Johnny Logan, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ireland on three occasions, twice as a vocal artist and once as a songwriter is set to visit Malta in the summer months for a special performance at the Għaxaq Music Festival on 7th August 2013. The renowned performer has published fifteen studio albums across three decades, with his first entitled What's Another Year, also the name of his debut victory at the international contest in 1980, and the last of which was back in 2010 bearing the name Nature of Love. He consistently performs across Europe and was actually one of the guests at this years' edition of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. 

In Ireland, Johnny Logan has not always been met with positive acclaim in recent years having spoken out against the choices that the nation has made especially considering that he has contributed to three of the seven successes. As a matter of fact, his latest victory was in 1992, the same year in which Malmo was hosting the annual event, with the song Why Me? performed by Linda Martin. It managed to garner the attention of the juries, just ahead of Malta who were represented by Mary Spiteri and Little Child. We would like you to stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for more of such stories in the next couple of weeks as the portal turns into a hub for the local music scene during the hot, summer months.

Source: ONE Radio 92.7

The Earth Garden 3-day festival will this year be returning on Friday 31st May till Sunday 2nd June after last year’s break. The 6th edition of this festival will be taking place at Ta’ Qali national park, as in previous times. This festival , which has been described as ‘the local green finger festival’, uses Arts, Music and Culture as means of holistically showing an interest in the state of the environment. Attracting locals and foreigners alike, the Earth Garden Festival has increased in popularity since the first edition and is now more abundant in terms of attendance, artists’ participation, performers, organisation and production. In fact, the first weekend of June has now been marked permanently on the national cultural calendar as the Earth Garden Festival weekend.

The theme for this year’s festival, in collaboration with the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, is ‘every breath we take’. This EU slogan relates to air quality and intends to bring awareness to an issue which affects a healthy environment. Earth Garden will consist of 2 main area: The Greek Theatre Main Stage and the Open Village which includes The Roots Stage, The Electronic Sphere, Camping Area, The Remissa Chill-out Corner, the Why Not?Jamming Area, The Arts Area, Ethnic Market and the Kid’s Area. There will be an entrance fee of 5EU for the Open Village, which will be valid for the whole weekend, while the fee for every show held at the Greek Theatre Main Stage will be 15EU (children under 15 FREE).

The festival will kick off on Friday at the Open Village at the Roots Stage, with a party hosted by ‘Juuls’. Together with this reggae vibe, internationally successful local band Mana Tapu will also be performing. Also on the night, Espionage will be hosting the Electronic Sphere. In the meantime, a Pink Floyd tribute show will take place at the Greek Theatre. Malta Music Awards winners Tribali will be performing at the Greek Theatre on Saturday 1st June. The band is expected to carry out a spectacular show which will leave the audience wanting more.  16 other acts, featuring Spanish, Latin rhythmic bands,  will be performing on The Roots Stage while the Electronic Sphere will feature world’s known German  Boom Shankar and some other locally outstanding acts such as Duncan F, Rod Minus and more. 

On Sunday, the closing day of the festival, YADA will put up a dance show named ‘The Summer of Love Woodstock Edition’ which is directed and produced by Felix Busutil. UK’s  girl band and ‘frontrunners of the new British acoustic scene’ Moulettes will be taking over The Roots Stage in the Open Village that afternoon together Manu Tapu, The Creepers, the Busker, Zalza Kukkanja,  Irie Flo and locally renowned indie band Stalko. Perpendicular has once again been invited to close off the Earth Garden Weekender at the Electronic Sphere.  Perpendicular’s new guest Danjeli will be Opening the afternoon to a more chilled vibe and the Perpendicular boys Carl Lautier, Nicky SLiM & MATO will follow, showcasing different genres throughout the day and night. 

The Remissa Corner: This is the new corner where one can simply chill and relax in a laid-back ambience. This captivating environment will be accompanied by different music selections and live acts such as ‘Bibita’ .

The Why Not? Jamming Area: This is a space where all music and all art forms are explored and enjoyed. It is the area where it ‘all started’ and where artists get to express themselves. 

