Oh, the fraudulent hypocrisy: 1 May 2014, fireworks over Grand Harbour and a party at the Barakka; 1 May 2007, booing Toto Cutugno for saying he’s glad Malta joined the EU
Toto Cutugno – he was invited to sing at the Labour Party’s mass meeting on May Day seven years ago, and was booed for saying that he’s glad Malta joined the European Union
Here’s the report from The Malta Independent, dated 3 May 2007:
TOTO CUTUGNO BOOED BY SMALL PART OF CONCERT CROWD
A number of people attending the concert organised by the Malta Labour Party on Tuesday evening in Freedom Square started protesting when Italian singer Toto Cutugno announced he was going to sing the song he wrote for the EU, Insieme: 1992.
The protesting members of the audience are thought to have been re-living Malta’s pre-accession days when the Labour Party was campaigning strongly against EU membership.
Organiser Norman Hamilton yesterday told The Malta Independent that the singer, towards the end of his performance, decided to sing the song Insieme: 1992.
Cutugno won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1990, held in Zagreb in Croatia, with the song, which speaks about the EU member states. The title of the song refers to the Maastricht Treaty, under which the European Community became known as the European Union in 1992.
Before he started singing, Cutugno said he wanted to dedicate the song to the Maltese because 1 May was also the third anniversary since Malta joined the EU, said Mr Hamilton.
Furthermore, he added, Cutugno told his audience that he was very happy that Malta had joined the EU. That was when a “small part of the crowd” started booing.
Cutugno turned perplexed to Mr Hamilton and asked him in Italian, live on mike, if he had done something wrong. (Ho fatto una c******? he asked.)
“At that point I stepped out on stage and explained to Toto that I would speak to the public in Maltese. I explained to them that this was one of his biggest successes, with which Toto Cutugno won the 1990 Eurovision song contest,” said Mr Hamilton.
“As soon as Toto started singing, everything was all right and everyone started joining in. There were no more problems after that and it was really a very small incident,” he explained.
Furthermore, he added, during the rehearsals Toto Cutugno was enjoying himself so much that he asked whether he could extend his performance, which was meant to be half an hour, to just over an hour.
Toto Cutugno’s concert was part of the activities organised by the Malta Labour Party to celebrate Worker’s Day.
11 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2007-05-03/news/toto-cutugno-booed-by-small-part-of-concert-crowd-172821/
Where was Joseph Muscat booing with the crowd when that happened?
Iva niftakruha sew din il-patażata tal-marmalja Laburista. Mur għidlu lil Toto’ Cutugno lil dawk l-istess nies issa qed jiffesteġġaw is-sħubija ta’ Malta.
U agħar u agħar li Dr. Alfred Sant dalwaqt ikun qed isaħħan is-siġġu tal-‘Ewropa’ bil-voti ta’ dawk li bbuwjawlu.
Alfred Sant comes clean.
http://maltarightnow.com/news/2014/05/04/alfred-sant-jghid-li-jinsab-imnikket-bis-shubija-ta-malta-fl-unjoni-ewropea/
“id-deċiżjoni li Malta ssir membru tal-Unjoni Ewropea kienet konferma ta’ kif dal-kurrent baqa’ maġġoritarju f’pajjiżna. Ħaġa bħal din lili tnikkitni għax minn dejjem emmint li Malta setgħet u messha, tkun indipendenti tassew”.
He then goes on to justify refusing the result of the referendum. What he doesn’t mention is that the decision not to do so had been taken at party level, the general conference dictating that the only decisive vote would have been the general election, and he also doesn’t say how they came out that Sunday afternoon saying Partnership had won.
I sincerely hope the PN gets another seat, having just two seats, he’ll monopolise and disintegrate what’s left of Muscat’s support in the PES. Wishful thinking I know.
How on Earth will Sant ever coalesce his views with that of the European Socialists, who can be accused of everything except Euroscepticism? His is a fundamental stand, closer to Nigel Farage, the Lega and all other groups within that sphere.
And how will Muscat handle his dark horse within the group? One wonders whether that other outfit, Alleanza Bidla, has brought about this scramble for the Eurosceptic vote.
I have no idea how the PN hasn’t yet read what’s going onin Labour, why they haven’t addressed those 8,000 who have been accused, in Maltese obviously, of stealing jobs from the Maltese. The agenda is theirs, there’s nothing incoherent in it, either we’re for the EU, or we’re a gut reaction chasing after their core vote. An impossibility if I may.
We do forget certain things – thanks for reminding us every time, Daphne.
This afternoon I turned the TV on and started to watch Madwarna on TVM ONE, it was about Malta’s accession in the EU.
Jimmy Magro said “Il-Labour Party qatt ma kien kontra l-Unjoni Ewropeja.” “The Labour Party was never against the European Union”.
I went out for a walk to calm down.
Ten years from now Magro will be telling us that the Labour Party helped the PN government so that Malta would get the best deal for EU membership.
The name of that programme is not Madwarna. The programme you watched is a programme produced by the Fundazzjoni Celebrazzjonijiet Nazzjonali and it has a different name – I think it is a special series of programmes to commemorate the 10th anniversary since Malta joined the EU. If you ask me, it is an exercise in re-writing history the Labour way.
I couldn’t be fagged to look up the real name of the programme. I just looked at the TVM ONE schedule and it was Madwarna.
But you are right.
The Labour roots are still unable to comprehend that the Labour Party has now become the champion of everything EU. Only a few years ago, Labour (Super one TV), was constantly brainwashing its grass roots that the EU was the devil incarnate.
“id-deċiżjoni li Malta ssir membru tal-Unjoni Ewropea kienet konferma ta’ kif dal-kurrent baqa’ maġġoritarju f’pajjiżna. Ħaġa bħal din lili tnikkitni għax minn dejjem emmint li Malta setgħet u messha, tkun indipendenti tassew”. Alfred Sant did not want Malta to be “tassew indipendenti”; he wanted his OWN, private, little republic without any foreign interference (reminiscence of his absurd colonial mentality). He wanted to govern this republic the way he saw fit, not the way democracy dictated. That’s why Malta being in the EU saddens him; no principle involved. Just the fact that he lost his battle and he did not get his own way. Now he is the Great Pretender for a EP seat and who knows what “image” of Malta he is going to present there.
Nies injoranti