Malta's talented Elvis tribute artistes

In an International Elvis Tribute Artistes Competition just held in Blackpool, a young man from Dingli reached the finals. But for an audience adjudication system that favoured home entries, he could have easily won it against 69 other contestants from all over the world.

His name is Redent Falzon, stage name Elvis Tenderley when he performs at Simon's Elvis Tribute Bar in Tourist Street, Qawra on Mondays and Fridays. All finalists were backed by Red Alert, the world famous Elvis Tribute band from South Wales. Both Redent and Gordon Elvis, another Maltese tribute artiste, performed brilliantly in the finals and Malta should be very proud of them.

In the years we have resided in Malta we have never seen any news coverage of either of these two great singers, which is a shame as Gordon Elvis has now moved to England to work. This is a sad loss to the culture of Malta as some may mock and scoff at tribute artistes in general but they do it not just for money but to honour the memory, in this instance, of what millions of all nationalities consider to be one of the greatest contributors to rock and roll of all time. Come on Malta, start appreciating the talent outside of the main stream of so-called cultural higher echelons and give them some well-earned publicity.

Do you realise how many tourists return to Malta time after time just to see some of these artistes perform?