Her first participation in the Song for Europe Festival was actually at age 14 as backing vocalist. A year later she was also backing vocalist for William Mangion’s winning ‘This time’. She just missed participating in the Eurovision Song Contest of that year because of her young age. In the mean time Olivia started focusing on various musical styles. Her preferred styles are R&B and soul. She likes listening to singers such as Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and a host of other performers who have made their name in the black music scene. After a few years, Olivia was encouraged to start training for jazz singing. This took most of her time, but results were soon to be forthcoming. In fact Olivia was the first Maltese singer to perform in the renowned Malta Jazz Festival together with the Paul Giordmaina Jazz Quarter. Her performance was memorable. Olivia has participated as lead singer in the Song for Europe Festival since she was 16 years old. In the process she has collaborated with the best composers on the island such as Paul Abela, Dominic Galea, Paul Giordmaina, Philip Vella and Ray Agius amongst a host of others. Her most memorable performances came in these last two participations. During last year’s festival she performed ‘Take a look’ which was written by Paul Giordmaina and Fleur Balzan. During this festival she was classified first by the jury and second in the televoting, just missing the top spot by a few points. ‘Déjà vu’, written by the winning duo Philip Vella and Gerard James Borg got 11,369 votes, coming second and missing the top spot by 500 votes. Olivia has also participated successfully in a host of foreign festivals. She has sung in the UK, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Serbia and Montenegro, Kazakstan and a host of others. She placed first in the Lithuanian and Bulgarian festivals and second in the Kazakstan festival. 2005 marked the release of Olivia’s first cd-single which contains Déjà vu and also a remix of this song made by DJ Armani. She is currently working on her first CD-Album due out early next year. Olivia is also a leading singer in the entertainment industry and her schedule is often packed with singing at events, hotels, concerts and other activities. She also participates in a daily television show called ‘Kalamita’ which attracts the highest viewership in the afternoon broadcasts on the island. |
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