Come off it, Ira Losco. Singers should stick to singing.
Published:
March 2, 2014 at 7:08pm
For roughly the same reason that I shouldn’t pick up a microphone and sing, Miss Losco should stay well away from political commentary.
Taghna Lkoll.
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My feelings exactly. She’s probably started rehearsing for Gensna.
Sure, here she is all ready:
http://www.escflashmalta.com/media/k2/items/cache/467a11bbfad7b1d341b6b5e16438d2b3_L.jpg?t=-2147483648
Maybe she is waiting for her iced bun too. If a washed-up old DJ and a decrepit Super One show host and Labour MC can become ambassadors, why not she?
I would go further than that: if a decrepit policeman can become speaker and a pathetic journalist can become prime minister, there is hope for everyone.
Is it good is it bad, am I simply going mad, is it fiction or fact, am I really losing tact.
7th Wonder = See the lyrics.
Ira Losco has caught the Maltese Household Name disease.
Whose symptom is laghqizmu sfrenat of everything under the sun.
Vide Joseph Calleja.
Agatha Barbara became president in February 1982, the same year Marie Louise Coleiro became general secretary of the Malta Labour Party.
She was so responsible (to quote Ira Losco) that she approved of all the obscenities done by the Labour Party/government between 1981 and 1987 when it governed against the will of 51% of the electorate.
She did not utter a single word of disapproval or disgust in public (and probably not even in private) when all those obscenities took place.
Ira is lying about her little story too. She was 1 in 1982, since she was born in 1981.
Ira has every right to say whatever she pleases, like you do most of the time.
[Daphne – I repeat, as clearly lots of people are remarkably slow on the uptake: this is not about what Miss Losco has a right to do, but about what she should do. I have every right to sing, but I don’t, because I can’t. She has every right to make a political observation, but she shouldn’t, because she can’t – as distinct from MAY NOT. I trust you now understand. As I remarked elsewhere, political comments by Ira Losco (and several other singers I needn’t mention now) are the equivalent of a drunk singing karaoke in a bar at midnight. He has every right to do it, but he’d best not, and it’s not done well. He should leave that sort of thing up to Ira Losco, who can sing very well.]
Same logic should apply to “Fr” Joe Borg, he should stick to religious topics but obviously you never bothered to have a go at him as his opinions are of your taste. Can you ever get one thing right Mrs Caruana Galizia?
[Daphne – Joe Borg is a journalist and a trained communicator. He teaches journalism and ran a radio station and its news room. He is not ‘a priest’. But even if he were not a professional media man, the main thing is that he is informed, which is the problem with Ira Losco, the problem we are talking about: she is spectacularly ignorant. Very attractive, a jolly good singer, but really intellectually vacant.]
Ira is not a journalist. She’s not a politician. She’s a singer whose job is to sing.
Like for example Kevin Borg, the Maltese singer in Sweden, who has been such a huge success in Sweden and who has made such a successful name for himself.
Losco should be very careful not to get her tongue in the wrong places.
Her career depends on it.
… onestament nemmen li kulhadd ghandu jithalla jesprimi l-opinjoni tieghu… dak li jaghmlu l-politikanti jeffettwa tajjeb jew hazin lil kulhadd… anke jekk il microphone ikun f’idek
…onestament nemmen li l-politikanti huma l-uniku rizors li ghandhom il-kantanti. Dan ir-rizors jiffunzjona meta u fejn l-politikant johloq ir-rizorsi, u mhux fejn il-kantant jara lilu nnifsu bhala rizors ghal-politikant.
I never ever expected this from her. Let`s give her the benefit of the doubt and say this was a one-off.
Baxxter don’t blame the boot-lickers. It is the only way how to get a favour/right from this government.
Rubbish. It’s not about political favours, and this isn’t about political allegiance.
All Maltese celebrities grow into boot-lickers. Ira Losco isn’t taking sides here. She’s just “liking” everything.
Joseph Calleja does it too.
I mean I know that in the post-Facebook world, we’re meant to be positive and smile at life and all, but surely you don’t need to comment on things that don’t concern you.
It’s like me enthusing on Charlie z-Zubina’s latest folk ditty in order to gain street cred with my literary fans.
Joseph Calleja (Malta’s official ambassador for culture) should issue a statement regarding the recent Maltese political situation. Other musician from Russia and Venezuela have recently done the same about their countries.
In your dreams.
Joseph Calleja is now a household name and an institution on Xarabank, Bla Agenda, bl-Agenda, official parties and receptions, and everywhere else. He sucks up to everyone and everyone sucks up to him. That, my friends, is how you rise to stardom in this wretched island of ours.
If you wish to make it to the top, you’re only ever allowed to dislike one thing in Malta: Daphne. Indeed, it is encouraged.
HPB
Oh, so now Calleja does Xarabank too? Has he lost his mind?
I’m starting to wonder whether someone who has made it because the industry saw in him the reincarnation of Mario Lanza (old style technique, a fair amount of kitsch, and an apparent charm being his trademark) has any personality at all.
You haven’t been to Malta in the last twenty years, have you?
Him and his buddy/personal doctor Alec Lapira, whose story is yet to be written. And never will.