Ethnic Market: This consists of vendors displaying an abundance of ethnic items such as paintings and sculptures.  The Ethnic Market offers much more to the visitors than the chance to stock up on beautiful ethnic items. The Holistic Section, located within the market itself, will give the visitors a peaceful heaven to sit down and relax. Workshops, NGOs and educational stands will be present in this section.

This festival that voices care for the environment through Arts, Music and Culture in a holistic way should definitely not be missed! In the meantime, it is important to note the main sponsors for this years' event, these being; FCM BANK, the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, Cisk Export Premium Lager, V18, Vamp and Bay Radio. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for more news about such local events.

Source: Press Release

Gianluca, the artist who will be representing Malta in this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the track Tomorrow co-written by Boris Cezek and Dean Muscat spoke to the media in a press conference following his second technical rehearsal speaking about various topics in relation to his career as an artist and a professional doctor. Prior to leaving for the international showcase, Gianluca was present for a recording of the popular television programme; Xarabank hosted by Peppi Azzopardi and produced by Where's Everybody. It was revealed that Gianluca had the full support of world renowned tenor, Joseph Calleja who also took the opportunity to invite him for a performance during his annual summer concert held on The Granaries in Floriana.

Patrick Strouk, one of the members of the editorial team who is present at this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest asked Gianluca about such an opportunity especially considering that Joseph Calleja continues to grow in popularity across the world. Gianluca was gobsmacked by the invite and stated that he could not believe his ears when the idea was put forward by Joseph Calleja himself. Nevertheless, he gladly accepted and is very much looking forward to the outcome. This summer concert is well attended by the Maltese noting that they turn up to hear the stunning vocal prowess of Calleja who has a tendency to invite a number of foreign guests who in the past included; Ronan Keating, Lucio Dalla, Dionne Warwick and Michael Bolton amongst others. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news.

Source: escflashmalta.com

Preceding the annual Eurovision Song Contest, Gianluca was asked on a regular basis if he had heard any of the competing entries in the competition and he had always signalled his favourite to be the track from Iceland entitled Ég Á Líf, co-written by  Örlygur Smári & Pétur Örn Gudmundsson. The track which will be performed in slot number #8 meaning just over three minutes after Malta is a beautiful ballad which has been coming across beautifully on the screens. There is a strong visual lighting presentation but an even stronger vocal interpretation by Eythor Ingi who is proudly showcasing his skills in musical theatre.

Since arriving in Malmö, Sweden for this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, the two had yet to meet but when they did it seems that things got an extremely friendly reception considering that the two artists who had a small chat exchanged promotional discs and called the support of both nations. Iceland and Malta should have a strong relationship because of the fact that we have both sent the same amount of entries to the Eurovision Song Contest without ever finishing in the top position yet managing two first runner-up slots. Eythor Ingi has another intriguing link to Malta, noting that he is signed to Hands-Up Music, which is the same record label behind Chiara's recent releases, including the debatable Żarbun, a number #2 charting sensation on iTunes. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for more news.

Source: escflashmalta.com, tvm.com.mt

This years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will definitely be regarded as a catalyst for change noting several alterations to the system were implemented, amongst them being the withdrawal of the running order as well as to increasing the weighing of the jury. In an exclusive announcement on escflashmalta.com yesterday, it was revealed that Gordon Bonello and Rodney Gauci will be the ones doing the commentary on both nights of the semi-final taking place this Tuesday and Thursday as well as on the Final on Saturday evening respectively. Viewership on Television Malta is already high and therefore, having a comical duo will definitely help increase this in a respectful manner.  In the meantime, in an article posted by our colleagues at escXtra, it has just been announced that Emma Hickey will be the individual reading out the Maltese Points on the night of the final. 

