Sebastian Calleja is a promising young singer from Malta and he recently won the 2016 OGAEvision Song Contest in Berlin, Germany. Here he talks to ESC Covers about that experience and his music.
Hello Sebastian. Congratulations on winning the OGAEvision Song Contest. Could you tell us how you got involved in this contest and what song you performed?
First of all thanks for this interview and for your praise I really appreciate. Well I got involved in this contest since the organizers contacted my mentor Glen Vella and told him about this contest and the organizers suggested me to represent Malta. I accepted this challenge and we really worked hard as a team. The song that I had represented my country Malta with was ‘Golden Boy’ originally sang by Nadav Guedj. We had chosen this song as my entry since it is an energetic song and we were looking for something different and the best song was ‘Golden Boy’.
Can you tell us a little about yourself and about any songs you have recorded?
I am 18 years old from the village of Hal Qormi in Malta. Currently I am a student of the Financial Services within MCAST college. Back in 2014 I had the privilege to represent my country in Sanremo Junior with the song ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’ by Ronan Keating and also in the same year I had took part in Microfono D’Oro in Italy which I placed 2nd, one point away from of the first place, with another Eurovision entry ‘Era Stupendo’.
This year I was a resident singer on one of the most popular Maltese game shows called Hadd Ghalik presented by the talented Angie Laus, where I had record a lot of songs like ‘Karma Chameleon’, ‘Shake It’ and ‘Chasing The Sun’ performed with Glen Vella. Maybe those who would like to see and listen to some of my songs they are all uploaded on YouTube.
Are you a fan of Eurovision music? If so, what are your favourite Eurovision songs from the past?
Yes, I am a big Eurovision music fan There are a lot of songs which are my favourites but if I had to choose three songs;
- Nadav Guedj – Golden Boy (ESC 2015 Israel)
- Il Volo – Grande Amore (ESC 2015 Italy)
- Loreen – Euphoria (ESC 2012 Sweden)
Do you have plans to submit a song for the Maltese Eurovision selection in the future?
Yes, currently there are plans for the future for me to submit a song for the Maltese selection but we are still discussing it, so yes in the nearby future I will be submitting songs and hopefully they will pass for the Maltese Selection.
What do think of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest? Did you ever consider entering this when you were younger?
Junior Eurovision helps a lot of children to establish their talents on stage and this will help them for the future and to get more professional in their career.
If I had the chance yes I wanted to take part but unfortunately when I was younger and when I started my career Malta had stopped taking part for two years and then PBS had started to choose our entry by Internal Selection.
Have you participated in any other song festivals either in Malta or abroad?
Yes, as mentioned before I represented my country twice more abroad apart from the OGAEvision Song Contest in Germany.
I took part in Sanremo Junior where I had the privilege to perform with the live orchestra of Sanremo which was an unforgettable experience. I had performed the song originally sung by my idol Roan Keating where I had placed in fourth place among all the countries taking part.
Also in the same year 2014 I had been chosen to represent my country in Microfono d’oro in Mirandola Italy. Where I placed in second place with the song ‘Era stupendo’ one of the Eurovision entries back in 2008 which had represented Switzerland by the famous singer Paolo Meneguzzi.
Who are your musical influences?
So, my individual preferences which had left an impact on me in my singing career are Whitney Houston and Ronan Keating.
Anyway we wish you good luck with your career. Keep ESC Covers informed of your news about singing.
You can see Sebastian perform the OGAEvision Song contest song, Golden Boy, on Hadd Ghalik show in Malta below.
Source: ESC Covers