Saturday, 13th December 2008 - 14:07CET

PL congratulates Kevin Borg

The Labour Party has congratulated Maltese singer Kevin Borg who yesterday won the Swedish Pop Idol contest gaining a prestigious contract with a record company.

In a statement, spokesman for youth Owen Bonnici said that Kevin's enormous success should make the Maltese and Gozitans proud of Malta’s artistic abilities.

Keving competed against Alice Svensson in the finals yesterday before a crowd of 15,000 people at the Globe Arena in Stockholm.

Some 8,000 contestants had entered the contest.

The first audition was held in March and was followed by another four within a few weeks which saw the field narrowed to 16. Another phase of the contest in the Canary Islands saw the public eliminating another six contestants.

The final two contestants were selected in weekly TV shows which saw Kevin singing songs such as Gimmie Gimmie, Gimmie, Footloose, Living on a Prayer, Nathalie, All I wanna do is make love to you and Lyssna till ditt hjarta.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Monday, November 23, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Anders Svensson (on 30/1/09)

Nice to see so many proud people commenting. As a swede I have to admit that I feel proud to originate from a country which appreciates the personality and talents of a person and vote him as their idol, even when he happens to be an immigrant. I now hope to we will see more immigrants being encouraged and appreciated in Malta :)

Anthony Mallia (on 15/12/08)

Why doesn't anyone give us his e-mail address so that we can congratulate him personally. I am sure he will be glad to receive congratulations from Maltese who feel proud of him. It is nice to show our appreciation here but I still feel that to send him well done personally is better.

Fiorella Vella (on 14/12/08)

Before I read this on The Times, my Swedish teacher had told me that there is a Maltese Guy in Sweden who is making a lot of success. He said "Swedes love him, and there is a big chance that he'll be the winner". I am very proud of Kevin Borg and hope that he'll keep up with his work and success.
@Chris Finch - Shame on you.

F Spiteri (on 13/12/08)

Kevin, you are just great!!!!!
I missed Kevin's contribution during Kalamita. Kevin is really talented and really down to earth ... thus making him even more special in our hearts! Well done ... I have just seen his interpretations of Living on a Prayer and you just rock! May God be with you to carry on with your success! xxx

To Chris Finch:
There was no need to show us the nonsense side of you. Maybe you'd better shut up. Maybe instead of writing up something, you'd better adjourn yourself and watch a couple of songs he interpreted which made ME proud I am Maltese!!!!

lgalea (on 13/12/08)

Chris Finch
Sour Grapes?

Ingalill Nystrom (on 13/12/08)

Of all countries in the world Sweden is in third place of music exporters. So Kevin is in the right place! But, Air Malta is not here anymore,so the hope of more Swedish tourist can be hard to fulfill despite the interest to visit Kevinland!

Sandro Pace (on 13/12/08)

Well done Kevin Borg.

Sweden is a european pop rock powerhouse compared to its population. Great bands and songs.

Its probably the second in the anglo sphere of this scene. So it should be an honour for him, an achievement which attracts potential.

p.piscitelli (on 13/12/08)

very happy to read such a nice news,but very sorry to read such a stupid comment chris finch's. Keep it up kevin,we'er very proud of you.

Charles DeMicoli (on 13/12/08)

Well done, Kevin and best of luck for your career. Winning the idol contest is really a major achievement, having to compete week after week, starting with thousands of contestants! Another significant achievement is your becoming fluent in Swedish in one year! Congrats again.

Josette Buttigieg (on 13/12/08)

@ Denis Catania

I fully agree with you. We Maltese tend to belittle ourselves too much. We never hesitate to criticize what goes awry but then we hardly ever pay heed to an international success such as that of Kevin Borg.

@ Chris Finch
I think our sense of identity is what we should get a grip on.

Matt Nilsson (on 13/12/08)

@ Chris Finch

You're certainly right. Groups such as ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base, Europe, The Hives etc. show just how completely insignificant the Swedish music industry is... To bad Kevin just managed to become famous there, right?

adrian galea (on 13/12/08)

well done! you have done yourself proud, and done all Maltese proud.

i wish we could appreciate our successes more as a nation. far too often a thread of negativity and cynicism pervades these comments.

well done..and looking out for more!

Lino Borg (on 13/12/08)

Well done Kevin you made us all proud lets hope that by your success Malta benefit from Swedish tourists.

Sean Mangion (on 13/12/08)

Well done Kevin. We are all proud of you. Maltese are extremely talented. Malta is small compared in size but it has a lot of talent.

Well done Kevin !!!!

charles vella (on 13/12/08)

Well done Kevin you managed to do this by yourself ,cousins are proud of you.
Ann

Denis Catania (on 13/12/08)

A Maltese won the Australian Idol. Now a Maltese won the Swedish Idol. Not bad.
One must ask. Why do Maltese do better abroad? Is it lack of support given to the artist by family members and society in Malta?

JOSEPH MAGRI (on 13/12/08)

Well done KEVIN you made us all proud to be Maltese.

R.Caruana (on 13/12/08)

@Chris Finch

Seriouly, you certainly have no idea of the magnitude of Pop idol in Sweden even when considering the importance they give to Eurovision as well & believe me if you think that Sweden doesn't matter it's you who should get a grip, Sweden matters & matters big time, make no mistake.

F. Desira (on 13/12/08)

Good for the boy but beyond that, who cares?

M. Debono (on 13/12/08)

Well done to Kevin, and may his achievement helps MTA to revive the Scandinavian tourism market. I am positive, some interest on our island has surely been generated. All we need is to keep the Scandinavian people excited about our island, and make them interested in travelling to Malta in the coming days, weeks, months!

Chris Finch (on 13/12/08)

Get a grip everyone, He won the SWEDISH pop idol, not one anywhere that matters.

Charlo Bonnici MP (on 13/12/08)

Well done Kevin. I have been following this singer for a number of years now and could sense his extraordinary talent. When earlier this week one of Malta's leading lyricists told me that Kevin had the chance to win the Swedish Pop Idol I felt very happy for this young talented artistes. Good luck Kevin.

Bianca Debattista (on 13/12/08)

What a performance! I saw him get better week after week. We are so proud ! If anyone deserves it, it is you. You did it all on your own. Complments on learning the language so quickly! Well done. May this be the treshhold of more beautiful things to come.

lgalea (on 13/12/08)

Well done Kevin.
This shows that our contestants are up to standard and that the Eurovision contest is simply a politically-biased affair.

Ronnie Gauci (on 13/12/08)

Well Done Kevin! You showed all the local Eurovision Wannabes that if you have talent there are many other ways with which you can make it.

P Debono (on 13/12/08)

Good to see some people have woken up and smelt the coffee, considering the fact that Kevin's achievements didn't stop at winning, but also qualifying from auditions and suriving every week's elimination.

However, Kevin Borg won the Idol contest because of Kevin Borg, and no one else.

Alice Darmanin (on 13/12/08)

Well done Kevin!!!! You made Malta and Gozo proud. These are such excellent news when we hear of other Maltese who succeed so much in their careers abroad.

Congratulations and keep it up.

All the best.

PL congratulates Kevin Borg

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