Norman Hamilton is synonymous with local media and travel - his name and image are embedded in our popular culture. He has endured the test of time and has found ways and means of reinventing himself through the years.
Crowning his achievements in the media, entertainment and travel is a lifetime achievement award from the World Congress of Arts, Science and Communications of Cambridge. This is just the last of a long list of honours bequeathed to him during his longevous career, yet he considers it the most prestigious so far. He will be presented with the award in a couple of weeks by the Floriana mayor as he cannot attend the August ceremony in Cambridge.
My first reminisces of Mr Hamilton date back to the 1980s when I used to spend Saturday afternoons watching Sibtijiet Flimkien on my nanna's black and white TV. He has never been out of the media since then, but before this landmark show, he had already attained quite a few achievements.
I got to know more about his earlier years when I visited him at his offices in Floriana.
"Very few are aware of this, but I actually started off as a singer in the 1960s," he told me to my somewhat disbelief. He used a stage name as was quite the norm those years and called himself Clive Waters.
"Clive because my hero was Lord Robert Clive of India and Waters because I liked a girl who worked in an aquatic circus appropriately named Circo dell aqua," he said with a smile.
He was only about 15 or 16 when he used to perform at Il Musichiere nights at the Phoenicia Ballroom. These were hosted by Armando Urso, a popular actor and comedian of the day. He took part in various song festivals at the Radio City in Hamrun, where he even warmed up the stage for popular Italian singers, including Tony dall'Ara and Wilma De Angelis. And he also performed with Orchestra Prof. Valente and his son Val.
In 1962, he became the first Maltese deejay with the British Forces Broadcasting Services, which was the first local radio station - apart from the Redifussion. Two years later, he emigrated to the UK where he worked at the British post office and subsequently produced a programme on the Maltese migrants in Britain for the Central Office of Information, called Ghal Malta minn Londra.
In 1967, he signed a contract with Redifussion where he hosted the first live breakfast show on the island. Six years later he joined Radio Malta where he had two shows, one of which was called Antenna and ran for 10 years. In 1983 he became head of programmes at Xandir Malta and produced and presented the successful seven-hour weekly variety show Sibtijiet Flimkien. In late 1982/early 1983, he became director-general of Radio Mediterranean, which was the fruit of a co-partnership between the government of Malta and Algeria. Here he met for the first time Leader of the Opposition Alfred Sant, who was then chairman of the said radio station.
In 1992 he joined Super One radio and two years later, when Super One TV came into being he was appointed acquisition consultant and started hosting the weekly chat show Bla agenda, which is still on air 14 years later.
As the saying goes, behind every great man, there's a great woman, and this is no exception - Josette Grech is another well-known personality.
"Josette has always been a tower of strength who has supported me during rough times. And I always consult her in everything I do."
So how did he get involved in travel? In 1990 he resigned from Xandir Malta and started a small travel business, offering day trips to Catania. Then, one day, he booked a trip to Disneyland in Orlando with his family but was stopped at the airport because he did not have a visa. There and then he saw a poster of Eurodisney, now known as Disneyland Paris, and asked the travel agent if they could go there instead. But he was told that Eurodisney would not open until the following year, that is April 1992. So he promised his eldest daughter, who was only four then, that he would take her the following year, and in the meantime pondered on the idea of expanding his small business and start catering for the new resort. In 1992 he eventually set up Hamilton Travel and Eurodisney became their flagship destination. So far, the company has flown about 7,000 Maltese to the children's wonderland.
In 1996, Hamilton Travel became the general sales agent for MSC Crociere, one of the two leading cruise companies in the Mediterranean, the other being Costa Crociere.
The man describes himself as a workaholic, but he says that during the various phases of his life, he always made it a point to spend quality time with his family.
So when does he take a break?
"Sunday is my day," he says. "That's when I unwind; I catch up with all the local Sunday newspapers in the morning and then watch football." He watches both English and Italian football, but he vies for Milan.