By the way, I have it on authority that Anna Netrebko is now singing a duet, as it were, with none other than Vladimir Putin himself.
Ira Losco’s English is atrocious.
She should stick to playback.
Who knows – maybe Ira would think otherwise, had she not been just three years old when Agatha Barbara was made president and Marie Louise Coleiro was secretary-general of the Malta Labour Party under Mintoff and KMB.
Her English stinks.
Agatha Barbara became President of the Republic in 1982.
Which means that when Ira Losco burnt her tiny hand at 3 years old, Malta had already been burning under a Labour government for some years.
The Times’ buildings on St Paul Street, Valletta, and Eddie Fenech Adami’s home in Birkirkara, had already been gutted in 1979 by the “marmalja.” After the stolen elections of 1981, it was the turn of the Curia and the Courts, this time by the “aristocracy of the workers.”
All this happened under the watch of Agatha Barbara as guardian of the Constitution.
In the same period, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca served as a member of the National Executive, Assistant General Secretary and General Secretary of the Malta Labour Party (1982–1991).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Louise_Coleiro_Preca
Faced with that violence, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca never resigned. Instead, she continued to serve under the leadership of KMB. Actually, did she ever assume any political responsibility and apologise for those acts?
When Agatha was president, she handed food to Peppi Azzoppardi and all those workers of the diamond factory, who camped at the San Anton garden’s entrance, protesting about their rights. Then some days later,she sent soldiers to kick them out from there.
Another Taghna Lkoll acolyte I see.
Here is an article that ties in with something often discussed here on this blog:
http://www.corriere.it/tecnologia/cyber-cultura/14_febbraio_26/perche-siamo-diventati-cosi-ignoranti-400e4866-9ee3-11e3-a5c9-783ac0edee3c.shtml
In a nutshell it looks at the way our society is becoming more and more ignorant. Paradoxically our ignorance is becoming more acute as the amount and availability of information increases.
People who no longer have a cultural base to start from — what with the death of education — no longer have the tools to be able to think and digest information and come to logical conclusions.
Instead they live on an unhealthy diet of headlines, Facebook status updates and Youtube videos without truly understanding, or indeed questioning, what they are reading. Journalists, too, now tend to be less investigative and go for the quick release of news rather than truly studying the case first.
Here is a book that delves into this issue and talks of the importance of culture, even from an economic perspective:
http://www.abebooks.it/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=la+cultura+si+mangia
By the way, yes, free postage.
I do respect different opinions but this time round I lost all faith in Ira.
[Daphne – That’s not a particularly intelligent comment. Why on earth would you need to have faith in a singer? It’s not as though they’re running the country, piloting your ship to shore, or giving you heart surgery.]
Ira Losco is part of the Gensna crowd. That says it all. One cannot go shallower than that.
Does she need a stable job?
Not sure she’s keen on horses … Now over to Baxxter.
What are you insinuating here? The extent of my dalliance with Ira Losco was limited to a raised eyebrow (the right one) at a newsagent’s.
I vehemently deny these scurrilous equine insinuendos.
Perhaps not a stable, but a garage maybe.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-11-21/news/no-garages-for-bands-so-far-william-mangion-3247669248/
This time I do not agree with you. Singers have a right to express their political opinions.
[Daphne – Here we go again. How difficult can it possibly be to distinguish between one’s right to do something and one’s lack of wisdom in doing it? That exact point was made in my actual post: I have every right to pick up a microphone and sing, but I know I can’t sing and would be stupid to do so, so I don’t. The same principle applies here: Ira Losco knows nothing about politics and even less about the politician she is talking about. She should therefore adopt the same approach I do with singing. Yes, we all have a right to an opinion, but we also have the obligation to make sure that it is an informed opinion. Miss Losco does not seem to understand that while it is quite all right to express shallow opinions about fashion, other singers, entertainers, clothes and make-up or travel and boyfriends, it is not all right to express shallow opinions about politics, first because it is irresponsible and secondly because it makes her look like an airhead, which is a really bad idea at her age.]
In the past we have seen many singers singing about the benefits of joining the EU and in favour of the Nationalist Party and pronouncing how they will cast their vote. Unfortunately, Ira was not one of them. However, she never sang in favour of the Partnership l-Aqwa Ghazla or any other Socialist propaganda.
Ira Losco did not sing in favour of EU membership for Malta along with Willie Mangion etc, but she sang at at least one Labour Party mass meeting, in Gozo, during that election campaign.
She also participated in the MLP fund raising marathons on TV.
And always adamantly refused to participate in PN fund raisers. Il-vera lagħqija. We’re about to enter the age of the Smiling Presidency.
When there was a huge fuss over the Renzo Piano theatre project, Joseph Calleja was quick to express his opinion about the “roofless theatre”.
I understand from a friend that when he was asked to give his views on the ridiculous sale of citizenship, he refused outright saying that he does not get involved in politics.
Freemasons are not allowed to attack their brothers.
Once I was sitting at a table next to Ira Losco in a restaurant (Mamma Mia) and I could not help but listen to the whole conversation. She was having lunch with a peer of her age.
