Kevin James Borg [1] (born 9 June 1986 in Floriana, Malta) is a Maltese pop singer who lives and works in Sweden. Borg rose to musical fame as the winner of the fifth series of the Swedish singing competition Idol in 2008. He was the third male winner and the first in the show's history to be born outside of Sweden, having moved there exactly one year before he was declared winner. Early life
Borg was born and raised in Floriana, Malta. He discovered his love for singing as a child when he performed the lead role in the school musical "Oliver Twist". His collaboration with composer Jason Cassar has led him to participate twice in both the Maltese selection for Eurovision Song Contest [2] and the Malta International TV Song Festival [3] in 2006 and 2007. He was a resident singer in the television programme Kalamita (2006–2007). Borg has also performed songs with noted Maltese singers Claudia Faniello and Olivia Lewis.
He was also a rather talented footballer, playing for Floriana FC. Borg's grandfather, Lolly De Battista, was the first Maltese footballer to win the prestigious Footballer of the Year Award.
Idol 2008
Kevin Borg on the Idol tour
In December 2007 Borg moved to Arvidsjaur in the north of Sweden to live with his Swedish girlfriend. During the fall 2008 he auditioned for the fifth season of the Swedish singing contest Idol. Although he made it through to the final 12 live finals, Borg was not originally among the competition's front-runners. However, his strong performances caused a rapid growth in his popularity with viewers week by week. After making it to the final 2 and performing at Stockholm's Globen Arena before a live audience of 16,000 people, Borg was declared the fifth Swedish Idol on December 12, 2008, defeating Alice Svensson with 60% of the votes. Throughout the live finals, Borg had never fallen into the bottom three contestants.
TV4 received some criticism for including Borg, as he was already an established singer on Malta before his participation in Swedish Idol.
Idol Performances Top 11 Idol 5 years celebration: "Natalie" by Ola Svensson Top 10 '90s: "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" by Heart Top 9 ABBA: "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Top 8 Schlager: "Lyssna till ditt hjärta" by Friends Top 7 Rock: Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi Top 6 Soul & Duets: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" by Stevie Wonder Top 6 Soul & Duets: "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes Top 5 Love: "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Ronan Keating Top 5 Love: "In the Shadows" by The Rasmus Top 4 Gospel: "Higher and Higher" by Jackie Wilson Top 4 Gospel: "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson Top 3 Judge's Choice: "Livin' la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin Top 3 Judge's Choice: "Hot In Here" by Nelly Top 2 Grand Finale: "You're the Voice" by John Farnham Top 2 Grand Finale: "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi Top 2 Grand Finale: "With Every Bit of Me" by Kevin Borg - Declared 5th Swedish Idol
2008: Debut single
After having won the Swedish Idol 2008 Borg signed a recording contract with Sony BMG. Borg's coronation song With Every Bit of Me was released one week after he had won the contest. The song was a hit in Sweden, where it debuted at no. 1 and stayed on top of the charts for two consecutive weeks.
2009: First album: The Beginning
On March 4, 2009, Borg officially released his album The Beginning in Sweden. It has so far not been listed on the charts in Sweden and has not been reviewed by any critics yet. Borg also released his second single off of the album, entitled Street Lights. So far, the single has reached a peak of no. 10 in Sweden.
The album was originally slated for release in February, but since Borg was at that time working on his music video for Street Lights the album was pushed back by a week.
Borg will make a nation-wide tour in the spring and summer of 2009 in Sweden, with the tour starting off in Gislaved, a smaller town in the southern county of Jönköping, Småland.
Studio AlbumsYear Information Sweden Sales and Certifications 2009 The Beginning First studio album Released: March 4, 2009 Label: Sony BMG Format: CD, digital download 3 Swedish sales: 37,000
IFPI: Gold
SinglesYear Song Sweden Certification Album 2008 "With Every Bit of Me" 1 Platinum (IFPI) The Beginning 2009 "Street Lights" 10 — "The Last Words" (Digital only) — —
Other Charted SongsYear Song Sweden [5] 2008 "Lyssna till ditt hjärta" 40 "Living on a Prayer" 9 "If Tomorrow Never Comes" 25 "In The Shadows" 37 "Higher and Higher" 29 "The Way You Make Me Feel" 44 "Hot in Here" 26 "Living La Vida Loca" 33 "You're the Voice" 52
Musical Participation In Malta
Malta International TV Song Festival 2006: Riflessi - 4th place 2007: Jasal il-Jum
Malta Song for Europe 2006: You're My Dream - 8th place 2007: Whenever - 4th place
