Maltese songwriters' work makes it to Dutch Eurovision contest

A song by writers Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg is one of the 32 shortlisted for the Dutch Eurovision entry. It will be interpreted by the popular Dutch group Ebonique.

Philip and Gerard were the team behind local Eurovision hits Desire and 7th Wonder. Another of their songs is in the local finals: Superstitious, which will be performed by Natasha and Charlene.

A spokesman for the Dutch broadcaster NOS said that over 500 songs, a record number for the Netherlands, were submitted for the National Songfestival 2003, from which the Dutch entry for the Eurovision Song Contest is selected.

The shortlisted songs were chosen by a jury of musicians, music producers, and NOS representatives.

The song from Malta is called Heatwave.

The girl trio Ebonique is made up of Ingrid Simons, Mieke De Jongh, and Caroline Dest, who in 2001 placed second in the Dutch national finals with the song So Much Love.

Ebonique also had a hit song in the Netherlands with Give a little.

Gerard met Ingrid Simons at the finals last year and joked about the idea of writing for the group. She contacted him a month later and asked if both he and Philip could write them a song.

The shortlisted songs will be further whittled down to eight through a national televised selection on four different days. The top two songs from each day will continue to the final on March 1 at the Ahoy stadium in the city of Rotterdam.