I was shocked to hear all the foul and vulgar language (Malti veru hamallu) that came out of her mouth, and she was not even angry or emotional. It was just a normal chatty conversation. The television packaging had deceived me. It never occurred to me that she is so crass in real life.
AND yes, Ira is taking part in Gensna, too.
http://www.fcn.org.mt/event/gensna-2014/
Such class, and so apolitical, singing in Gensna, alongside Bayzu, Renato, Maryrose Mallia et al.
What if there is no political motivation behind her post? I doubt that Ira needs to suck up to any political party to increase her popularity and the few comments already posted are making this blog a bit too one-sided in my opinion.
[Daphne – Nobody mentioned political motivation, by which you no doubt mean ‘ulterior motives’. My sole point was that people who know nothing about politics should avoid making political statements. The fact that somebody can sing and is known for singing does not lend credibility to his or her opinion about the suitability of Marie Louise Coleiro, or any other politician for that matter, for the role of president. If Miss Losco, by her own admission, was three years old when Agatha Barbara took her oath of office as president of the republic, then she was also three years old when Marie Louise Coleiro was secretary-general of the Malta Labour Party. She was not old enough to know the context directly and she is far too disengaged intellectually to have bothered to find out for herself since. So she would be best off opening her mouth only when required to sing, unless she is prepared to brief herself with some basic general knowledge. At 35, rather more is expected of a woman than frippery and frivolity.]
Limbo is right. I share his/her feelings.
“At 35, rather more is expected of a woman than frippery and frivolity”
Daphne, what else do you expect from a local pop singer who has shown no motivation in developing, at least, within her industry.
I’m actually left open mouthed at the local crap comments posted here and the amount of shallow minds out there on this dot-sized island.. You seriously posted this??
“more is expected out of a 35 year old woman?”
what is expected of a 35 year old woman Mr Fenech in your genius opinion? Is a 35 year old woman not entitled to bein onstage and performing both locally and abroad? What motivation has Ira not shown my friend? Or did you mean the lack of serious interest in local music industry, and financial help given to local artists who have to fend off themselves out of their hard earned money?
Why don’t you give most performers a break and try doing it yourself since you seem to know so bloody much about it…
And bdw… Gensna should be regarded as a local show not a politicized one. I don’t care what’s been done in the past.
SHAME ON YOU ALL WHO UPHOLD SUCH IGNORANT STATEMENTS…
and bdw I’m not even a fan of Ira Losco, but seriously get your act together and if you’re bored, stop posting hurtful stupidities and buy a bloody console.. ;)
and oh… lest I forget… grow up.
JA
J. Azzopardi, you’ve clearly no clue about how the modern music industry functions.
Your comment about state aid to artistes gave you away.
As it happens, I do know bloody much about it.
Daphne, Ira is 32 not 35
[Daphne – Then she wouldn’t have been able to get her hands burned on the oven door when Agatha Barbara was being sworn in as president in 1982, as she claimed, Mr Camilleri.]
Daphne’s always right. I do get things wrong every so often. I promise i’ll try harder next time round, failing which, i shut up.
[Daphne – You must be very bored indeed, wherever you are, to have been reduced to coming here to tease and flirt. Try an online dating agency.]
Ira Losco was born on 31 July 1981. Agatha Barbara was made president on 15 February 1982, which means that Losco was all of six-and-a-half months old when Barbara became president.
So her “burnt hand at the age of three” story is a concocted one to curry favour with the Mintoffjani.
“…she wasn’t old enough to know the context directly…”. All historians are now dismissed ! I strongly advise them to seek some other trade or fortune under the tropics.
[Daphne – You deliberately miss the second part of what I said: “and she is too disengaged intellectually to find out for herself.” Living through it is not even enough. If it were, nobody who did would vote Labour.]
If people who know nothing about politics never existed, we’d never have the Labour Party in the first place.
@ Limbo:
Popular singers don’t sing at funeral masses and if someone one comes back saying that ‘she probably sang at the funeral mass cause the deceased is a relative’, then rest assured, this type of reply strengthens my belief further in that:
Popular singers do not sing at funeral masses unless its Elton John singing for the late Lady Diana Spencer: one song, not all the songs throughout the funeral mass.
Thank you.
Marie blah blah etc was Labour Party secretary general during the worst of the Labour Party’s excesses. As far as I’m concerned, her presidency will be as tainted as Lorry Sant’s would have been.
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca was secretary general of the Labour Party during Mintoff and KMB golden years when the building of The Times was burnt down, the Archbishop’s Curia attacked, Raymond Caruana killed and Pietru Pawl Busuttil framed.
I don’t know what happened to her social conscience during those dreadful times. She was part of a regime when political discrimination and violence was the order of the day.
Hear, hear. And now she as been reincarnated as Saint Marie-Louise. Oh, and there’s this, too http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2011/05/dont-quote-marie-louise-arthur/.
I remember Marie Louise Coleiro shouting and harassing PN representatives during the Xandir Malta political debates moderated by Edward Scicluna or Tonio Portughes.
She was more aggressive than the MLP ministers who were sitting along her side.
