Following the successful Isle of MTV Malta Special at the Granaries in Floriana on Wednesday, MTV's VIPs yesterday called on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco, telling them they intended the show to be a permanent fixture on Malta's calendar of events and that they could do even bigger and better things.
Kevin Razvi, executive vice president and managing director of Viacom Brand Solutions, MTV Networks International (MTVNI), said the concert was getting bigger and better every year and that the artists themselves wanted to come to Malta, which made life even easier.
The event had earned the reputation in the music industry of being one of the best, he told the Prime Minister.
"We couldn't be happier," Mr Razvi said, listing the passion of the Maltese crowd as one of the island's greatest assets, as well as the "superb" organisation on the ground.
Mr Razvi said MTV would be sure to include in its footage, which will be aired for the first time in September, "every nice word the performing artists have said about Malta. Every artist performing here genuinely loves the island and that is the best endorsement".
Dr Gonzi agreed, saying the government aimed to take the full value of every euro spent on the event. The amount spent, however, has not been disclosed.
The Isle of MTV concert was in keeping with the government's strategy for Malta to be a top destination by 2015, even in terms of tourism. It was the perfect event to add value in this sector and the government intended to see it grow in the coming years.
It was hard to say whether this year's concert was larger than the last in terms of turnout, but it was, by far, the biggest concert audience in Malta, said the permanent secretary in the Tourism Ministry Peter Portelli, who was present at the meeting.
He maintained that the line-up cost much more than the government actually paid for.
It was the first time a Maltese event was shot in high definition - the latest technology in TV broadcasting, offering an excellent picture, especially for night shots, Mr Portelli said.
He intended to set the date for the next event as soon as possible so that marketing the event overseas could start at the earliest.