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Celebrities In Malta

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When celebrities are rumoured to be spotted in Malta, people assume immediately that a famous foreign celebrity is on the island, either filming or on holiday. Nevertheless Malta has its fair share of local talent! Ranging from world famous opera singer Joseph Calleja, to Olympic sport shooter William Chetcuti, we’ll have a look at some of the Malta celebrities.

Joseph Calleja

Joseph Calleja’s unofficial music career started at the early age of 16, when he used to sing in his church choir, while receiving formal training from Maltese tenor Paul Asciak. Calleja’s first operatic debut was at the early age of 19 at the Astra Theatre in Malta. The Maltese tenor has performed throughout the world singing in renowned opera houses with leading orchestras. Some of his most notable performances are at the 2011 Nobel Prize Concert, performing for a private concert for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip and touring Germany with world famous Anna Netrebko. Early on in his career Mr Calleja won an award in the Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition which spring boarded his international career. He later went on to win several awards, most recently he won the 2014 International Opera Reader’s award. It’s not everyday that Malta has an artist performing so regularly around the world alongside leading artists such as Anastasia, so it comes as no surprise that Joseph Calleja can be considered as Malta’s biggest celebrity!

Ira Losco

Ira Losco is the closest Malta ever got to winning the Eurovision song contest. Since most of the Maltese follow the Eurovision closely, the close call made Ira a household name overnight! Ira has performed in several countries and has won over 20 music awards, making her Malta’s biggest female celebrity. The Maltese pop star has performed in front of audiences up to 80,000 and played alongside some of the world’s biggest names in Music including Elton John, Maroon 5, Akon, Ronan Keating, Tokio Hotel and many more. Bob Geldof, whom she also performed with, was full of praise for Ira and said “I haven’t seen a girl perform with such energy in ages”. The Maltese pop start is also highly active in various local non-profits in Malta to help organizations promote their campaigns.

Winter Moods

Winter Moods is Malta’s flagship band! Few other bands have left such a mark on the local music scene, partially because few other bands have been around for as long as they have. The band has the record for most attendance at a concert hosted by a local band, in 2010 they managed to attract 10,000 at the Granaries! Winter Moods have been fortunate enough to play alongside some great other artists such as Bryan Adams and Elton John… Winter Moods also support Special Olympics Malta throughout the year organizing fundraisers and also spending time getting to know the athletes. The band has also won numerous awards throughout their career including Best Band at six editions of the Malta Music Awards. Winter Moods were elevated to their current level of success after releasing their hit ‘Marigold’, a song everyone in Malta recognized and will instinctively sing along to!

Red Elektric

This five man band first hit the local music scenes with their debut single ‘The End of it All’. Since then, they have taken Malta by storm and dominated the music scene , without ever looking back. The band’s most notable performance has been during the recent concert with Malta’s very own Joseph Calleja, and internationally renowned Anastacia.

Michael Mifsud

Mifsud is by far the best football player Malta has seen. Michael Mifsud has managed to achieve notable success for a country which has only ever won four competitive matches. The striker’s CV includes a number of foreign clubs, which is highly unusual in a country with just a handful of full time footballers, these including Barnsley, Coventry City and Melbourne City. The player’s most memorable moment is most definitely his match against Manchester United where he managed to score twice against one of the best teams in the world.

Tony Drago

Known as ‘The Tornado’, Drago is known for his high speed snooker and pool play, in fact he currently holds the fastest century break. In 1998 Drago was also ranked 10th best snooker according to the snooker world rankings. During that year he had reached two major finals! Apart from snooker, Drago also plays pool professionally, winning the 2003 World Pool Masters. Another record held by ‘The Tordnado’ is the fastest best-of-17 match, winning after just 81 minutes.

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