As for vacations, apart from following his favourite team whenever it's possible, he opts for the romantic Venice and Prague or London "to keep up with all that's happening on stage". His two daughters, Davinia, who's now 20 and Yasmine, who is 15, happen to be very much into drama and music. There are still a number of exotic destinations he would like to visit - Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives... and he's never been to Australia. But he says travelling is a bit of a problem these days because of his "extended" family i.e. a dog and a cat.
But he'll surely find some sort of arrangement to attend the Celine Dion concert in Paris in April.
His passion for music has never faded. All sorts of music appeal to him but he's mostly into ballads. However, his favourite all-time artiste has to be Elvis Presley, the latter phase of the singer actually when he started churning out ballads. He liked The Beatles quite a lot too. But as he grew older, he started to enjoy classical music more and more.
From a young teenager perfoming at the Radio City, he went on to become one of the committee members of the Festival Internazzjonali tal-Kanzunetta Maltija, chairman of the Song for Europe board between 1997 and 1998, vice-president of FIDOF - the International Federation of Festival Organisations, and lately, he's involved in the Malta International TV Song Festival, which sees the participation of local and foreign singers. He's always followed the local Eurovision contestants and is the main sponsor of Winter Moods.
Mr Hamilton has mixed and rubbed shoulders with the stars. From Sir Cliff Richard, who was in Malta on a private visit in the 1970s and whom he describes as a humble and cooperative person, to Italian legendary singer Albano and Toto Cotugno, both of whom he says he can call friends, to BBC radio presenter Terry Wogan, whom he learned a lot from during his stay in London.
Through Bla agenda, he's had the opportunity to attend last year's Sanremo festival and interview the participants and he did a special programme on tenor Joseph Calleja when he was performing at the Metropolitan theatre in New York. "I'm humble and proud to count him as one of my personal friends," he says of the young tenor. Mr Hamilton is thrilled when local singers/bands make it abroad.
Other two local people whom he holds in high esteem are Archbishop Paul Cremona, with whom he travelled for the Canonisation of Dun Gorg Preca. "He's an effable and pleasant person, who doesn't mind cracking a joke," he says of the Archbishop. And he gives praise to Gozo Bishop Mario Grech whom he describes as a very down-to-earth person willing to listen.
Mr Hamilton himself seems to me to be a very down-to-earth person. It's his calm voice and persona that perhaps gives this impression. But better still, it's probably his meeting with Mother Teresa that has helped him keep his feet firmly on the ground. He's been lucky to meet and have time to talk with the diminutive saintly woman twice, once when she was in Malta in the 1960s and years later at her convent in Rome thanks to his aunt Sr Mary Frederick, who in 1992 was Mother Teresa's secretary general.
"It's a holy memory I cherish a lot," he says.
This experience has left an indelible mark upon him and he says that the Blessed has taught him the importance of helping others. Giving other than receiving is what gives him most satisfaction in life. Inspirational indeed.
A person he'd like to meet because he believes they share the same interests is Sir Richard Branson. He likes him because he's a big risker. He would never dare compare himself to Sir Richard but he says "I'm also a risker, but a calculated risker."
Talking about risks, he's looking at new markets for his travel business. Next summer he's introducing Montenegro and Croatia which are still quite unexplored, and in the future he would like to organise tours to "an undiscovered diamond" called Albania. And he would like to educate the Maltese to not just take Mediterranean cruises, but embark on other itineraries and invest in fly-cruise programmes.
As regards the music field, he hopes Malta will do well in the Eurovision Song Contest and aims to keep on promoting Maltese talent. As for television, he has quite a project in the pipeline: He's following Joseph Calleja on tour later this year, which will include dates in Vienna and Tokyo.
Since he was allotted an opinion piece on The Times a year ago, some might have thought that he wanted to try his luck in politics too. But he assures me that "It's a definite, big no!"
So it seems that his agenda is quite busy, as it's always been for the last 40 years and more. I would have liked to ask him his age but deemed it a tad impolite. After all, I don't think age is an issue here... Mr Hamilton is an evergreen.
