Updated 9.15 p.m., 9.50 and 11 and 11.20 p.m.

Joseph Calleja ruled the Last Night of the Proms in London's Royal Albert Hall tonight, sporting a top with the Maltese eight-pointed cross as he led thousands in the singing of Rule Britannia in the Hall and television audiences around the world, including thousands in Hyde Park (where Australian singer Kylie Minogue also performed).

He then threw Maltese Cross caps from the stage as the crowd burst into huge applause in what is the biggest concert of classical music in the world.

Earlier, in more formal attire, the Maltese tenor had tears in his eyes as he got an ovation from the orchestra and the crowd after a superb rendering of Nessun Dorma during his second appearance on stage, just before the break.

He followed that up in the second part of the programme with Granada and he got the crowd singing - including hundreds watching the transmission at Hyde Park - with You'll never walk alone.

The proms are a series of 76 concerts held over eight weeks culminating at he flag-waving finale. It is regarded as being the biggest classical music festival in the world.

Calleja performed three times, his performances also including E luceven le stelle. 

A number of flag-waving Maltese were among the audience that packed the hall.

Reuters news agency said that Calleja was 'in top form' and got ovation after ovation for his ventures into repertoires like Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" and Lara's "Granada" that once were standards for the late Luciano Pavarotti.

"I am very excited and honoured to be on the Royal Albert Hall Stage tonight!," the tenor told timesofmalta.com earlier in the afternoon. 

Tonight's performance came as Calleja's new release on Decca, Be My Love: A Tribute to Mario Lanza, sits at  the No. 1 spot on the Danish Pop Chart and No. 2 on the Danish Compilation and Artist Pop Chart, surpassing releases by artists such as Justin Bieber, Bruce Springsteen, and Adele. This marks the first time since the release of The Three Tenors in 1994 that a classical album has achieved such a high ranking on a pop chart in Denmark. The success follows Joseph’s appearance on Good Evening Denmark, a popular Danish TV.  

In the UK, the album is off to an auspicious start following its release earlier this week. Currently, it is trending at No. 1 on the UK’s iTunes classical music chart and is No. 4 on the Amazon UK Bestseller chart.

The BBC Last Night of the Proms was broadcast live by TVM. However PBS could not carry the commentary since the international distribution outside the UK did not contain commentary.

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