Somebody had best do a quick check of all the soap-dishes in the San Anton Palace showers before Marie Louise Coleiro Preca is installed there. Perhaps Ira Losco might volunteer for the task.
So what will be happening to this self-proclaimed Robin Hood’s poverty eradication mission? Has this national hero given up when full-blown poverty has not yet kicked in?
She was squeezed out to make way for Muscat’s egoistic ambitions.
Has she ever offered an apology for her involvement with the criminal Mintoffian party?
No. Not at all. At no time. Never.
Just like her current boss, and the one before him and the one before that one too.
Maybe she’s going to lord it off for the rest of her days. Being a president does come with its perks after all, as does, I hazard a guess, being an ex-president.
Perhaps Muscat has devised a way for Yana Mintoff to be more present on the scene.
I’m with Beggarman on the thinking re Coleiro Preca.
Singing is a profession and a passion. Commenting on politics is everyone’s right. Deduction: Ira has every right to comment political events just like you and… I.
[Daphne – I am afraid your logic is catastrophically flawed. Just as it is everyone’s right to comment on politics, so also it is everyone’s right to sing. But doing it in public requires a certain amount of expertise, and people with sense know that. Miss Losco’s political commentary is the equivalent of a drunk singing karaoke at a bar at 1am. Commenting on politics is also “a profession and passion”, incidentally.]
INCIDENTALLY (i love this adverb – a filler ) most contributors to this blog seem to agree with Daphne. Yet, it is all about convincing the “others” ain’t it? or is it an exercise in preaching to the converted? Certain(e)s se adorent se caresser dans le sens du poil ! we’ve reached the bottom and…we keep on digging.
[Daphne – It is not about convincing the others and it is not about preaching to the converted. It just is. What is the raison d’etre of a newspaper or magazine?]
I disagree with Daphne all the time and she has hardly thrown me off the blog. That is because this is the only ‘academic’ blog where we can actually bounce ideas off each other. I think you are talking about another blog, perhaps Frankie’s.
Now, am being censored. Démocratie à géométrie variable, Daphne ? ;)
[Daphne – No, you are not. You are being replied to, that’s all. I can take any opinion under the sun, but irrational argumentation makes me break out in hives, especially the way so many people can’t differentiate between their right to express an opinion (which they confuse with their right to have one, as though there is some totalitarian machine which can see into their minds and prevent them having opinions) and their obligation to make sure that their opinion is informed and well thought out.]
there is no obligation to ensure that your arguments are informed!! You are missing the fact that your rights to comment and your ability/qualification to are not connected. It is the sad truth for those of us who (presume we) are more informed but it is the way it works Daphne. If you had to be qualified in every public statement you made then this would impinge your rights of free speech. I figured you would have known this!!
M. Le Rouge, I’m a follower of this blog and I love reading people’s comments and debates.
Firstly, please use a capital “I”. A small “i” is so tedious and, quite frankly, the followers of this blog take pride in their spelling and grammar.
Secondly, you seem to fail to understand the concept behind this website, which is aimed at people who are interested in debating politics and events. We do not come here to be agreed with.
Many of us share the same views and we are all appalled by (basically) the same things, a common ground which, I find, is more important for lasting relationships than common likes.
Finally, and most importantly perhaps, Ira Losco has the right to say what she pleases as much as I have the right to go on stage dancing. Nobody may deny me that right. However, whether it is right and proper for Ira to comment on politics and for me to go and prance on stage is quite another issue altogether.
This is a crucial distinction which is being put aside.
This is what I call the “Xarabank” mentality: I have the right to say whatever I wish even if I am Johnny nobody and I also expect my opinion to be given the same weight as that of the experts in the field.
Yes, Ira has the right to say whatever she pleases. However, it would be more proper to her to inform herself prior to regaling us with whatever she thinks. After all, her statement reveals how vacuous her mind is. And, I daresay, her political affiliations which act as blinkers on her eyes and thinking process.
Eric,
No, the celebrity class in Malta ( the likes of that bunch off StyleWatch, et al) are far from qualified to publicly comment about politics or form a decent intellectual argument. When they do manifest support for popular causes, they do so out of vanity in order to gain publicity.
Celebrities, bloggers, journalists and politicians create a toxic a mix – Blair had this type of support during the 90s. Inevitably this turned very sour for all those involved.
The problem with people like Eric is they can’t engage an argument unless on their terms.
‘Agree with Daphne’, as if this blog should be regulated and carry 50% pro-Muscat comments to make it ‘balanced’.
‘Censored’, yes of course, in the most efficient way possible, dislodging one’s non-sequitors with sharp logic.
Then there’s the fragile flippancy in tone reduced to earnest mhix fierism at the second retort.
Tell me Eric, are your one who’ll be a ‘protagonista’ as dear Joseph told you to?
The problem with people like Eric is they can’t read. Because reading means understand the meaning as well as mouthing the words.
No one is trying to take away Ira Losco’s right to speak her mind. But we have an equal right to call her stupid whenever she makes a stupid statement.
Voilà.
