Soni Malaj Speaks Out On Molitva Theft: "The songs have similarities!"
Soni Malaj finally breaks her silence on the biggest controversy of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Accusations have been flying back and forth that the winner of this years Eurovision "Molitva" performed by Marija Serifovic, is in fact a steal from an older Albanian hit, "Ndarja" by Soni Malaj...winner of "Best Song" award in Top Fest 3, in the year 2006.
Soni Malaj, in a live interview for Top Channel News, admits that while watching the Serbian singer perform, she started noticing that the song was similar to her ballad "Ndarja". The Albanian singer claims that the beginning of the refrain is almost identical, the tune and harmony of the song are the same, and the interpretation is very similar.
This statement was backed by Maki, the composer of the song "Ndarja", who says that while those similarities do exist, the melodic base is different. However this matter will be investigated.
Soni says that the decision is now left to the hands of professional musicians to decide the originality of "Molitva".
The newscast also mentions that the composer of "Molitva" is a commonly heard name on the topic of "rip-off" versions originating from neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, no statement has been released from Eurovision officials as of yet. The internet community has been buzzing over this controversy while they await an answer.
This is not the first time Serbia is being accused of song theft. In Eurovision 2004, there were allegations concerning the Serbian representative Zejlko Joksimovic and his song "Lane Moje". Azerbaijani composer Alihana Samedov claimed that Serbias entry was a rip-pff of his instrumental song "Sen Gelmez Oldun".
soni malaj marija serifovic maki ndarja molitva albania serbia macedonia top fest 3 channel eurovision 2007 shqip