Emma Hickey is the same girl who appeared in the official preview video of the song Tomorrow, which will represent Malta in this years' Eurovision Song Contest. Hickey is a model but she is also studying interior-design. It seems that the positive Irish comments are somewhat rubbing off well considering that Emma Hickey has a genealogy which goes to Ireland. Some of the other spokespersons include; Lena Meyer Landrut, who won the Eurovision back in 2010 with her song 'Satellite' for Germany and presented Germany in 2011 with 'Taken By A Stranger', for Germany. Also Tooji, last year's Norwegian representative, will be reading the points from Norway. Emma Hickey, the Maltese spokesperson for this year, is a model and we are all waiting anxiously about what she is going to say and how we voted. Keep up with escflashmalta.com for further news!

Source: escXtra

The nerves of the very first rehearsal conducted earlier this week were clearly nowhere to be seen as Gianluca alongside his team made up of Samaria Bezzina, Louise Ann Bugeja Tate, Christopher Tate, Gabriel Cassar and Kenny D'Ugo took to the stage for the second technical rehearsal. Tomorrow, co-written by Boris Cezek and Dean Muscat has gone down well at the Eurovision Song Contest, achieving positive comments throughout and with competent rehearsals, the foreign media has only words of praise. The second semi-final despite weaker is known to have a series of good songs including the section in which Malta will be performing but hopefully, the charm and fresh quality of the song along with a sublime performance will take it through to the final. 

It is said that the Delegation were absolutely delighted with the shots used for the performance and the effect that the lyric video is having in terms of colour scheme is quite emphatic noting that the shots will ultimately provide such a sense of security. In rehearsal videos posted by fan-sites the true colours are not being emitted properly as one could see either in the photo above of even in the official video of the rehearsal posted below. Tomorrow, is definitely one of the best entries that Malta has ever sent to the Eurovision Song Contest and therefore, it just has to be in the Saturday show because charisma and talent infused together go a long way. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available

Source: eurovision.tv

It has been a great start to what looks like an amazing week full of live music – the Beland Music Festival kicked off in spectacular fashion last night with the participation of local heartthrob Kevin Borg who serenaded the crowd with his magical voice and charisma. The Beland Music Festival this year moved from the Market Square to Bulebel and one can say that the move was a success, the festival got bigger and if today’s concert was anything to go by one can easily say it got even better.

Barber’s Cut, a new upcoming band led by Kelly Busuttil opened proceedings and got the crowd going; showing that they indeed have potential. The audience seemed to have enjoyed the relatively unknown band, who mixed it up playing some of the most popular hits. They were followed by the talented Glen Vella and Pamela, who entertained the crowd with a number of popular cover versions. As the time went on, the crowd got bigger and bigger, everyone awaiting the arrival of Kevin Borg and when he finally took the stage Kevin received a hero’s welcome in Bulebel.

He kicked off proceedings with his Swedish Idol Winner’s single With Every Bit of Me and continued with a mix of cover versions and songs from his own repertoire. He closed the first part of the concert with his Malta Eurovisision entry, Needing You, where he was accompanied by former Eurovision representative Glen Vella, Pamela, Josef Tabone and Janice Mangion. The second part of the show was as strong and the crowd cherished every moment with cheering, waving and singing at the top of their lungs to Kevin’s hits. Kevin was clearly moved and described the event as being even better than his Swedish Idol final as he had never expected so many people to attend the event in aid of Puttinu Cares.

Kevin encouraged the people to attend and donate to this genuine cause. Tonight’s music festival will feature Malta’s top female artist – Ira Losco is set to take the stage for her first Summer gig and her first gig after the launch of her album The Fire which proved to be a major success. She is expected to sing some of her latest songs along with a few numbers from her previous records, she will be supported by The New Victorians an up and coming band and also Planet Seed fronted by Klinsmann. For more details on what to expect during the Beland Music Festival you can visit the programme here or their official Facebook Page.

It is important to note that on Thursday, the organizers behind the Beland Music Festival saw it fit to organize a big screen in order to support Malta’s bid in the Eurovision Song Contest – so we encourage you to join with your family and friends, grab your Maltese flags and on Thursday go and watch the Second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Bulebel as part of the Beland Music Festival. The atmosphere is expected to be electrifying as there is nothing more special than cheering for the Maltese representative together and creating a mini Eurovision atmosphere here in Malta.