In addition, and would my fellow countrymen (who all seem to be servile deferential boot-lickers) listen up: we have a right to comment on Ira Losco’s personal life whereas she doesn’t have the reciprocal right. Because she is a celebrity, and we are not.
As for opposing views on this blog, many of us disagree with its owner on some very fundamental issues, but no one has ever been censored. The intelligence of an argument, and its opposite quality, its stupidity, are quite separate from the argument itself.
I agree with Kevin Ellul Bonici on the Ukraine issue, for instance, but his argumentation is completely imbecilic. On the other hand, I probably disagree with Daphne on the same issue, but she argues intelligently.
AT: [email protected] “Commenting on politics is everyone’s right”
Xarabankesque!
To make a comment one has to be INFORMED about the subject, or at least do one’s best to be.
With her uninformed comment, Ms Losco drove a political dagger into Marie Louise Coleiro Preca’s back.
With ‘supporters’ like Ira , who needs enemies? Ms Coleiro Preca does not want to be made president.
It seems Botox affects people’s intelligence negatively.
I totally agree. Ira is not the Ira we used to know. She never took sides but since a few months before the last election she is so Lejber. Stick to singing, music videos and transparent dresses, dear Ira.
What makes her think that Marie Louise Coleiro ‘is undoubtedly one of the women in our society who has really shone and taken on her responsibilities wonderfully’ – the fact that she is nice to Ira?
Never took sides? You must be joking. She sang at a Labour mass meeting in Gozo around two or three elections ago.
She also sang during the Independence Festivities on the Fosos, and participated and won the Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza.
Miss Losco used to be intelligent enough to participate in the activities of both parties. One of her stepping stones was winning the festival which makes part of the “Indipendenza” festivities.
A professional singer like her should stay away from all politics. I should admit that Ira surprised me this time.
Maybe you should try singing and finally we may win the Eurovision contest.
Ah. That section with expectations that believes Eurovision and Miss Malta beauty pageants are right up there on the list of priorities.
Would they ever consider the fact that for others these are not even options worthy of consideration?
I love Eurovision. I’d rather we fought it out with sequined bimbos singing cheesy lyrics amid a laser show than armed troops slinging grenades amid the screams and horrors of war.
Anyway, who was it that gave Losco a Gieh ir-Repubblika?
One rests one’s case.
Losco for president, and down with Coleiro Preca!
-Twenty five years ago I was convinced that the majority of the Maltese population will, in time become a lot smarter.
I could not have been more wrong.
Tomorrow’s ONE headline news;
”Attakk fahxi fuq Ira ta’ Gensna fuq il -blokk ta’ Defni.
I’m afraid not, Super One won’t mention Daphne’s name again at least not while Labour is in government
“…fuq certi blogs prominenti.”
I love Maltspeak.
Ira Losco should ask her father, Oliver Losco, what it was like when Marie Louise Coleiro was the Malta Labour Party’s secretary-general, but then his reply will depend on whether he had, has or will have a slice of Malta Taghna Lkoll.
In any case, exactly why were her parents watching Agatha Barbara being sworn in as president?
Certainly not for hairstyle tips for their daughter thirty years hence. Of that, we can at least be sure.
And let me throw some petrol on the fire here: what exactly is there to admire in Marie Louise Coleiro Preca? She’s a deeply unattractive woman, she is inarticulate, she has all the bearing and propriety of a peasant, her Maltese accent is provincial, let alone her English, the extent of her culture is limited to social handouts, she is boring and annoying, and she even manages to underperform George Abela as worthy-representative-of-our-country.
I’d rather have Losco herself as president.
Perhaps they were watching Agatha Barbara for sartorial inspiration.
I just had a vision of Agatha Barbara in the Losco see-through bodysuit.
Now I’m trying to put my guts back in like that fellow in Saving Private Ryan.
Maybe you should live in the 17th Century as your comments seriously remind me of that era… gej bil-peasant ;)
What does that make you Marquis Du Lyons?!!
Get a life buddy…
[Daphne – I find it fascinating that whenever the subject under discussion is a figure from popular Maltese song or ‘modelling’, this website suddenly begins to attract gems of Facebook status update philosophy.]
I do apologise.
I should have said “hamalla”.
Thanks for pointing it out.
Because they’re Labour voters.
“exactly why were her parents watching Agatha Barbara being sworn in as president?”
They couldn’t believe Charles Arrigo when he said that Agatha Barbara was the first woman to become president.
Of course they couldn’t.
Tsk Tsk
Brown-nosing her way into a job via that vomit-fest Gensna, and now congratulating Saint Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.
Ira Losco: the Labour Party’s new Mary Spiteri.
We can all comment privately or publicly on political or other social issues, especially on comment boards as this one, Facebook and other media. So why should singers should just sing? And who can comment on politics, only politicians? Can journalists and columnists comment?
[Daphne – Why should singers just sing? Because they’re not just anybody, David. They say things to be noticed, and noticed they are, so they had better give some thought to what they say before they say it. If a singer bothered to be informed about politics before speaking about the subject, then he or she would have something to say that’s worth saying, but this does not apply in Miss Losco’s case as she is severely challenged in the general knowledge stakes though gifted in other areas.]
Weberian taxonomic pigeon-holing !
