WHF 66 Valletta, Malta Comino Gozo - DRAFT THREAD CLOSED

WHF 66 Valletta, Malta Comino Gozo - DRAFT THREAD CLOSED

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