When it comes to discussing the local music scene, it has been somewhat noted that the singers in the country are reaching their respective expectations when it comes to showcasing their respective talent nevertheless, the problem has always been attributed to the tracks that they perform in public which in our focus takes in the form of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest which has to be one of the biggest showcases that the country does indeed offer. The competition which is organized by the Public Broadcasting Services always manages to pull high viewing figures and in the weeks leading up to the competition, the national broadcaster has been extremely resourceful when it comes to promotion. The impact that foreign songwriters have had has been important because local individuals have been stepping up their game in order to compete yet it seems that some of the more credible songwriters of the past have decided to stop what they had once been doing.

The focus of this piece will be looking at the early years of the millennium and one songwriter in particular, those being none other than Dominic Galea whose material is somewhat timeless and will always be remembered for the simple reason that they spent a lot of time working on a limited number of tracks instead of precious time on countless tracks. The first man in particular is known to come from an extremely music family with his brother being none other than the renowned producer, Manolito Galea and his mother being the singer/songwriter and icon to the local music scene, Doreen Galea. In fact, the mother and son team debuted in the competition with the track We'll Ride the Wind performed by Ira Losco as the first track of the evening. It was a beautiful ballad which started the evening on a good note although considering that the performer was performing four tracks during the night, the judges made sure that they made it clear which they loved the most. It finished in a distinctive eleventh (11th) place at the end of the evening.

Despite the disappointing result in the competition, he saw himself composing tracks for the next two years, competing in 2002 with the song A New Day Is Dawning performed by Annalise Ellul and penned by Paul Callus. The track fared better noting that this remains the best solo effort of the performer by virtue of finishing in eight place. In 2003, it was the main year in which everything seemed to have put into the competition with Dominic competing with a total of three tracks, the first of which being Look At Me performed by Nadine Axisa and penned by Ray Mahoney, the second one entitled Here Today Gone Tomorrow penned by Joe Friggieri and performed by Romina Mamo and the last one being And The Music penned by Mark Doneo and performed to sublime perfection by Lawrence Gray. In the end, this last entry was the one to make it through to the final finishing in thirteenth place.

Source: National Finals