Crowning his achievements in the media, entertainment and travel is a lifetime achievement award from the World Congress of Arts, Science and Communications of Cambridge. This is just the last of a long list of honours bequeathed to him during his longevous career, yet he considers it the most prestigious so far. He will be presented with the award in a couple of weeks by the Floriana mayor as he cannot attend the August ceremony in Cambridge.
My first reminisces of Mr Hamilton date back to the 1980s when I used to spend Saturday afternoons watching Sibtijiet Flimkien on my nanna's black and white TV. He has never been out of the media since then, but before this landmark show, he had already attained quite a few achievements.
I got to know more about his earlier years when I visited him at his offices in Floriana.
"Very few are aware of this, but I actually started off as a singer in the 1960s," he told me to my somewhat disbelief. He used a stage name as was quite the norm those years and called himself Clive Waters.
"Clive because my hero was Lord Robert Clive of India and Waters because I liked a girl who worked in an aquatic circus appropriately named Circo dell aqua," he said with a smile.
He was only about 15 or 16 when he used to perform at Il Musichiere nights at the Phoenicia Ballroom. These were hosted by Armando Urso, a popular actor and comedian of the day. He took part in various song festivals at the Radio City in Hamrun, where he even warmed up the stage for popular Italian singers, including Tony dall'Ara and Wilma De Angelis. And he also performed with Orchestra Prof. Valente and his son Val.
In 1962, he became the first Maltese deejay with the British Forces Broadcasting Services, which was the first local radio station - apart from the Redifussion. Two years later, he emigrated to the UK where he worked at the British post office and subsequently produced a programme on the Maltese migrants in Britain for the Central Office of Information, called Ghal Malta minn Londra.
In 1967, he signed a contract with Redifussion where he hosted the first live breakfast show on the island. Six years later he joined Radio Malta where he had two shows, one of which was called Antenna and ran for 10 years. In 1983 he became head of programmes at Xandir Malta and produced and presented the successful seven-hour weekly variety show Sibtijiet Flimkien. In late 1982/early 1983, he became director-general of Radio Mediterranean, which was the fruit of a co-partnership between the government of Malta and Algeria. Here he met for the first time Leader of the Opposition Alfred Sant, who was then chairman of the said radio station.
In 1992 he joined Super One radio and two years later, when Super One TV came into being he was appointed acquisition consultant and started hosting the weekly chat show Bla agenda, which is still on air 14 years later.
As the saying goes, behind every great man, there's a great woman, and this is no exception - Josette Grech is another well-known personality.
"Josette has always been a tower of strength who has supported me during rough times. And I always consult her in everything I do."
So how did he get involved in travel? In 1990 he resigned from Xandir Malta and started a small travel business, offering day trips to Catania. Then, one day, he booked a trip to Disneyland in Orlando with his family but was stopped at the airport because he did not have a visa. There and then he saw a poster of Eurodisney, now known as Disneyland Paris, and asked the travel agent if they could go there instead. But he was told that Eurodisney would not open until the following year, that is April 1992. So he promised his eldest daughter, who was only four then, that he would take her the following year, and in the meantime pondered on the idea of expanding his small business and start catering for the new resort. In 1992 he eventually set up Hamilton Travel and Eurodisney became their flagship destination. So far, the company has flown about 7,000 Maltese to the children's wonderland.
In 1996, Hamilton Travel became the general sales agent for MSC Crociere, one of the two leading cruise companies in the Mediterranean, the other being Costa Crociere.
The man describes himself as a workaholic, but he says that during the various phases of his life, he always made it a point to spend quality time with his family.
So when does he take a break?
"Sunday is my day," he says. "That's when I unwind; I catch up with all the local Sunday newspapers in the morning and then watch football." He watches both English and Italian football, but he vies for Milan.
