New version launched on CD

A new version of Lynn Chircop's To Dream Again, along with three other remixes of the song, were launched on CD yesterday at St James Cavalier, in Valletta.

For the first time, the Maltese entry at the Eurovision Song Contest, to take place in Latvia in May, has been recorded by a local company, Bridge Productions, at Farmhouse Studios, in Siggiewi. It was mixed by Sebastian Da Silva in Germany.

The other versions are the radio mix, club mix and Da Silva chill out mix.

The song was composed by Alfred Zammit and written by Cynthia Sammut.

Maltasong chairman Charlò Bonnici said he was very pleased with the final version, which will soon hit the local airwaves.

He said many people had asked why they had not yet heard the song on radio but "we preferred to wait until the new version was released".

Paul Zammit Cutajar, who runs Bridge Productions with Howard Keith, said the CD will be distributed in 15 European countries.

Mr Zammit Cutajar said the club mix version of the song, remixed by Semitic Groove Foundation, will be played in different clubs.

"We are also working very hard to secure a record deal for Lynn as an artist. We hope to be able to achieve this in the near future," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Bonnici announced that Maltasong had this year decided to do away with the traditional video of the winning song.

"We have given this a lot of thought and decided that instead of spending about Lm5,000 on producing a video we will be redirecting this money into Lynn's promotion abroad," he said.

Mr Bonnici explained that more than half the competing countries presented a video clip of their own local festival instead of a video on Eurovision night and this was what Maltasong had opted for.

"Experience has shown us that obtaining a good placing depends on promotion abroad coupled with the three minutes of Lynn's performance on stage. More so now that the majority of countries have 100 per cent televoting," he said.

Mr Bonnici, who has just returned from Latvia, said Lynn was up against tough competition and promotion was crucial.

A picture of serenity, Lynn sat back and quietly hummed along to the new version of her song. "I want to go there to have fun and make the three minutes the best of my life," she said.

Lynn's promotional tour abroad will start in the first week of April with a trip to Cyprus, followed by the UK, Ireland, Latvia and the Ukraine.

Lynn was also invited to visit Israel but Mr Bonnici said that due to the present turmoil Maltasong was reluctant to take up the offer.

Five Maltese backing vocalists have been chosen to accompany Lynn to Latvia, three of them selected during a competition on the television programme Pop In.

The vocalists, who are under the direction of Tony Vella, are Marvic Lewis, Louise-Ann Tate, Justine Bezzina, Anna Abela and Leontine.