Typical Russell Brand comments. Brand has no idea or concept of politics. Just watch his TV show sometimes or read his blog.
He receives hundreds, if not thousands, of negative comments. He is even called names and especially he is considered as an idiot. Not because he is not a good actor or a TV presenter but more because he thinks he knows everything about politics when he doesn’t.
Incidentally, 23 of my friends ‘disliked’ Miss Losco’s Facebook page after her comments and I foresee more people doing the same.
Agreed!! Comment on her politically flawed post not her personal life and family!!!
That is what I have been talking about. But seriously, her whole career and personal life has been ridiculed and put onto the web for all to read and see.. .
Shame on those who did so…
[Daphne – I don’t get your drift. If Miss Losco is a famous singer, then having her career and personal life discussed in the media and on the internet comes with the territory. If she is not discussed, then she is probably neither famous nor interesting to the public.]
I’m quite certain that Ira Losco is 32 years old so somewhere there must be a mistake.
Quoting wikipedia.com “Ira Losco (born 31 July 1981) is a Maltese singer.”
So either Losco can’t truly remember when Agatha Barbara became president (‘coz she was just 6 months old) or her birth date is wrong. Makes me wonder which.
Ira Losco was born 31st July, 1981. She is 32 years old.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Losco
Agatha Barbara became president 15th February, 1982. So Ira was barely 6 and a half months old. She is wrong about her age at the time.
It would be interesting to know what qualifications are required to comment politically. To help the people out there you might also consider publishing guidelines. I’m sure all the people here have been adequately screened and we can be sure that no singer has infiltrated your comments board.
[Daphne – The point is not who is qualified to comment, but that people should have enough intelligence to know when they should keep their mouths shut. Do I comment about football? Exactly. Do I write about cars? Ditto. Have I told you whether I think Matteo Renzi is the right choice as Italian prime minister? No, because I don’t know anything about him and more to the point, I know that I don’t know. Ira Losco shouldn’t comment about politics not because she is not ‘qualified’ but because, like Russell Brand in the same situation, she sounds like an idiot and courts the wrong sort of publicity. She will soon discover that there comes a point in a woman’s life when she can no longer be admired for her face, figure or the way she looks in revealing clothes. The best way to prepare for that inevitability is to develop one’s intellect. The alternative is to end up like Moira Delia and a couple of others: in your 40s and prancing about like a 16-year-old, wondering whether you can eke it out to 50 (the answer is no).]
She’s already started with the plastic boobs – or chicken fillets – in anticipation.
Kemm int vojt habib.
Another one of my ghastly countrymen who think celebrities should be put in glass cases and worshipped.
@ J. Azzopardi
Dan mhux il-Fan Club ta’ Ira, imma l-Fan Club tal-Logika, habib.
So I assume you agree with me that all those singers who perform during Mass Meetings and those who sang in both political parties anthems during various elections and referendum (see the last election and the EU referendum) should have stayed away from it in the first place.
Various people come to mind: Chiara, Ludwig, Lawrence Gray, Marija Barokka and all those singers in the Partnership and Nghidu Iva songs. Not even thinking about Renato and Mary Spiteri.
[Daphne – That’s entirely different. That’s doing what they are there to do: sing. So no, I don’t agree with you.]
For once I have to disagree with you. They’re singing political slogans from both parties. How can the rest of the readers criticise Ira’s participation in Gensna then? She’s singing, isn’t she?
[Daphne – They’re criticising her participation in Gensna because she’s sunk so low. Propaganda Rock from the 1970s is really the bottom of the barrel. I give her the benefit of the doubt: judging by what she said about Marie Louise Coleiro, Miss Losco probably hasn’t a clue what Gensna is all about.]
This seems one subject we’ll keep on disagreeing. In my opinion, mainstream singers should stay away from politics whatever the subject may be. For that kind of things there’s the ‘kantanti tal-partit’ (vide Renato, Mary Spiteri etc)
Anyways, it seems to be a time where those in the entertaining sector like to mingle with politicians for some sort of payback motivations. It would be interesting to see the comments of people who attended the Victoria carnival this weekend and in previous years. I compared and surely wouldn’t want to go again next year. The usual carnival groups were absent and it showed! L-aqwa li Malta Taghna lkoll appointed a professional to take care of this!
Ira Losco is still pursuing her dream, not realising that it is way too late now. A 35-year-old chanteuse who has never made it beyond Malta’s shores had better train for an alternative career to support herself, marry well or…do what Mary Spiteri did.
Ira Losco used to teach English as a foreign language and sell property for an estate agent, but she always kept it quiet pretending that she was earning a living off her music.
Her music never ever left the shores of Malta, yet she creates this falseness that she is some kind of European famous singing sensation.
Now she has been reduced to singing Propaganda Rock in GENSNA and showing her true colours as a Laburista perfectly at home with all those other Labour Super One showgirls like Moira Delia and Jackie (Scott) Mercieca.
And yes she is still old enough to remember black and White television.
Think about all the backing she has from the private sector: hamburgers, cars, hairdressers, telephone directories…
One big Gensna Laburista ‘freedom-fighter’, backed by hamburger sponsorship.
