"Ritmu" (; ) is a song by Maltese singer

Aidan Aidan, Aiden and Ayden are anglicised versions of the Irish male given name ''Aodhán''. The Irish language female equivalent is ''Aodhnait''. Etymology and spelling The name is derived from the name ''Aodhán'', which is a pet form of '' Aod ...

released on 2 March 2022. The song placed second in the national competition to represent

Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Malta was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song " I Am What I Am" performed by Emma Muscat. The Maltese entry for the 2022 contest was initially selected through the national final ''Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022'', ...

and reached number one on Malta's singles charts.

Background and release

Aidan unsuccessfully competed to represent Malta in the 2018 contest in which his song "Dai Laga" was updated as it was reportedly not entirely original and could have potentially violated Eurovision rules. Following the positive response to " Naħseb Fik", he announced he would be competing to represent

with an "upbeat pop song with a very European sound" written in Maltese. The song was later revealed to be "Ritmu" and he placed second in the national competition behind Emma Muscat. Aidan performed the song at a Eurovision pre-party in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was also chosen as Malta's spokesperson in the Eurovision final in which he read out the votes of the Maltese jury. "Ritmu" was featured in his debut album ''

This Is Aidan Aidan Cassar (; born 17 December 1999), known mononymously as Aidan, is a Maltese singer-songwriter. Career In 2018, he competed in the ''Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018#Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2018, Malta Eurovision Song Contes ...

'' released in March 2023.

Critical reception

The song was number one in Malta's singles charts for three consecutive weeks. The song was reviewed by four correspondents at ''ESC United'' who gave it an average score of 7.125. The correspondents pointed out that the beat of the song felt "generic" but that it being in Maltese made it stand out from other songs in the national competition. The song won an award for Best Song of the Year.

Music video

The music video released on 8 March 2022 features Aidan dressed as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

and riding a horse. The video was produced by Joseph Cauchi, directed by Gary Bugeja and shot by Victor Abela. Additionally, the choreography was done by Cheryl Lofreda and the styling by Malcolm Gauci.

Charts

Notes

References