Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/416739
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2014 3 News CHUCKY BARTOLO VINCENZO Cantiello's power bal- lad has won the 12th Junior Eurovi- sion Song Contest last night with the song 'Tu primo grande amore'. Cantiello – the competition's only male singer ¬– won with an overall majority of votes, scoring a total of 159 points from the combined jury/ televoting scheme. This was Italy's first time entering the Junior Eurovi- sion Song Contest. The contest took place at the Malta Shipbuilding in Marsa last night, af- ter Gaia Cauchi won it last year. Born in 2000, Cantiello comes from a small town close to Naples. From church choirs to the massive concert 'Ti lascio una canzone' he says his passion has always been music. Local opera sensation Federica Falzon placed 4th for her rendition of 'Diamonds' with 116 points. De- spite not making it to the top 3, her unique performance and undeniable talent brought the house down for a second time in row, following Friday night's overwhelming reaction at the dress rehearsal. The Bulgarian trio consisting of one singer and twin pianists placed second with 147 points. They beat Armenia's acrobatic entry by just one point, whose 146 points earned them third place. Another audience favourite was Cyprus's Sophia Pat- salides, whose captivating stage pres- ence and impressive vocals had made her one of the favourites to win in the build up to the show, however she placed ninth with just 69 points. Apart from the 16 countries partici- pating, nations from across the world could watch, as well as vote in this Junior Eurovision. This year's event saw a record number of votes being placed online with 37,000 votes be- ing recorded within seconds. The official show slogan '#Togeth- er' could easily have been changed to '#DramaticBallads', with most entries forgoing the cutesy charm usually as- sociated with the Junior Eurovision, and instead focusing on delivering big voices with even bigger notes. This new trend, most likely started following Gaia's powerful vocal per- formance in her Junior Eurovision winning entry last year. The young diva herself later took to the stage to perform a medley of songs includ- ing the winning number itself, 'The Start'. Putting the power outage fiasco of the dress rehearsal behind them, Saturday night's final ran without a hitch. In between entries the audi- ence was treated to a series of dances from young performers, which kept the crowd energised, and cheering for more. Keeping with Eurovision tradition, before each song a 'post- card' advertising various scenic shots of the Malta, as well as several as- pects of the island's history and cul- ture was shown. As of yet the Italian delegation has not confirmed whether the will host the Junior Eurovision in 2015 follow- ing Cantiello's win. Vincenzo wins in Italy's Junior Eurovision debut YEARS OF DELIVERING FREIGHT SOLUTIONS TO OVER 1000 CUSTOMERS WITH A LEAN, NON-BUREAUCRATIC APPROACH WE DELIVER THE WHOLE PACKAGE expresslogigroup.com +356 21 221 999 14-year-old Vincenzo Cantiello takes home the Junior Eurovision award after scoring the highest combined points of the night; Malta's Federica Falzon places fourth Vincenzo Cantiello – the competition's only male singer – won with an overall majority of votes, scoring a total of 159 points PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Local opera sensation Federica Falzon placed 4th for her rendition of 'Diamonds' with 116 points "The official show slogan #Together could easily have been changed to #DramaticBallads"