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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 MARCH 2016 40 PBS has presented its entry to the 2016 Eurovision Song Con- test Walk On Water, sung by Ira Losco. The song was revealed as part of TVM's evening news broadcast Thursday night. Walk On Water was selected after international and Maltese jury voting during February and March. Juries in 13 European countries, comprising of music industry professionals, listened to 10 songs (nine new compositions, plus Chameleon), together with a panel of music experts from Mal- ta. Walk On Water was the over- whelming favourite to represent Malta in Stockholm. The video for Ira's new song was filmed last week at the Malta Na- tional Aquarium, and across sev- eral locations in Gozo. The song was officially submitted to the European Broadcasting Union be- fore last weekend's deadline. The song has been composed by Lisa Desmond, Tim Larsson, To- bias Lundgren, Molly Pettersson- Hammar and Ira Losco. Ira Losco will perform the song Walk On Water for Malta in the First Semi-Final of the 2016 Eu- rovision Song Contest, which will take place in Stockholm on May 10. Watch the video on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1Z9ezi0 This Week New short fiction from a Maltese veteran author ALFRED PALMA NOVELS and short stories are the liter- ary genres most favoured by the Maltese reader. Both genres can be a delight to the reader's imagination, can carry him over into another world, a fantastic one at that, which could prove a welcome change from the ennui of everyday life. Admittedly, writing a short story is not as difficult as writing a full length novel; the short story will contain a plot on which the author may have a better grasp, can more easily see the imagined story-line in its to- tality and can thus keep it better under his/ her control. On the other hand, it isn't that easy, writing a short story. The author still has to resort to his/her imagination to in- ject as much life and colour as possible into his/her work, to ultimately reap the overall benefits, particularly when (very often) he/ she has got a message or a moral to convey. Alfred Massa is a veteran of very well-es- tablished in Maltese literature. Essentially a poet, he is also a very prolific writer of novels in Maltese, a good number of which having been published quite recently. But, I believe, this is his second collection of short stories all, as the author says, being written over a span of 40 odd years; and all of them have the necessary requisites explicitly re- quired by this literary genre. The book con- tains 21 short stories, of quite some length, with different themes and various situa- tions, all covering an essential part of life in all its complexities. In each one, the author, with surprising ability, as is his wont, has managed to touch every aspect of human sentiment, drawing from the sentiment it- self the didactic (and often the moral) ele- ment as to how one may find the solutions to many of the problems he will invariably encounter in the course of his/her life, par- ticularly when and where human relations and common predicaments are concerned. Every short story is a delight to read, and the reader will definitely wax nostalgic as he moves gradually (albeit eagerly) from the first story onwards, toward the last one in the book, making all of the 21 stories a sort of a slow-forward journey from past to present, from a world that was, into world that is: crude, relentless, chaotic and utterly unredeemable! The subjects treated are very colour- ful and varied, every emotion is superbly touched; happy moments and sad, the occa- sional witty aside highlights here and there. Particularly beautiful are: Il-mara liebsa l- iswed, Ir-raġel li tela' mill-baħar, and Laura; others are sentimental and subtle to a degree: It-tliet uċuħ ta' Isabella, Id-dar tal-iljuni and Statwa tal-porċellana; a few evince the painful reality of old age and what it tragically implies, such as Silwett tax-xjuħija, which el- ementally compounds the overall sense of nostalgia that pervades all the stories, as do the colourful descriptions scattered liberally on each page of the book, one situation merging into the next with surprising ease, particu- larly when a psychological or a moral point is intended to be made, or dwelt upon. Like every other author, Mas- sa has put much of himself and his life into each story. Many of his own experiences have been kneaded into delightful narra- tives, always alive, never bor- ing. And, again, all this thanks to his very fertile imagination and the way he ultimately us- es it. Many times the atmos- phere is almost theatrical, dramatic, tense and restless; and this is very often highlighted by subtle approaches to the theme in question, which continues to add further colour to the story itself. This is indeed a very enjoyable and read- able book. Very neatly printed, with an eye- catching front cov- e r and in excellent Maltese, this thick tome of short stories should be on the shelf not only of those who love the Maltese novel for its own sake, but also of those who love and cherish their native language. Alfred Massa: Nisget il-Hajja: a collection of short stories in Maltese; a Horizons Publication, 2016; 264 pp. iswed, Ir-raġel li tela' mill-baħar, and Laura; others are sentimental and subtle to a degree: It-tliet uċuħ ta' Isabella, Id-dar tal-iljuni and Statwa tal-porċellana; a few evince the painful reality of old age and what it tragically implies, such as Silwett tax-xjuħija, which el- ementally compounds the overall sense of nostalgia that pervades all the stories, as do the colourful descriptions scattered liberally on each page of the book, one situation merging into the next with surprising ease, particu- larly when a psychological or a moral point is intended to be and this is very often highlighted by subtle catching front cov- e r Ira Losco's 'Walk On Water' released Walk On Water broadcast on PBS as Ira Losco prepares for 2016 Eurovision Song Contest semifinal in Stockholm on 10 May Still from Ira Losco's new video, Walk on Water – the song will represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest on May 10 Stand-up comedy buddies take to the clubrooms Comedians Malcolm Galea and Chris Dingli reunite on stage for a show at the MADC Clubrooms TWO of Malta's most popu- lar comedians, Chris Dingli and Malcolm Galea, will reunite to headline a night of comedy. Last seen together at the Manoel The- atre starring in The Odd Couple, Dingli and Galea return to their roots at the MADC Clubrooms where in the late 90s, they both got their first acting jobs. For one night only, on the eve of a public holiday, Dingli and Galea will entertain the public with fun, funny, original material. The last time the duo performed an origi- nal show together, one reviewer wrote, "I laughed so hard at one point that my eyeliner ended up on my cheek. It's been a long time since I actually laughed so hard at the theatre." That show was the highly suc- cessful Dingle Bells Malcolm Smells, which went on to become a sold-out annual event for some years. No strangers to the comedy scene, both locally and overseas, Galea and Dingli have forged im- pressive careers as actors, writers and comedians. Galea's Porn: The Musical! was a hit in London, win- ning Best New Musical in the Off West End awards, and his movie 20,000 Reasons recently played in local cinemas. Dingli is the main writer of the hugely popular Comedy Knights shows and TV series, and his one- man show Bad Dad, will transfer to London in May. Together, they have been de- scribed as "a great comic duo" by The Times and "two of the best local actors" in The Sunday Times. The Comedy Special will take place at the MADC Clubrooms, Santa Venera, on March 30. €10 tickets from www.ticketline.com. mt. There is extremely limited ad- mission and no extra performanc- es. A bar will be open throughout the show Chris Dingli and Malcolm Galea will perform on March 30