She works (worked?) as a learning support assistant at St. Aloysius College, though I hear that her choice of attire was not always suitable for a person of certain responsibility at a boys’ school, and in a class of teen boys with raging hormones, at that.
Having said that, choice of attire is a general problem at many schools, with many teachers not dressing sutably.
I believe what Alex says. Losco wouldn’t need to lick Coleiro Preca’s boots if she were selling her music around Europe. Malta’s too small for a public person to have secrets.
Actually, her music did leave the shores of Malta, and went all round the Halls of Montezuma and in the air, on land and sea too.
That’s when she featured in a Tenishia track.
Losco for President, and up the Republic!
My god, I read that Montezemolo: Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the Chairman of Ferrari.
I thought you said she was singing for Ferrari. I must put my reading glasses on.
Another A&R person over here.. Bet you’re an ex-Sony bravado seeker ;) way too late!!! lol… big laugh at that mate..
So Mary Spiteri made it in your opinion? or are you suggesting that Ms Losco just give it all up and raise a family since that is kind of what is being pushed over here on this website.. 35 = kids and family…. ;)
Guys seriously, I personally disapprove of political comments since there is NO POLITICS in this country.. only 2 sizeable parties who hack at each other at any agreeable opportunity. Personally if I was a singer myself, I’d leave out the politics from my page, still ALL THIS CONDEMNABLE commentary here should equally be left out.
Merry xmas to all ;)
In his autobiography, Giorgio Napolitano refers to his support of the Soviet Union’s suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 as “causa di grave tormento autocritico”.
When he was confronted by a leading journalist about his political past he replied “in politica ho maturato tardi”.
Let us hope that our next President, with her awful political baggage, feels the same way as he does.
None of the ministers and Labour back-benchers from the Mintoff and KMB regimes ever made an apology for the ‘hnizrijiet’ committed in the 70s and 80s. Not even a whisper.
On the other hand, the PN has apologised profusely for any wrong they did, despite having very little to apologise for. It changed Malta to being a globally esteemed and trusted state where ‘min mhux maghna jista’ jahdem maghna was a reality and not just a slogan.
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2011/05/dont-quote-marie-louise-arthur/
It was good to be reminded of this exchange and to realise who this person, whom we are soon to address as the President, really is. What hypocrites! I bet the Laburisti who adore her consider her as the sequel of Mother Theresa.
Ira Losco’s way of thinking is the result of the major failure of the Nationalist adminstrations, that of not producing enough intelligent people, intelligent enough to see through the guise of Joseph Muscat and Labour.
As happened in the eighties, these people will learn what Labour really stands for in the ten/sixteen years to come.
And in the meantime we all have to go through hell, except the chosen few, of course.
Most people born into Labour/Mintoffjani families don’t change their political opinion, and that is what I suspect happened with Ira Losco.
Oh, don’t say that. I was born to parents who supported Labour till the end of their lives.
I did (was made to) vote for Labour when I first got my vote but have not done so again since.
I identify myself with the way the Nationalists think and I have lived through those terrible Labour years so I can see myself never, ever voting for Labour.
If Ira Losco was brought up in a Mintoffian family and is surrounded by peers who are soooo Labour, then there is little chance of her ever changing her support. However, as one of Malta’s leading singers, I think that she would have done herself a favour by remaining impartial, unless she was offered a tray full of iced buns.
I don’t think you are right to say that it’s the PN’s fault. 25 years of PN work and work in progress should have been enough for one to realise what the other side of the fence could look like = a risk.
Now if one failed to understand this, one has failed to understand that Malta was being led by pepole who put Malta in Europe, thus in a political situaton that followed European Standards and opportunities within Europe.
As things stand, the country is following no one and nothing. I hope this really won’t be a case of a ‘dritt ghal gol-hajt’ situation as Simon has said during one of his pre-election 2013 mass meetings.
If this proves itself to be true, then Miss Losco will, undoubtedly, have a big problem. As a singer, she depends on resources and by resources, I mean, effective resources.
Ira Losco had her chance 12/15 years ago when she had her go at Eurovision. She should have left with a one-way ticket to London and be prepared to stick it out for 1/3 years max to see if she could make it in UK. But she preferred otherwise and now has become the successor to Mary Spiteri Gensna – oh the regrets !
“the successor to Mary Spiteri Gensna – oh the regrets !”
In the music business, you can’t be a repeat of the past but an innovation to the present music requirements.
In fact I think it ‘bla sens’ to re-do a Gensna.
How many tenors have had a ‘Pavarotti & friends’ look-alike concert?
How many singers have copied a 1980’s Live-Aid concert?
Last time I saw Ira Losco, she was singing at a funeral mass.
The last time I sent a letter to a famous pop-group abroad, just to tell the singer about how appreciative I was of the songs they sung and the lyrics that kept my brain thinking during my difficult hours of study, back in the 80s, all I got was a ‘thankyou note from their manager’ a plain -> thankyou note -> with just thankyou written.
I’m not saying that I expected more. all I’m saying is that they were too popular to write a note back themselves. It probably made me very angry at the time, till I realised that it was the best thing for them to do.