As for vacations, apart from following his favourite team whenever it's possible, he opts for the romantic Venice and Prague or London "to keep up with all that's happening on stage". His two daughters, Davinia, who's now 20 and Yasmine, who is 15, happen to be very much into drama and music. There are still a number of exotic destinations he would like to visit - Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives... and he's never been to Australia. But he says travelling is a bit of a problem these days because of his "extended" family i.e. a dog and a cat.
But he'll surely find some sort of arrangement to attend the Celine Dion concert in Paris in April.
His passion for music has never faded. All sorts of music appeal to him but he's mostly into ballads. However, his favourite all-time artiste has to be Elvis Presley, the latter phase of the singer actually when he started churning out ballads. He liked The Beatles quite a lot too. But as he grew older, he started to enjoy classical music more and more.
From a young teenager perfoming at the Radio City, he went on to become one of the committee members of the Festival Internazzjonali tal-Kanzunetta Maltija, chairman of the Song for Europe board between 1997 and 1998, vice-president of FIDOF - the International Federation of Festival Organisations, and lately, he's involved in the Malta International TV Song Festival, which sees the participation of local and foreign singers. He's always followed the local Eurovision contestants and is the main sponsor of Winter Moods.
Mr Hamilton has mixed and rubbed shoulders with the stars. From Sir Cliff Richard, who was in Malta on a private visit in the 1970s and whom he describes as a humble and cooperative person, to Italian legendary singer Albano and Toto Cotugno, both of whom he says he can call friends, to BBC radio presenter Terry Wogan, whom he learned a lot from during his stay in London.
Through Bla agenda, he's had the opportunity to attend last year's Sanremo festival and interview the participants and he did a special programme on tenor Joseph Calleja when he was performing at the Metropolitan theatre in New York. "I'm humble and proud to count him as one of my personal friends," he says of the young tenor. Mr Hamilton is thrilled when local singers/bands make it abroad.
Other two local people whom he holds in high esteem are Archbishop Paul Cremona, with whom he travelled for the Canonisation of Dun Gorg Preca. "He's an effable and pleasant person, who doesn't mind cracking a joke," he says of the Archbishop. And he gives praise to Gozo Bishop Mario Grech whom he describes as a very down-to-earth person willing to listen.
Mr Hamilton himself seems to me to be a very down-to-earth person. It's his calm voice and persona that perhaps gives this impression. But better still, it's probably his meeting with Mother Teresa that has helped him keep his feet firmly on the ground. He's been lucky to meet and have time to talk with the diminutive saintly woman twice, once when she was in Malta in the 1960s and years later at her convent in Rome thanks to his aunt Sr Mary Frederick, who in 1992 was Mother Teresa's secretary general.
"It's a holy memory I cherish a lot," he says.
This experience has left an indelible mark upon him and he says that the Blessed has taught him the importance of helping others. Giving other than receiving is what gives him most satisfaction in life. Inspirational indeed.
A person he'd like to meet because he believes they share the same interests is Sir Richard Branson. He likes him because he's a big risker. He would never dare compare himself to Sir Richard but he says "I'm also a risker, but a calculated risker."
Talking about risks, he's looking at new markets for his travel business. Next summer he's introducing Montenegro and Croatia which are still quite unexplored, and in the future he would like to organise tours to "an undiscovered diamond" called Albania. And he would like to educate the Maltese to not just take Mediterranean cruises, but embark on other itineraries and invest in fly-cruise programmes.
As regards the music field, he hopes Malta will do well in the Eurovision Song Contest and aims to keep on promoting Maltese talent. As for television, he has quite a project in the pipeline: He's following Joseph Calleja on tour later this year, which will include dates in Vienna and Tokyo.
Since he was allotted an opinion piece on The Times a year ago, some might have thought that he wanted to try his luck in politics too. But he assures me that "It's a definite, big no!"
So it seems that his agenda is quite busy, as it's always been for the last 40 years and more. I would have liked to ask him his age but deemed it a tad impolite. After all, I don't think age is an issue here... Mr Hamilton is an evergreen.