Monday, 8th February 2010 - 14:27CET

Police drop request for names of bands

The police in a statement today said they had not asked to see the lyrics of songs entered for a Carnival activity in Nadur this weekend.

In a statement in reaction to a story in The Sunday Times, the police said they had, through the Mayor of Nadur, asked to see the names of the bands and the titles of the songs so that they could assess the size of the crowd they could expect.

The police said that after reconsidering their decision, they had decided not to insist on its request for the names.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Friday, September 3, 2010. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

R. Gatt(on 10/2/10)

Rather than monitoring the bands and their lyrics, the police should better supervise and prohibit the behaviour of numerous youths who go to Nadur to make of it a public convenience throughout the main streets and against the facades of the residences!!

S.Debono(on 10/2/10)

Lol :)) This is Hillarious!!! Did they ask Lady GaGa for the lyrics before the MTV concert last year?? She used bad language....Ohhh but you knew she would pull a crowd of over 15.000 people so u didnt need to ask!! Just let people enjoy Carnival....Maybe make sure enough police will be about in case of any bad language in some songs!!! Forget the rest of the crimes..... lol

Peter Korsten(on 9/2/10)

"...asked to see the names of the bands and the titles of the songs so that they could assess the size of the crowd they could expect."

That makes perfect sense. Madonna performing "Like a prayer" - oops, I mean, "Ray of light" will draw a larger crowd than "Die frölichen Jodelburschen" playing "Bei uns in Tirol".

Surely, they wanted to be sure that it wasn't Madonna that would be featured at that concert.

robert ciantar(on 9/2/10)

. . . . I always thought that Einstein was missing something . . . . and there it is . . his theory of relativity is somewhat lacking now since this new phenomena developed.
In relation, just as the gravitational pull excerts forces on everything around us,... so do song titles draw (pull) the crowds. ..... incredible!!!!!! - ta say the least -

Joseph Calleja(on 8/2/10)

The right thing to do was for the Mayor of Nadur and the police to make a public statement and admit they jumped the gun, but that's beyond their dignity. The excuse they gave is a very lame one and then they come up with the theory of estimating crowds from lyrics of songs, pretty dumb. I think the mayor and the local businesses realized the monetary loss to Nadur and as they say, no money, no honey. Bla flus la tannaq u inqas tbus. So everybody, go to Nadur, have a good time and behave yourselves. As for the Mayor and the police...oops.

Lino DeBono(on 8/2/10)

Sir, In years past, Carnival festivities were held in Victoria. What takes place in Nadur now is a replica of Victoria's past. What killed the festivities in Victoria were actually the order for the police to intervene and unmask participants who used to wear white sheets covering their face. The majority of these were women who wanted to participate and not be recognize. Slowly the police interference killed the Victoria's Carnival. Hope this won't be repeated in Nadur. Let the people feel free and if anything is committed illegally, then it is when the Police automatically should and have the duty to interferer. Lino DeBono Xewkija.

A Attard(on 8/2/10)

It does not take a genius to figure out who put them up to it in the first place! See any connection between this and the "sacred garments" incident?? And their excuse is so transparent! They want to pee on people and tell them it's raining! There is a much better way for police to spend their precious time, such as LOOKING OUT FOR POSSIBLE ARMED ROBBERS!!!!!

frank grech(on 8/2/10)

I thought I had seen all the Police Academy movies until this case cropped up!

Alfred Bugeja(on 8/2/10)

Looks like the Nadur Mayor was the one who messed up in yesterday's story.

To me, this looks like the police treating the Nadur carnival just like they treat village festas, particularly those were there are rival band clubs. Some of custom songs that are commissioned by many band clubs are simply meant to offend members of other clubs with name calling and other colourful diction! I've seen a few empty bottles fly because of such recordings in Kirkop last year during the fireworks display.

So I don't see anything wrong in the police trying to prevent such incidents from taking place in Nadur.

Jake Cassar(on 8/2/10)

Finally some sense!

Any form of oppression must be stopped.

This should definately be one of the songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkuOAY-S6OY

g.portelli(on 8/2/10)

Well it is all about absurdity and the suspension of disbelief after all isn't it ? Divining crowd magnitude from song titles well that's modern policing for you !! LOL !!!
Carnival come early at Police headquarters?

David Stephen Ganado(on 8/2/10)

The Police should employ professional PR personnell. they just cannot get it right and keep allowing people to take the mickey out of them! They need to be proactive in sending out the right message first time round.

Gregory Ellul(on 8/2/10)

If the Bishop of Gozo linked divorce with Abortion (according to research not cited)I would not put it past the Police in Gozo to link the song lyrics with the size of the crowd!! However I do believe in one particular correlation. The smaller the size of our islands the greater the stupidity of official statements issued.

M.Caruana(on 8/2/10)

Dear Police Force & Nadur Coucil,

I am submitting my song for your pursual. Please, consider favourably.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi53buOqcFI

Thank you in advance
God Bless

Franco Farrugia(on 8/2/10)

Well done to the Police authorities for seeing sense.
If only we could ALL of us take things in a manne that truly befits a democratic, civilised nation that we aspire to be - and take everything moderately and with a hint of humour, so rare and difficult in our country.

A Coppini(on 8/2/10)

So typical.

Rather than admit they were acting beyond their call of duty and apologizing for trying to instil fear in the bands who will be performing to entertain the crowds, they blame the media for 'misinterpreting' them and make up an excuse.

"Assess the size of the crowd"? Tell me, how can one assess the size of a crowd based on which songs will be played.. especially since the crowd usually doesn't know which bands will be performing, let alone which SONGS will be played.

Keep at it though, it reaffirms the choice made by all those who bid the country farewell for good.

David Borg(on 8/2/10)

Why not simply admit the police made a wrong, dictarotial judgment?

M.Farrugia(on 8/2/10)

HAHAHAHAH
Police Commissoner RESIGN

I never heard of such an idiotic excuse in my life. Names of songs predict crowd numbers!!!! This is gross indeed.

You wanted to act like the Taliban - period!

F.Abdilla(on 8/2/10)

1984 indeed!
Doublespeak!

G Vella(on 8/2/10)

Ah, we are throughly living in the land of Doublespeak! According to yesterday's Sunday Times - quote - "A police inspector involved in the event's organisation confirmed that the police were attempting to stamp out "offensive" or "vulgar" language, so unless the songs were well-known they wanted to vet the lyrics.

"If it's Stairway to Heaven we don't need the lyrics because we all know the song. But what we want to avoid is language that could make people upset or start a fight," he said. - unquote.

Could it be that the plods have realised that they really put their foot in it and are now trying to say that this was all a figment of some journalist's mind?

I hardly think so.

John Micallef(on 8/2/10)

ta lanqas irealizaw li kienu qed jghamlu.....

darbohra ahsbuha qabel pls thank you.

victor pulis(on 8/2/10)

Nice excuse... err sorry explanation!!!
(The police) asked to see the names of the bands and the titles of the songs so that they could assess the size of the crowd they could expect!!!
Excuse me while I roll on the ground with laughter!!

GF Cortini(on 8/2/10)

Are they clairvoyants? Why else would knowing song titles help predict the expected turnout at an event?

Police drop request for names of bands

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