The second round of Six-Chair Challenges aired last weekend, with the Groups and their mentor Howard Keith Debono being the second category to whittle down the remaining groups in the competition.
After an intense round of sing-offs, it has been revealed that Sweet Chaos, Chord, Reign, Yazmin and James, Bloodline and an Unnames Girl Group are the final six heading to the judges’ houses.
A variety of groups with variety of genres
X Factor Judge and current reigning mentor Howard Keith Debono has selected a variety of acts in the judges houses portion of the competition. You can find below the highlights from the Top Six:
Chord
The group consists of former MESC participants Miriana Conte and Rhiannon Micallef, along with Luana Gatt. For their Six-Chair challenge piece, they covered Hamzaa and their song ‘Breathing‘, with a bit of ‘One Kiss’ by Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa. The harmonisation within the group is kind of reminiscent of Eurovision 2017 participants OG3NE from The Netherlands.
Yazmin and James
Another highlight of the Top Six would be the duo Yazmin and James, who sang a cover of James Smith’s ‘Tell Me That You Love Me‘, the duos natural chemistry with each other is kind of reminiscent of US X Factor Winner’s Alex and Sierra.
Bloodline
The last act in this highlight is duo consisted of Julia Balzan and Samira Cauchi. For their Six-Chair challenge, they sang a jazz inspired cover of Lady Gaga’s song ‘Poker Face‘. As they were the last act to perform on the night, this led to a sing off with Reign and D-Vision, with Reign retaining their seat. Since the Six-Chair Challenge, their cover of Poker Face has been featured on ‘The Best of X Factor’.
You can watch the performances of the other acts that made it through to the Judges houses on the X Factor Malta’s Youtube page by clicking here.
The next round of the infamous six chair challenge will take place on tonight, where X-Factor Judge Ray Mercieca will be whittling down the remaining Boys to just six.
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
Malta first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971 with Joe Grech and his song, “Marija I-Malitja”, which finished in last place with 52 points. They also finished last on their second attempt in the contest in 1972. After a third appearance in 1975, Malta withdrew from the contest until 1991, when they returned and finished in sixth place with 106 points.
Since their return in 1991, Malta has finished in the top three on four occasions – Mary Spiteri with “Little Child” in 1992 and Chiara with “The One That I Love” in 1998 which both finished in third place, and also Ira Losco with “7th Wonder” in 2002 and Chiara with “Angel” in 2005, which both finished in second place. Malta has not yet won the contest, however.
In 2019, Malta qualified for the first time since 2016 with Michela’s “Chameleon”. The song was the first Maltese entry to not be selected using a national final since 1971. The song went on to finish 14th in the Grand Final in Tel Aviv with 107 points.
Did you think the right groups made it through to the next round of the competition? Let us know in the comments below or at social media. Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates!
