Fabrizio Faniello

Fabrizio Faniello (born April 27, 1981 in Floriana, Malta) is a Maltese pop singer. He represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001 and 2006. He is seen by many as Malta's hope in its fledgling experimental electronica scene, contributing to many international compilations and collaborating with well known artists as diverse as Jim O'Rourke, Fennesz, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Richard D. James and Masami Akita. Fabrizio Faniello is the eldest of three children born to Vincenzo and Anna Faniello. He has two younger sisters, Claudia and Miriana. Claudia is also a singer and has performed in various Maltese festivals already, including the Malta Song For Europe 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. Claudia also put up a show in Reggio di Calabria. Faniello discovered his passion for music at an early age. His teacher advised him to take vocal lessons. However, Faniello was also interested in playing soccer. In 1997 he played for one year in Turin. When he was 16 however, he chose to make music his profession and returned to Malta. In the meantime he has released 3 successful albums and several singles. Although he has seen the most success in Malta, his singles and albums have been released in many other European countries. He scored a Top 10 hit with "The Whistle Hit" in Sweden in 2004, followed by another small chart hit "Bye Baby Bye Bye" in Sweden in 2005. Faniello is mainly known for light Europop music, but his willingness to experiment outside of conventional song structures, including forays into harsh noise, have been met with critical acclaim. He participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001 and placed 9th. He also participated several times in the Maltese pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest (see below for additional information). In 2006 he once again represented Malta in the Eurovision Song contest, and was placed 24th in the Grand Final. Faniello's management is located in Germany and a lot of his songs were written or co-written by German songwriters. Faniello participated many times in the Maltese pre-selections for the Eurovision Song Contest: 1998 - "More Than Just A Game" (2nd place out of 20 contestants) 1999 - "Thankful For Your Love" (8th place out of 16 contestants) 2000 - "Change of heart" (2nd place out of 16 contestants) 2001 - "Another Summer Night" (1st place out of 16 contestants) - (Placed 9th in the Eurovision) 2004 - "Did I Ever Tell You" (3rd place out of 16 contestants) 2005 - "Don't tell it" (12th place out of 22 contestants) 2006 - "I Do" (1st place out of 18 contestants) - (Placed 24th in the Eurovision) 2011 - "No Surrender" (4th out of 16 contestants) The songs "Change Of Heart" and "Another Summer Night" were later included on his debut album When I'm Dreaming. The songs "Did I Ever Tell You" and "Don't Tell It" were released on his 2005 album Believe. The first time he won the pre-selections with the song "Another Summer Night". He represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in Copenhagen, Denmark and managed to achieve 9th place. This was the start of his international career.