Grace Borg to sue Thea's parents

Music producer Grace Borg says she has "no option" but to start fresh court proceedings against the parents of Eurovision hopeful Thea Garrett for their "outrageous lies".

Ms Borg, a former Eurosong chairman, told The Times yesterday that she was adamant on taking the parents to court after the comments they made in the media accusing her of simply wanting to "line her pockets".

Thea signed an exclusive management contract with Ms Borg before the young starlet took part in this year's local contest.

After she won, Thea signed another contract with Public Broadcasting Services, as is normal practice with Eurosong winners, prompting Ms Borg to file a law suit against the station over what she claims is a breach of her management rights.

Ms Borg also took court action against Thea's parents but since their daughter turned 18, the suit was transferred onto her and she was slapped with an €18,000 garnishee order, just before she flew to Oslo for her first rehearsals.

PBS has since filed a counter judicial protest accusing Ms Borg of trying to ruin Thea's chances.

"This has created a lot of problems for my business," Ms Borg said, pointing out that the whole affair had made other artists afraid of working with her.

But Thea's father, Sergio Garrett stands by all the comments he made and says he has all the documentation and receipts to prove it. He accused Ms Borg of trying to "psychologically destroy" his daughter and making their lives "hell". Instead of making money for Thea, Ms Borg "took the little she had from her".

Asked if she was preparing to travel to Oslo to keep an eye on what was happening, as she had suggested recently, Ms Borg said she did not need to because she would know if PBS delivered or not through the result achieved.

She said she had made an offer to PBS to fly at her own expense to support the song through her contacts and expertise but was turned down.

"I'm convinced that when Thea won Eurosong somebody told her parents that they didn't need me anymore. One day I will find out who advised them. I already have a very strong idea."

She accused the current team present with Thea in Oslo of not having the necessary expertise, which angered her because it was in her interest for the song to do as well as possible.

"If she comes back a winner my contract will be worth more. I'm not sick in the mind. I'm just a businessperson."

Meanwhile, Ms Borg said that when she applied for the job of Eurovision coordinator, the recruitment agency told her that she would have to renounce her management rights.

"So first they acknowledged that it was a problem and now they are just ignoring it," she said.

She said that Thea's parents had only given her and her business partner Andrea Milana a cheque of €200 to support their daughter.

"And we gave thousands of euro worth of our time and energy to get her to perform in various places. We even spoke to agents of people like Gigi D'Alessio and Andrea Bocelli."

Ms Borg pointed out that when Chiara won the local contest in 2005 she had a management agreement with another company and, as Eurosong chairman, Ms Borg held a meeting with Chiara's management to amend the contract to please everyone.

"They came up with us and we worked together. That is how serious professionals deal with these things. And the results spoke for themselves."

Thea will perform the song My Dream during the first semi-final on Tuesday.