Last week’s ninth annual Bay Music Awards saw the Bay Arena come to life as thousands cheered for their favourite Maltese bands at the most anticipated music awards show on the island.
This year’s top award went to Red Electrick, which brought home this year’s coveted ‘Best Band’ award.
The BMAs went a big step further this year by introducing live performances as opposed to playback, a step which introduced a whole host of complications to the coordination of the event but one which paid off.
Eden Leisure Group managing director Kevin De Cesare comments, “Going live was always a goal of ours, but we also wanted to keep the event tight and succinct so that its audience could really enjoy it and not have hang around waiting for the next act to be set up. With Jon Vella’s expertise we finally found a way to overcome this and we’re so glad we did because the difference in the sound and atmosphere in the Arena was electric, it was like never before.”
16 performances rocked the arena with Malta’s pop and rock royalty such as Ira Losco, Red Electrick, Scar, Dolls for Idols, Christabelle and many others including newer faces taking to the stage.
Alongside Malta's greatest musical talent Bay's very own Bay Breakfast host Dorian, Drive Time's Nathan, and Brunch to Lunch host Ben Glover, kept the energy flowing throughout the night and kept the crowd wanting more. The night's performances concluded with the Bay Kids song ‘Circles’.
The song and all the songs performed on the night are available on CD from 89.7 Bay, and are also available for download from iTunes. All proceeds from CD and iTunes sales will go towards Walk for Wheels – raising money to buy wheelchairs and hand cycles for those who can’t walk.
Popular faces and some of Malta’s A list took to the stage in order to present the category awards, with stars including the Deceduti protagonists, Shanel Debattista, Xandru Grech and many other celebrities.
This year, public SMS votes topped the records proving the growing support for both established and upcoming local talent.
The ‘Raise the Roof Award’ allowed all those who performed on the night a chance to get their hands on the prestigious and innovative award by managing to get the loudest screams from their fans following their act. The sheer volume and strength of the audience reaction – picked up and tallied through the use of sensitive microphones and advanced technology - determined the winner to again be Red Electric.
If you were unable to be part of the fun this year – or would perhaps like to see the show again, the Bay Music Awards will be aired on ONE TV on Monday, 21 December at 8.15pm, with a repeat show on Christmas Day at 3.30pm.
Voting for the Viewer’s Choice Award will also open during the first screening of the BMA’s and will officially close at midnight on 26 December.
The winners of the five categories presented were:
Best Band:
Red Electrick
Best Dance Tune/Remix:
J Joy featuring Kelly Stelfox ‘Love Hangover’
Best Song:
‘My World’ Carlo Gerada featuring Jan Cortez
Best Solo:
Christabelle
Best Newcomer:
Cryptic Street
Presenter's Choice:
Ira Losco ‘What I give’