Ira to support Elton John

Ira Losco will be supporting British pop legend Elton John in Bielefeld, Germany, on Sunday, marking a milestone in her international music career.

Ira and her band will be the only supporting act to the music icon renowned for classics such as Candle in the Wind, Your Song and his frequently publicised tantrums.

The event in Bielefeld will be Sir Elton's only stadium concert in Germany this year, giving Ira a great platform to perform songs from her upcoming album as well as from her first CD Someone Else.

Ira is slowly but surely climbing the ladder of international success, having just performed in Germany as the main supporting act to Ronan Keating, who has sold over 17 million albums worldwide, and German rock star Nena.

In between these stints, Ira has been tirelessly working every day on her new album, scheduled for release towards the end of October.

Her new album is set to surpass her highly successful album Someone Else which was released in April last year.

"We never thought that we could improve Someone Else and we are really excited with the way the second album is taking shape," Ira said.

Her management company, Bridge Productions, set up collaboration deals with some of the world's greatest songwriters that resulted in some inspiring co- writing sessions.

"I need to be a big part of the song-writing process, especially when it comes to lyrics. This helps me to interpret the songs with a deeper, more sincere feeling," she added.

Howard Keith, of Bridge Productions, said that the development of Ira's singing and the quality of the songs had shown a great improvement.

"She has come a long way from last year and all the hard work seems to have paid off," he said.

Ira is now gearing up for her supporting act for Elton John. She has had ample time to warm up her vocal chords having just completed her Day by Day tour in Germany that kicked off on June 10 at the Rhein-land Pfalz Tage open-air festival.

Performing live with her band Ira belted out 11 songs to an audience of 5,000. Although a relative newcomer, Ira's songs were well received and she had the crowd rocking within minutes.

She went on to perform at the Havelfest in Bran-denburg where other artists such as Fragma, Julie Thomson, Kate Hall and Nova Space also performed. When she supported Ronan Keating in Papenburg, Ira had 20,000 fans clapping and dancing to the rhythm of her songs.

Ira and her band went on to perform at another two festivals in Kiel and Zietz with Christina Sturmer, who is one of Germany's chart toppers, before returning home for a short break.

"We are very happy at the way things are turning out for Ira. Wherever she performs she is winning over fans. It is a long hard road, but a satisfying and successful one," said Paul Zammit Cutajar of Bridge Productions.

For local fans who want to see Malta's fastest growing export perform live, Ira will be performing at the Farsons Beer Festival in Ta' Qali on July 30.

For more information on Ira's events and activities check out her official Website: www.iralosco.com.