Apart from enjoying the live music for a great cause, at the Beland Music Festival you can chill and relax, there’s a children’s area and a number of stalls where people can just sit there as the concert is ongoing. There is something for all the family and for all the music lovers it is something you surely can’t miss as apart from donating towards Puttinu Cares you would be also supporting the local talent who invest so much time and effort to deliver a great product. So make sure to visit the Beland Music Festival and donate something for a great cause. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news.

Source: escflashmalta.com

Television Malta, the main channel of the Public Broadcasting Services will be airing all of the shows which incorporate the Eurovision Song Contest but nevertheless, have yet to reveal the individuals who will be providing the commentary for all of the show. The editorial team of escflashmalta.com has always worked alongside the team that represents Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest, bringing you all of the latest news in an exclusive capacity where possible. Anton Attard, Head of Delegation for Malta has just been in contact with the editorial team to confirm that the commentators for this years' edition of all of the shows will be none other than comic duo, Gordon Bonello and Rodney Gauci. Remember that Television Malta is showing both semi-finals and the final as are most of the broadcasters competing in this years' competition.

Gordon Bonello and Rodney Gauci are truly an inseperable duo when it comes to television noting that one does not appear without the other. They came to fame in a local television series known as Deċeduti but then gained more recognition taking on the roles of Ġorġ and Pawlu in a local television talkshow. To the european audience, they are known for being involved in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest with Gordon Bonello being the main host alongside Elaine Saliba and with Rodney Gauci being the man who was interviewing the artists backstage. The commentary will surely be light and enjoyable to those watching the Eurovision Song Contest on Television Malta. The individual who will read out the points yet to be revealed but rumours has it that it will indeed be another male. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news as we follow Gianluca and his entry Tomorrow in this years' showcase.

Source: Television Malta

Gianluca, representative of Malta at this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is currently visiting a children's hospital at Skane University in Lund. The aim of the visit is to enlighten the mood of the children who have been handed down a harsh judgement through life through their ilnesses. Whilst there, Gianluca will also be performing his entry for the international showcase entitled Tomorrow co-written by Boris Cezek and Dean Muscat whilst also performing with another singing doctor whose name is Igor Zindovic, a popular protagonist on the show Junior Doctors which airs on TV5.

Gianluca will be returning for his second rehearsal tomorrow afternoon but until then will continue to tour the sights and also practice the song alongside his team in order to ensure that the rehearsal tomorrow will be even stronger than it was the first time round. Juergen Boernig, our Head of Press alongside with his team of collaborators had the opportunity to speak to Gianluca and the rest of his team during the meet and greet session held a couple of days back and we are pleased to promote it just below. We would like you to stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news related to Malta and the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. 

Source: escflashmalta.com

escflashmalta.com had the opportunity to have a short conversation with Daniel D'Anastasi, Head of Press for the Maltese Delegation at this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest following the first technical rehearsal that took place. Despite some early issues which were encountered during the first run, they were quickly fixed as Gianluca and the rest of the team including Samaria, Louise Ann, Kenny, Gabriel and Christopher grew in confidence. There are a couple of things which need to be altered slightly including some camera shots but nevertheless, it was an extremely positive rehearsal.

In the meantime, as per the typical schedule setup by the European Broadcasting Union and the respective host broadcaster, this year being SVT, Gianluca and the rest of the delegation will tomorrow embark on a tour across Sweden and therefore, that is the plan for the itinerary. Friday is another 'off' day for the whole team noting that the schedule is currently being filled up with a series of events including a trip to a hospital where Gianluca, our representative will be meeting up with some young children who are braving the elements and surviving through sickness. This is an incredibly touching moment and means even more considering that Gianluca is a doctor and therefore has a tendency to meet with patients on a daily basis. Gianluca's second rehearsal will be taking place on Saturday afternoon and it will be open to the media so therefore, in collaboration with Radio International, Eurovision Ireland, and escXtra, escflashmalta.com will be bringing you all of the latest news.

Source: Daniel D'Anastasi (Head of Press), Television Malta