Singers and people in high places shouldn’t waste unnecessary time. In the 80’s people weren’t wasting time. It’s 2014 and people are wasting time? doesn’t make sense.
Imagine this group (won’t say who) answering silly Facebook pages and exchanging comments about the new President in 2014.
They’re retired billionaires now. No wonder.
Allow me an: L.O.L.
That settles it.
For my funeral, I want to have Losco singing in her see-through dress. A glamorous send-off. Off with a bang, as it were. And on to Valhalla.
Or whatever politically-correct version of heaven God uses nowadays.
A potential switcher? She should remember how the PN government feted her on her return from the Eurovision Song Contest. And she is still flaunting herself in the Volvo she was given as a sign of appreciation. Shame.
Knowing Ira, her comment was intended to offer support to women being appointed to high posts rather than political.
Agree or not with her feminist slant (some women subscribe to the opposite view that to be feminist admits that women need positive discrimination) I do not think it warrants an onslaught of obviously spiteful comments on unrelated matters. But to each their own.
[Daphne – Dave, Ira Losco is the antithesis of feminism.]
Disagree completely. Everyone has a right to comment on political matters, whether you are a policitician, singer or bin man. You are no doubt going to raise the fact that you are not contesting her rights but her capability, but that is a moot point, as everyone can comment, regardless of whether you deem them to be capable or not.
As you have illustrated, you can sing if you wish, but not everyone has to like it or agree with your tune. Just because someone sings from a different songsheet does not give you the right to seperate rights to free speech with intelligence when you want to, as if one needs the other (which it clearly does not).
is it only you Daphne who has the right to comment on politics and political issues?
[Daphne – It is this kind of reasoning that regularly leads to Malta finding itself up sh*t creek without a paddle. There are too many people who are irrational, illogical and not particularly bright.]
Daphne, singers are individuals as free as you almost are to express their opinions about things.. and I am free to say this : the reason for you not to hold either a mike or stand too much in front of a mirror are far more risky than a singer putting a post about whatever she likes
[Daphne – The reason I write about politics (and am paid by a newspaper to do so) is not because I am free to do so (though that is the starting-point) but because I know my subject. Don’t confuse issues. I do not, for example, write about the Maltese music scene because I know nothing about it. As for the rest, if you are a friend of Miss Losco, as you probably are, please point her in the direction of Miss Mary Spiteri. She, too, was once a femme fatale known for her beauty and magnetic attraction (rather more than Miss Losco, as I recall). Strange as it may seem when you are in your early 30s, all of that disappears and now Miss Spiteri is just another elderly woman with short dyed hair, a squarish torso and big arms – which is why it is so important for even the prettiest women to develop their intellect.]
While you may be applauding the President in a few day’s time you may do well to reflect on the fact that Marie Loiuse Coleiro Preca has been fighting tooth and nail the Prime Minister’s decision to kick her out from her office.
If you were to ask her why ever did the Prime Minister decide to put her on the shelf she would surely tell you that the latter is hell bent on nipping each and every dissenting bud which may tend to grow around his feet.
your argument does not make any sense.
the fact that you do not sing because you can’t has nothing to do with the fact that Ira shouldn’t comment because she is not a political expert. you are comparing having an actual skill/talent with freedom of expression. silly silly argument.
[Daphne – No, I am comparing one skill directly with another: singing to political commentary. And the freedom to sing falls within freedom of expression, which means a direct comparison between my freedom to sing (and my common sense in not doing so) and Miss Losco’s freedom to make political statements (and her lack of common sense in doing so).]
so people who are not experts in football should not express there opinion if they like a particular footballer? what politics makes politics so special? its just a subject of our every day lives just as everything else is.
[Daphne – Your statement betrays much of what is wrong with people in this country: no, politics is not just another subject and it cannot be equated to football. Politics shaped our lives, our destiny and that of the country in which we live. Football does not. Supporting a political party is most definitely not like supporting a football team.]
on another note, singers should stick to singing? if she said something in favour of PN im sure you wouldn’t have had a problem with her comment.
[Daphne – My beef is not with her speaking in favour of Labour, but with her speaking unthinkingly and without information. I would have no problem at all if she made a sensible and informed comment in favour of the Labour Party and I would have exactly the same problem with her speaking in an uninformed manner in favour of the Nationalist Party. Shallow stupidity does nobody any favours.]
My God, what confusion.
Let me explain in very simple terms.
Daphne is only trying to tell you that: in Malta and with the very limited resources singers have, it is better to concentrate on the talents you excel in than in other fields you have no specialisation in. She’s actually making sense.
Is it “Do Not Use Punctuation Day” today?
Marie Louise Coleiro was secretary-general of the Labour Party when we police officers used to be transferred and “disciplined” for doing our duty, when they used to persecute our families to coerce us into not doing our duty.
She was Labour Party secretary-general when vindictive and politically motivated transfers were meted out, when people were framed in court and during disciplinary proceedings before the Public Service Commission.
How could such a person ever represent an image of a fair, impartial, unbiased head of state? How could she who has filled her Ministry office with family and friends ever be thought a fair-dealing person?