Mrs Muscat took her primary-school-age daughter to Felix Busuttil’s highly sexualised DIVAS tonight. And it’s a school-night, too.

Published: March 31, 2014 at 10:14pm

DIVAS

Mrs Muscat had to go to Felix Busuttil’s celebration of his YADA dance company, DIVAS.

After all, he’s now part of the Taghna Lkoll crowd, and was one of the first to be called to the Auberge de Castille in the triumphal aftermath of Labour’s victory last year, with other Taghna Lkoll gay men (ghax hawn Malta anke l-gays chauvinisti, u l-lesbians ma jezistux) like Kitten from Malta.

He wore his best flowered shirt.

I didn’t go to DIVAS. I can’t stand prancing queens of both genders belting out numbers that were done so much better by the real stars. Why on earth would I want to pay to sit in a crowded hall and listen to Mary Spiteri, taking a break from smarming up to a prime minister young enough to be her son on a pile of rocks at Birgu with her tiresome Tema 79, singing something Diana Ross did better?

What an exercise in vanity.

Some people liked it, but most people I spoke to said it was overlong and worse, highly sexualised, with lots of suggestive behaviour, petting and patting.

Well, what do you expect. These people have come out of their villages and discovered sex, and now they want to tell us all about it. They’re going through their ’60s moment, 50 years after the event.

And if you say anything, they say you’re not liberal, when the real problem is that they’re stuck in the past, in the wife-swapping era.

But please don’t tell them about that, because they might not have discovered it yet.

In any case, what exactly was Mrs Muscat doing there with one of her daughters? Couldn’t she have gone with a friend or something? A big show at the theatre at night, with or without sexy prancing, on a school-night or not, is not the place for a child of six or seven.

The fact that it’s a school night and the show was sexualised only serves to make it worse.

And now that I have decided to use the word: only hamalli take their small children out at night and foist them on others in situations where it is not their place to be. Everyone else leaves their small children at home in bed with a babysitter. That’s the civilised way, and it’s better for both the children and for the adults who are not related to them and don’t feel like seeing them around in an adult context.




27 Comments Comment

  1. Makjavel says:

    Pity the children, being dragged into places and surroundings decent parents should avoid.

    Looks like Joseph was not there, too busy not wasting time with Simon. Must have been baby-sitting with the other one – because that’s what backward men like him call looking after their own children.

  2. Marie says:

    Dear Daphne

    The dancing as usual was good but the show was truly overdone in terms of sexual explicitness.

    It attempted to convey certain messages but in their eagerness the organisers didn’t realise that too much of the same overpowering message actually cheapens the cause.

    Pity as I’m sure that highly talented dancers put in much effort.

    So far I never had second thoughts about going to one of these shows as the standard has always been high. After this particular performance I’m not so sure and it’s not only because of the open association with the Taghna Lkoll brigade but because of the fact that the gay message overpowered the performance.

    I noticed that contrary to previous shows which often got something like a standing ovation, this time round people were walking out during the finale.

  3. ken il malti says:

    But gays are the new black.

    If you don’t go to the show and rave about it after on Facebook then you are homophobic and should be ostracized by the avant garde and the homosexual Inquisition.

    • albona says:

      Look out for the new term ‘homophopia denier’. You can bet your bottom dollar they’ll soon use it.

  4. dutchie says:

    A show of this kind should have a minimum entrance age. You know, for idiots who don’t have a clue.

    • tinna says:

      In my town of residence, parents wishing to attend performances where children are not welcome are subtly informed that “childcare facilities will be available throughout the show”.

  5. H.P. Baxxter says:

    It’s a damn shame they never did Scooter.

  6. bob-a-job says:

    I say we close this day of celebration with a song from the cookie monster and ‘Il-Kukkies taghna ukoll’ Journalists Choir.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Px8HnxEks&feature=youtu.be

  7. H.P. Baxxter says:

    Start ’em young, eh?

  8. ciccio says:

    How could they have Ira Losco and Mary Spiteri under one roof?

    Did they bring the house down?

  9. Cikku says:

    Fil-bidu tat-tmeninijiet kienet bdiet il-moda li t-tfal ma jiġux mistiedna għat-tiġijiet għaliex kienet bdiet moda oħra, li t-tfal ikollhom il-parties tagħhom fil-preċett u meta jagħmlu l-Ġriżma tal-Isqof.

    U nemmen li kienet ħaġa tajba.

    U b’hekk lit-tfal konna nħalluhom man-nanniet jew ma xi familjari oħra.

    U din indrat u indrat sew anzi żżejjed l-aktar fejn jidħlu l-parties tat-tfal. Imma mhix din l-issue… Ilum 44 sena wara se nerġgħu nibdew nieħdu t-tfal magħna f’attivitajiet li mhux posthom? Ara veru sejrin lura.

    • clarissa says:

      Cikku, naqbel hafna mieghek imma is-sistema li t-tfal ma jmorrux kullimkien ghadha tezisti, imma mbaghad issib minn kollox.

      Sfortunatament jezistu nies bhal Mrs Muscat li jkaxkru lit-tfal kullimkien.

  10. Felix says:

    I love this: “They’re going through their ’60s moment, 50 years after the event”.

