Back to Basics

The Malta Independent - Friday Wisdom

Chiara gave the whole European continent a back-to-basics lesson that we would do well to apply in other spheres of life.

To perform well in the grand scale of the Eurovision Song Contest, one needs a successful combination of many ingredients. To perform so well, twice in the space of seven years, with the limited backing and resources that a small country like Malta can give, the mix has to be calibrated to perfection.

The promotion during the weeks leading to the festival has to be elaborate and capillary to ensure that the voting public gains familiarity with the song well before the night of the contest. The media management during the final week of the festival has to be well cured as in that crucial period the media can make you or break through. The media cannot win you the festival but they can certainly help to create a perception that your entry is really in the running.

And ultimately there have to be good quality basics. The song has to be catchy, easy to remember, penetrating the mind and heart of the audience. The performance not only has to be top notch but has to have some unique ingredient which makes the entry stand out among the 24 contestants so that the voting public can pick your flower out of a bouquet of 24 that are heard in quick succession.

This explains why, over the years, the stage performance of the contestants has shifted to place great emphasis on choreography and accompaniment. It also explains why singers and performers chosen to represent their respective countries are not chosen strictly for their singing abilities but equally importantly for their personality, beauty and showmanship. These last three years this has worked for Turkey, Latvia and Ukraine, who carried the festival more on the basis of stage choreographic performance than the quality of their song and their singer.

Chiara went against the general trend in 1998, at a time when the trend was still taking shape. It worked and she missed it by a whisker, coming third but amply in the running till the last vote. Sticking to the 1998 back-to-basics formula in 2005, when the trend was in full force, was a daring gambit.

But it worked again and even better, as while all the other 23 contestants looked quite alike, with a strong stage choreography performance, Chiara achieved more distinction through her back-to-basic simplicity. In those three short minutes, she gave the vast European audience a clear message. She told them that she was probably the only performer on the night who was being truly herself: what you see is what you get.

She was telling them that the charm of her melody and the sweetness of her voice could only really be enjoyed if undiluted by the distractions of stage performance and choreography. She was inviting her audience to take her for what she is, not necessarily her looks but her singing and composing abilities. She invited her wide European audience to go back-to-basics.

And evidently they accepted Chiara’s invitation. If the final result is stripped of the natural preference that neighbouring countries give to each other, which has helped Greece garner points from Cyprus, Turkey and the Balkans – votes beyond our reach given Malta’s geographic realities – then there is no doubt that Chiara was the real winner on the night.

We should transpose this lesson to other spheres where we can use our distinctive feature to compete and win not merely by copying but by being different.

Take tourism in particular. We have what it takes to be different. We can present ourselves to European travellers as being so near and yet so different. We have cultural treasures that are the envy of much larger nations. We can offer our visitors the opportunity to walk and touch history. We have a Grand Harbour that, apart from shouting history at the discerning visitor, could be branded as the eighth wonder of the world in the way mother nature has constructed an architectural gem offering natural shelter which mortal architects could never match.

So why on earth should we just let ourselves go with the trend of low cost airlines that are generally sought by the sun and sea mass market tourists rather than seek value added in quality short break tourism? Why can’t we stand up and shout that we are different and that quality tourists can come here because what they can see in Malta in three or four days would take more than two weeks in many other larger states, if at all.

For this to succeed, we have to improve our product, which really should take very little effort. What does it take to ensure that taxi drivers charge the correct fare through a well-functioning meter? What does it take if horse-cab taxi owners are made to wear a uniform and to expose an authorised tariff on the cab? Rather than the quantum charge, what is important is that the tourist does not get the feeling, which is often a reality, of being overcharged.

And what does it take to convert the royal theatre site in Valletta from a derelict car park to a soft ceiling museum giving the story of the Barry Museum, its predecessor that was burned down in 1873, as well as exposing such unique memorabilia as the George Cross, matters related to the Santa Maria convoy, the award of Independence and other significant events in Malta’s young political history?

Is it not time to go back to basics and start competing in the world by selling the distinctiveness of being Maltese?