Thursday, 2nd April 2009 - 11:12CET
Kevin Borg in Malta after Swedish Pop Idol success
Kevin Borg signs autographs as fans lay siege on his car this morning.
Maltese singer Kevin Borg returned to Malta for the first time today after winning the Swedish Pop Idol contest, and said he was overwhelmed by the welcome.
Some 100 fans greeted him at the airport, along with his family and the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco.
Kevin has been designated Malta's tourism ambassador in Scandinavia by the Malta Tourism Authority, and he flew in on the first flight this year of SAS Scandinavian Airlines.
"It's great to be back," the young singer said at the airport, smiling broadly. He said he looked forward to meeting as many Maltese as possible.
The young singer will be here for a few days and will make an appearance at Exotique this evening where fans are likely to get a taste of his new album. Talks are also under way on a possible concert in Malta in August.
Dr de Marco after welcoming Kevin and praising him for his achievement, said the return of SAS was important for Malta. It was particularly significant, he said, that the airline had confirmed its return to Malta last year, at a time when oil prices were rising and airlines were shedding routes.
One of the keys for Malta's tourism growth was increased accessibility, Dr de Marco said, and this was a factor which the government and the MTA were placing strong emphasis on. Indeed, seat capacity would rise slightly in the summer.
SAS will be flying twice a week on Thursday and Sunday with the times being ideal for a long weekend in Malta or Stockholm
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As for Mr. Joe Fenech and others: SOUR GRAPES!! Where has our national pride gone?! We have this magnificent singer and certain individuals try to downsize his great achievement. Shame.
I am a Swedish Kevin fan, and shore it was only a TV program Kevin won ... eeh it was the world's largest IDOL final he won, not even American IDOL can compete. But that is not the big thing because he won something more; He won his princess and a whole Kingdoms hart, Kevin is a true superstar on and off the stage and he have show everyone that the impossible is possible if you really really want it. So of coarse you should be proud of Kevin, and you can’t get a better ambassador for Malta for shore, Kevin is Malta..! It is so empty here in Sweden right now you must send him back soon... Hugs to all of you from Sweden...
Just CLICK on the following link and ENJOY:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMR1DkfDA8E
PROSIT KEVIN
2 million viewers watched Kevin perform the winning song, and he sang in front of a special purpose 14,000-seater stadium normally reserved for the likes of Madonna or Justin Timberlake.
Tell me how many Maltese people have done that?
Just a TV programme?!?! Tell me how many people (Maltese or foreign) have:
1. Contested and won Swedish Idol in which over 8,000 contestants signed up (NO Maltese has EVER achieved that).
2. Signed a record deal with Sony for four albums (again NO Maltese has EVER achieved that)
3. Released an album which has just gone gold (again I don't see any Maltese people who have achieved that)
4. Learnt Swedish in three months and conducted interviews in the Idol programme in SWEDISH
5. Filled up a 14,000-all-seater stadium before releasing his first song (I can only think of a handful of people IN THE WHOLE WORLD who have done that,let alone Maltese)
6. Recorded an album with people who have written songs for Britney, Madonna, JT, etc.
7. Pulled a crowd of thousands of people with him wherever he goes, except of course in Malta. The whole country should be ashamed of itself for not promoting someone like Kevin. All we're interested in are our immature political squabbles and the stupid joke of a concert that is the Eurovision.
We wouldn't appreciate real talent even if it stared us in the face.
I was there.
It is cause of people like you, nothing is appreciated & morals are kept low. These are our ambasadors.... Deal With it !
keep it up Kevin.
His entries in the selection referred were all penned by Jason Cassar & Sunny Aquilina who are the same composer & lyricist of Chiara’s ‘The One that I Love’ in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. We now expect Kevin to be the next one to represent Malta in this contest.
As far as I know he has made a hit in Sweden and would be doing the same in other countries soon. Well done Kevin, we are proud of you.
People: just admit it!
However, well done Kevin - nice voice.. Changes to all those local singers.
Keep it up and develop your talent. You had your chance on TV but now get out of it and concentrate on the music - don't become a TV star. TV brings you up very quickly but then slams you down very quickly too.
Welcome back!!
can you say "pessimist"? what's wrong with a very talented young Maltese man having a great record deal and some fans? And no, he didn't "only" win a tv programme. He won a national singing contest in Sweden, where the population is infinitely larger than Malta, and chances of winning were slimmer. He's reached his dream and did us proud. Wherever your bitter attitude is coming from, it's quite uncalled for.
Prosit Kevin. I just hope that in Malta you finally get the recognition you deserve.
Kevin Borg won a great contest and hopefully his career continues to grow. The problem in Malta is that most of the radio stations never play his songs and very little publicity is given. It's nothing wrong to be patriotic. People like Kevin make us proud.
Alright Joe, He "just" won a TV programme so hyped up that at one point had 1.1 million views, where he had less then a year to learn their native language so that he could compete & he managed to sine out of 8,000 contestants thus getting a record deal with SONY. Of course he must work much to keep up his career but surely he came across an opportunity unmatched here on these island & made full use of it. It's not just about patriotism but more about a person who never gave up & against all odds managed to achieve his goal for international success. It's ironic that you should try to influence anyone by trying to play this guy down, if you don't like it you are free just to look the other way.
On my part I really admire this guy, well done Kevin Borg!
Ezatt,ezatt...kemm il- TV programme erbaht Guz ?!
I know he also got a record deal, but believe me, that means nothing in today's world. Many companies in fact sign artists up in order to be able to control whose career to boost and whose not to.
Stop this patriotism at al costs attitude.
We Maltese should be ashamed of ourselves.... 100 fans ONLY went to greet him ? In Swedem, 1000's of fans greeted him everywhere he went....
Ma napprezzaw xejn!