Monday, 1st December 2008 - 09:06CET

Malta Music Awards - Hi five for Gravino!

Niki Gravino receiving one of his awards. Picture: Jonathan Borg.

The Coca-Cola Malta Music Awards 2008 have yielded a remarkable five awards for alternative rocker and relative newcomer Niki Gravino, as well as double victories for established artists Winter Moods, Beangrowers and Ira Losco.

Winter Moods were voted Malta’s Best Band and they also received the Legends’ Award while Ira Losco was voted Best Female Artist and as well as receiving the gong for Best Album of the Year (Fortune Teller).

Beangrowers won the Best Video gong and the Award for Best Local Export. Mary Spiteri collected the Lifetime Achievement Award and 16-year old Christabelle was elected Malta’s best RnB artist.

Niki Gravino’s rock won him awards for Best Male Artist, Best CD Cover (The Politics of Double Beds), Best Song (Catwalk Baby), Best Songwriter and Best Image. The singer was accompanied by his band The Vile Bodies as he received the awards and at a performance of his winning song.

The event, attended by an audience of around 5000 people, featured enthusiastically-received performances by Malta’s top talent, including, amongst others, spectacular effects-laden shows by Tribali and dance artists Toby & Kristina Casolani, as well as British DJs Deepest Blue, whose international top ten hits such as ‘Miracle’ were greeted with loud applause and singing along by the crowd.

TV personalities Stephanie Cassar and Jean Claude Micallef hosted the show, which featured a procession of Malta’s top names decked out in the latest fashions turning out to present awards to the winning artists. DJ Mykill, accompanied by Kevin the Bongo Man, string player Philip and MC Colin Fitz warmed up the crowd before the event.

The complete winners’ list is as follows:

Best Band-Winter Moods

Best Male- Niki Gravino

Best Female-Ira Losco

Best Album-Fortune Teller-Ira Losco

Best CD Cover- Niki Gravino

Best Artist Website-DJ Ruby

Lifetime Acheivement Award- Mary Spiteri

MTA Local Export Award- Beangrowers

Best New Artist-Airport Impressions

Best Song-Catwalk baby-Niki Gravino

Best Songwriter- Niki Gravino

Best Video- Not in a million lovers-Beangrowers

Best Artist Image- Niki Gravino

Best Dance Production- Burning from the inside-Tenishia

Best Hip Hop/RnB Artist- Christabelle

The Legends Award-Winter Moods

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Sunday, November 8, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Mark Spiteri (on 1/12/08)

@ Mr Chetcuti. I do not intend to go into a discussion in this forum. I just commented to the fact that the problem with mics was evident since it persisted throughout the whole event, hence it was not rectified.
I can assure you , that my comments were not intended to be negative but just to point out what was happening on that night.
I was not 'Lucky' enough to be in the VIP area ... so I am not sure how the acoustics were from that part of the tent, but I can assure you that from other parts, some parts of the event were inaudible !

Richard Chetcuti (on 1/12/08)

Mr.Spiteri... I was also at the awards. I realise that there were some hitches,but overall the organisation and sound were good.Your comments are typically maltese.
I have attended,and seen on Tv many overseas events like last saturdays and said hitches come part and parcel with this type of event
Jesus,even at foreign artist's concerts who came to this island recently,namely Bryan Adams,I distincly remember some feed backs... do you?
Namely Malta's 'best act' brought over a foreign sound company last summer and I distincly remember hearing Feedbacks... do you?
I was in VIP and I was amazed of the sound and lighting.
I agree with Mr.Vella regarding smoking.
A big round of applouse to who won,the organisers and whoever made last saturday possible. Do not let people like Mr.Spiteri put you down,who only make negative comments about everything.

Mark Spiteri (on 1/12/08)

I have to agree with H Gatt. , Colin Fitz was the worst part of the show. I have already erased that part from my mind :)

Raymond Vella (on 1/12/08)

I attended this event for the first and last time. While I agree with Mr Mark Spiteri comments 100% I like to add, regarding smoking inside even if there were police officers looking around to see that no one is breaking the law. disgusting

H Gatt (on 1/12/08)

While generally agreeing with Mark Spiteri, particularly regarding acoustics and microphones I have to add one of mine. Colin Fitz is a great dj and actor, but having to endure him almost doing a half marathon on the stage and screaming himself hoarse for one whole hour is NOT fun! Next time the organisers should just have left the music do the talking...DJ Mykill and Co were doing a fine job on their own anyway.

In any case, it is always great to see Maltese music being promoted and supported by such a crowd. However I have a couple of suggestions. Firstly, the award for best Maltese lyrics should make a comeback. Secondly, with Dance and Hip hop/RnB getting their own 'best of' slot, maybe a slot should also be dedicated to Heavy Metal. Now I'm not really a follower of the local metal scene, but I know that there are many metal bands who are putting in long hours of hard work and even performing abroad, so it would be good to acknowledge that. Plus Forsaken would deserve the 'legends' award...as they've been around for ages, probably almost as much as Winter Moods who are true legends!

Mark Spiteri (on 1/12/08)

I attended this event this weekend. The event is a good idea to promote local music & reward them for their efforts. However the same cannot be said for the organisers. The acustics were horrible. The microphones were rarely working properly, the award presenters having to share a microphone between them. Also many of the times, one could here feedback sound when presenters were moving around the stage.
Some of the singers were inaudible during their performances.
Not the most professional ways to present the MUSIC awards !

Malta Music Awards - Hi five for Gravino!

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