Eleanor Cassar

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Eleanor Cassar

| image = Eleanor Cassar in 2018.jpg

| caption = Eleanor Cassar in 2018

| background = solo_singer

| alias = Eleanor

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1982|9|29|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Luqa, Malta

| genre = Pop

| occupation = Singer

| years_active = 1992–present

}}

Eleanor Cassar (born September 29, 1982) is a Maltese pop singer. She won the 2004 Golden Stag Festival.{{cite news|title=Maltese singer wins festival in Romania|publisher=Times of Malta|date=July 26, 2004|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20040726/local/maltese-singer-wins-festival-in-romania}}

Early life and education

Eleanor Cassar was first introduced to music at age 6, as part of her school choir.{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Fernando |date=2018-02-02 |title=Malta: Eleanor Cassar “It is about a person who was suffering from psychological abuse” |url=http://www.escunited.com/malta-eleanor-cassar-it-is-about-a-person-who-was-suffering-from-psychological-abuse/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=escYOUnited |language=en-US}} She was first noticed by her teacher in Secondary school, who encouraged her at participate at musical and theatrical events. The same teacher encouraged her to take singing seriously.

Cassar has a certificate of merit from the University of London.

Career

In 2001, Cassar won the first prize at the Discovery Song Festival in Varna, Bulgaria.

In 2002, she won the first prize at The People's Song Festival.

In 2004, she won the Golden Stag Festival, the largest music festival in Europe behind Eurovision. Her win with the song "If Love You Give" also marked the first time a Maltese singer had won the event.{{Cite web |date=2004-07-26 |title=Eleanor Cassar Wins the Golden Stag Festival |url=https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2004-07-26/news/eleanor-cassar-wins-the-golden-stag-festival-67659/cookie-declaration |website=Malta Independent}} Cassar won both the first prize at the Super One festival and the prize for Best Interpretation offered by FIDOF.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In September 2005, she sang at the Astana Song Festival in Astana, Kazakhstan.{{Cite web |last=Malta |first=Times of |date=2007-06-01 |title=Singer invited to Almaty |url=https://timesofmalta.com/article/singer-invited-to-almaty.15965 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Times of Malta |language=en-gb}}

In 2006, Eleanor Cassar won the Malta International TV Song Festival with "Bniedem Iehor" by songwriters Paul Giordimaina and Fleur Balzan. {{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

She represented Malta at the Universe Song Festival 2007 in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain) where she won the first prize, again.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In 2008, Cassar competed in a song contest in Kazakhstan which celebrated the 10th anniversary of Astana, the country's capital. Her duet with Paul Giordimaina, "The Envy Of The World", won the pair the Best Song Award and the Astana City Award. The song and an accompanying video were used in tourism campaigns for Astana.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2008-07-12 |title=Maltese composer, author win awards in Kazakhstan |url=https://timesofmalta.com/article/maltese-composer-author-win-awards-in-kazakhstan.216370 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Times of Malta |language=en-gb}}

In 2010, Cassar released the album Signify. The album included a number of songs Cassar had previously performed in contests and festivals, all of which were composed by Paul Giordimaina, with lyrics by Fleur Balzan.{{Cite web |date=2010-02-21 |title=New Album by Eleanor Cassar |url=https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2010-02-21/local-news/New-Album-by-Eleanor-Cassar-270553 |website=Malta Independent}} That same year, Cassar performed "Choices" at Malta Eurosong.{{Cite web |last=Ian |date=2010-02-15 |title=Eleanor Cassar speaks to EuroVisionary about the Malta Eurosong 2010 |url=https://eurovisionary.com/eurovision-news/eleanor-cassar-speaks-eurovisionary-about-malta-eurosong-2010 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=EuroVisionary |language=en-GB}}

In 2018, Cassar sang in a musical Passion play in Valletta, produced by the Valletta 2018 Foundation.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2018-03-24 |title=Embracing the Way of the Cross |url=https://timesofmalta.com/article/embracing-the-way-of-the-cross.674280 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Times of Malta |language=en-gb}}

= Influences =

Cassar enjoys soul, funk, and rock music, and has cited Celine Dion as a musical influence.

Maltese Eurovision Selection

Cassar has competed in the Song for Europe Festival, Malta's Eurovision Selection contest, nine times between 2003 and 2018. In 2003, she participated for the first time with the songs "Someday You'll See" and "Tell Me Why".{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Cassar's highest placement in the Maltese Eurovision Selection was second place in 2009, with the song "Someday"; she finished only three points behind the winner.{{Cite web |date=2018-01-06 |title=Eleanor Cassar: “I really missed the atmosphere of MESC” |url=https://escbubble.com/2018/01/eleanor-cassar-really-missed-atmosphere-mesc/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=ESCBubble |language=en-GB}}

class="sortable wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"

|+ style="font-size: bigger;" | Entries in the Maltese Eurovision Selection

bgcolor="#CCCCCC"

! Year

! Song

! Composers

! Placement

!Ref

2003

| "Someday you will see"

|Mark Debono, Doris Chetcuti

| 7th

2003

| "Tell me why"

|Eugenio Schembri, Doris Chetcuti

| 9th

2004

| "Through all my life"

|Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan

| 7th

|{{Cite web |title=Malta Song for Europe 2004: Eleanor Cassar - "Through All My Life" |url=https://eurovisionworld.com/national/malta/malta-song-for-europe-2004/eleanor-cassar-through-all-my-life |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Eurovisionworld |language=en-gb}}

2005

|"He"

|Ralph Siegel, John O'Flynn

|10th

2006

| "Tell Me"

|Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan

| 11th

2008

| "Give me a chance"

|Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan

| 4th

|{{Cite web |date=2008-01-10 |title=Familiar faces in Maltese national selection |url=https://eurovision.tv/story/familiar-faces-in-maltese-national-selection |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=eurovision.tv |language=en}}

2009

| "Someday"

|Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan

| 2nd

2009

| "This is our life"

|Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan

| Unplaced

2011

| "Hypnotized"

|Paul Giordimaina, Fleur Balzan

| 10th