From Sweden with love

The Maltese singer who was crowned Swedish Pop Idol on Friday has at least two important persons to thank for the role they played in the realisation of his dream - his Swedish girlfriend Sofia and his composer Jason Cassar.

Kevin Borg's elder brother Daniel, who is following from afar his sibling's sudden strides to newfound fame, claims Sofia was a vital element in the way things have panned out.

Theirs was a case of love at first sight, and Daniel is convinced the celebrity status Kevin, 22, has achieved would not be affecting his brother's relationship.

"He is the kind of guy to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground," he says, adding that Sofia is not with him for the fame. Judging from the way they met, that is indisputable...

Before he left for Sweden, transported on the wings of love, Kevin was singing at a Buġibba hotel. He had substituted the resident singer one New Year's Eve and had done a good job of it, it seems.

Eventually, Kevin totally replaced him, and that is where Mr Cassar enters the scene. He had already worked with Kevin on the Malta Song for Europe, where "the results were not that brilliant". But the musician believed in him and had accepted to accompany him at the hotel even though Kevin was still relatively "amateur", Daniel said.

He blames Kevin's poor results, compared to his success in Sweden, to Malta's limitations in the industry and the bias of local competitions.

Right from the start, Kevin attracted and entertained tourists at the hotel, always turning his shows into performances - a quality that stood him in good stead when competing with another 8,000 hopefuls in Sweden.

One day, two Swedish girls were walking outside the hotel when they heard his voice. One made a bet with the other to go and talk to the singer, but Sofia only got so far as sitting at the bar and the two made shy eye contact for days on end.

Eventually, they broke the ice and started seeing each other, although Daniel says Kevin was slightly scared when he learnt she was in Malta for six whole months and the commitment that came with that.

However, things soon changed - and feelings deepened to the point that when Sofia left, he accompanied her to her homeland and met her family, staying on for a month.

"Sofia and I once planned a surprise for Kevin. I picked her up from the airport and told her to wait outside, while I went in to wake him up. Kevin is terrible at getting up and he really complained. I told him there was a traffic accident and that he should go out on the balcony to see it. He was reluctant, but eventually got out of bed...

"When he saw Sofia, he was ecstatic and practically in tears of joy. He was so flustered, he dropped the bottle of water he was carrying and chaos ensued when he tried to run out to greet her, while attempting to put on some clothes..."

Kevin returned to Sweden with Sofia and the rest his history... He learnt Swedish in five months to overcome employment limitations due to the language barrier. It was just as well. Although Kevin can communicate strongly through music, having a grasp of the language was sure to help him reach his goals and should continue to help him on his two-month tour ahead. He is being whisked into the music industry by Sony, with which he has signed a lucrative recording contract.

It was Sofia who pushed Kevin to participate in Swedish Pop Idol against the odds and until the triumphant end, Daniel said.

Kevin and Daniel are four years apart in age, but Daniel says they are relatively close although they don't share the passion for music. It is more football that flows through the veins of the Borg family. Their mother passed away six years ago, when the singer was only 16.

The last time Daniel spoke to Kevin was in the interval of the Swedish Pop Idol show and he has been so tired since, he says, admitting that he is unlikely to return to Malta.

Daniel is dying to meet up with his famous brother but knows the next time won't be before February, when he gets a couple of days off.

He got to watch the finals, joining another 1.7 million TV viewers, at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, where he was invited by Swedish journalists who were banking on Kevin's victory and came over to get the story.

"They called from London at 9.30 p.m. the night before, telling me they were about to hop on a plane to Malta. They had even ordered the champagne for the screening of the show," Daniel said. There was a strong feeling he would win, having been the favourite for a while.

Kevin's official website www.kevinborg.se has just been launched, and his future is looking bright - even in incomprehensible Swedish!