  11. Freedom5 says:

    I will not comment about Felix Busutill’s political views . Whatever they are , he has a right to it , and has his reasons for it .
    Felix has over the past 30 years , through hard work and determination , pursued a career in dance , set up his own college of dance , with shows not only in Malta , but also internationally. He has taken significant risks in venturing overseas
    I don’t think it is fair comment to criticise something you haven’t watched .
    Moreover this year’s show included about a dozen foreign dancers adding to the very high level .
    Marie’s silly comment about people out during the finale . This always happens at MFCC events , because many try to beat the traffic getting out of Ta Qali as it has rather limited road access. Nothing to do with the sexuality of the show .
    Kenn il Malti’s comment is beyond ridiculous. Veru miskien.

    • The Phoenix says:

      Well, I have watched it, and it was mostly crap. It was a paen to every camp gay male cliche I can imagine. In some parts its was disgustingly so, as though this is the only gay aesthetic: male and very camp.

      It also seemed that the show was government-sponsored, because the amount of people there with free tickets was over the top.

      The ones around me were not very complementary. When two men danced together, erotically and with glistening bodies, it dawned on them that the show was overtly gay. Out came the comments: “Mela show tal-pufti dan?”

    • Calculator says:

      Felix Busuttil’s professionalism and hard work are, however, never questioned – although, to be honest, having a dozen foreign dancers and venturing overseas does not necessarily amount to a professional standard.

      Whatever one’s reactions to the performance can be, you can hardly expect them to be the same, irrespective of the sexuality of the show, implied or otherwise.

      If someone didn’t like what they saw, of course they’re going to assume that the lack of ovation at the end was a bad sign (though the claim that ‘this always happens at MFCC events’ is not, going by my experience at least, entirely accurate.

      The fact remains, though, that the show is not child-friendly, and that is the crux of the matter brought out by Mrs Caruana Galizia.

      To have Michelle Muscat bring her very young daughter along (on a school night) therefore reflects her irresponsibility, not necessarily Mr Busuttil’s show itself.

  12. Joe Fenech says:

    I would love to see Chiara impersonating Beyonce’ (I know, it sounds like a fetish).

  13. Disconcerted says:

    One of my friends had seen a ‘similar’ show in Sweden and she swore it was one of the best nights, where the audience dances and enjoys the music along with the performers.

    Apparently ‘audience participation’ was also one of the pull-factors for DIVAS, so she organised some tickets. As she is foreign I warned her not to expect the same fun factor she experienced in Sweden. She dismissed my warning as a kill joy and off we went.

    Maltese shows have improved, so have the hair and costumes of performers; however Maltese audiences have remained defiantly stuck in the 1970s, sitting stiffly and awkwardly, watching a show which should be encouraging movement and fun.

    This odd stiffness is completely abnormal and unique to our nation, apart from perhaps North Korea and China.

    It reminded me of the time in 1980-something when Tina Turner stormed off the stage on the Granaries – she was absolutely livid – because she couldn’t deal with performing the a stiff herd of Maltese sheep.

    Anyway, my foreign friend left the show feeling disturbed and disappointed. Needless to say, never again.

  14. Grace says:

    I remember a few years ago she brought both to the Joseph Calleja concert and sat right at the front, only to have to take them to do wee wee every five minutes. What did she expect from toddlers?

    No respect for the people sitting near her or the performers who had to see their bobbing heads going in and out.

    Once a hamalla always a hamalla.

  15. Lorraine says:

    I attended the performance last night. I consider myself as rather open-minded but I was irritated by it all and wondered whether I should have spent my money elsewhere.

    As my daughter aptly put it, Mrs Muscat most probably brought her daughter along because we were supposed to be attending a dance show and not something ‘sexual’.

    Dance is dance, and though the show was called Divas, there was only one Diva, and no, that wasn’t Mrs Muscat.

  16. SPAM! says:

    The title sounds just right.

    That’s how most Maltese people perceive themselves but in reality they are a bunch of chavs.

  17. poplu_maqsum says:

    Xtaqt nistaqsi ghand min mar il-qliegh min dan ix-show peress li kien organizzat mil kumitat tal gvern? jidher li l-ghoxrin sena anniversarju tal-Yada huwa akbar mil-50 anniversarju ta’ Malta Indipendenti ghal gvern prezenti. Mur ghid lil Amerikani jkolhom anniversarju bhal ma hu taghna tal indipendenza u ma jaghmlux sena celebrazzjonijiet. Gvern li qed jaghmel min kollox biex ixejnu ma anniversarji ohra.

  18. Mariella says:

    To be completely honest I think the show should have been for those aged 18+. I didn’t like it; it was too much.

    Felix Busuttil wanted to send so many messages, like hello, we do read the news.

    I wouldn’t recommend it.

  19. Kemm int injoranta! says:

    I took part in DIVAS and you should be utterly ashamed of yourself to be so judgmental over a show you didn’t even come and watch! We worked so hard for this and have put in a great deal of sacrifice in it and for you to come and talk such bullshit about the show is utterly disghusting :) You can’t go lower than this ja injoranta!

    • Kemm int injoranta! says:

      Besides, it’s very stupid of you to judge successsful people like Felix Busuttil and Mary Spiteri when you have done nothing but show how immature and shallow you are! You’re hated by 90% of Malta if not more and you keep giving us reasons to do so even more. Grow up hanini :)

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