| Fabrizio will represent Malta at the 51st Eurovision Song Contest this year. His song, ‘I Do’, won the ‘Go Mobile Malta Song for Europe Festival’ held on Saturday, 4 February 2006 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta.
Fabrizio received the highest score in the contest, which was judged entirely by audience televoting, making him the people’s choice to represent Malta in Athens, Greece.
For Fabrizio, it will be the second time he has represented Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest. “The second time feels even better,” was Fabrizio’s enthusiastic comment shortly after winning this year’s competition.
His real breakthrough in Eurovision came in 2001. That year, he won the ‘Malta Song for Europe’ festival with the song ‘Another Summer Night’, written by Paul Abela and Georgina which became the Maltese entry in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Millions of Eurovision fans watched the event. After this first, fantastic performance on the Eurovision stage, Fabrizio gained a huge fan-following worldwide. ‘Another Summer Night’ featured on radio playlists all over Europe. On his return home, thousands of fans gathered to give him the warmest welcome imaginable! This turned out to be a very good year for Fabrizio. He was invited onto almost every Maltese TV and radio programme, and the local press gave him great reviews.
The Eurovision experience was a launch-pad for Fabrizio’s international success. On 25 May 2001, backed by the best artists in the local music scene, he launched his debut album, ‘While I’m Dreamin’’ with a huge concert in Malta at the Luxol Stadium. The concert was a great success and on 15 June it was broadcast on TV, sending the album to the top of the Maltese album charts that week. It remains the best-selling album by a Maltese artist ever.
In Denmark, ‘While I’m Dreamin’’, was in the top 100 of the album charts for four weeks, while the single was in the Top 20 playlist for five weeks. In Germany, the single was in the top 100 playlist for seven weeks.
Thanks to the success of this album, Fabrizio was able to perform on various European TV stations, and travel extensively throughout Europe for promotions and live shows.
In 2002, following the album’s success, the single ‘Show Me Now’ was released with a big budget video for MTV and VIVA. The track was an immediate hit in Malta.
Fabrizio was fast gaining international recognition and his increasing success led to performances in prestigious festivals, namely the ‘Halberg-Festival’ in Saarbrücken, Germany, in front of 65,000 people; the ‘GOLDEN STAG Festival’ in Brasov, Romania; and the ‘MusicMania Festival’ in Malta. In December 2002, he was also invited to perform at the EU Summit in Copenhagen.
‘When We Danced’, Fabrizio’s second album, was released in Malta in late 2003. It immediately reached the No. 1 position in the Maltese charts! The first single from ‘When We Danced’ was the latin pop-dance-song of the same name, written by the top American writers Anthony Little and Rick Kelly who also worked for N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys.
The launch of this album in Malta was combined with the release of the hit single ‘I’m In Love (The Whistle Hit)’, first performed during a sold-out concert at the prestigious Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. The entire show was broadcast on local TV three times! This album marked the start of Fabrizio’s real international success – t #he single and the album were released in more than 30 countries, namely: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Israel, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Singapore, Japan and – of course – Malta. The song became a big hit on radio and TV channels and went into the sales charts in Sweden at No. 7 (and was in the Top 20 for 15 weeks), in Finland at No. 11, and was a Top 50 hit in Belgium and Germany.
In 2005, Fabrizio was invited to be part of ‘Congratulations’, the 50th anniversary event of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 22 October 2005 in Copenhagen, Denmark. During the show, he performed his song ‘Another Summer Night’ in a medley with other Eurovision participants.
Recently, Fabrizio released his third album ‘Believe’, which went straight to No. 1 in the Maltese album charts. The first single released from this album – ‘Love on the Radio’, with lyrics by Mary Susan Applegate who also wrote ‘The Power of Love’ - is already listed on the radio charts in some countries.
In May, Fabrizio will once again be gearing up to give his utmost for Malta. Since winning the ‘Malta Song for Europe’ festival, he has been focusing all his energies on performing well for his country. The song ‘I Do’ will be released in various countries prior to the Eurovision Song Contest event, and will be accompanied by a top quality video as well as major promotional activities. The media and Eurovision fans have responded enthusiastically to Fabrizio and are predicting a very good result for him and Malta. His song is upbeat and catchy and, although he is very young, Fabrizio has the experience and, of course, good looks, which will give him the confidence to shine on the Eurovision stage. |
