Headlining Sunday’s main event ‘X Factor Meets Britain’s Got Talent’ is none other than X Factor 2009 Finalist and all round favourite Olly Murs. In a massive coup that indicates the growing kudos of the Manx festival, the charismatic performer will take time out of his hectic post-X Factor schedule to perform mainstage in what promises to be one of Sunday’s highlights.

Olly first grabbed the nation’s attention with his high energy performance of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition, combining original dance moves with a natural vocal ability. Known for his passion and versatility, Olly’s sheer showmanship impressed the judges time after time, earning him comparisons with industry favourite Robbie Williams – who he later went on to perform with.

Before X Factor the 25 year old from Withham, Essex worked in customer sales while dreaming of fame. Despite his ambitions Olly understood the hard work involved, and his down to earth attitude and tenacity saw him bounce back from difficulties including a fractured hand while remaining a modest, good humoured contestant throughout.

Olly has recently been performing on the show’s live arena tour and has also signed a joint record deal with Simon Cowell’s label Syco Music and Epic Records in what is said to be an industry first. With a timeless quality that makes him equally at ease putting his own spin on classics or contemporary music, Olly is a natural born performer of great style who always gives 110%.

If you’re thinking that Sunday’s looking like one party not to be missed, Saturday’s line up just got a little more sizzling. Notching up the tempo will be talented North London musician and hip-pop artist DJ Ironik. Blending a variety of genres from R&B, Grime, Pop and Hip Hop, the 22 year olds’ star is rapidly ascending with recent accolades including two nominations for Best Newcomer of 2008 at the prestigious MOBO Awards and the Urban Music Awards. He was also voted by viewers of MTV UK as third favourite artist of 2008.

Born James Christian Charters in Camden Town, by the age of 13 he was working the London scene, building a reputation for originality that got him noticed and gained him access to the international circuit. His first single ‘So Nice’ was released in 2007 to great acclaim and at the age of 20 he signed with Asylum records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group with a reputation for signing cutting edge talent. Ironik went on to collaborate with renowned fellow Grime artists Wiley and Chipmunk on his hit single ‘Stay With Me’ which reached number 5 in the charts, and with Sir Elton John on his reworking of ‘Tiny Dancer,’ the third single taken from his superb 2008 debut Album ‘No Point Wasting Tears.’ Ironik has recently supported Euro dance group Cascada on their UK tour and has been nominated for another MOBO (Best UK Act 2009) while working on his second album. This is your chance to see an innovative artist right at the forefront of musical evolution, so don’t miss it.

Further to signing up for Saturday 19th, Irish Indie marvels The Coronas have won Best Irish Album at the 10th Anniversary Meteor Music Awards in Dublin. The prestigious Irish equivalent to The Brits saw The Coronas fight off stiff competition from the likes of Snow Patrol, Bell X1 and U2, confirming that The Manx Telecom Bay Festival has it’s finger firmly on the pulse of the coolest sounds around.

With the addition of Olly Murs and DJ Ironik, this now brings up the total line up of artists and bands to 25 for the festival – ensuring a great weekend for all!

For further information, please contact:
Tara Sheridan, Senior Account Manager, Ashgrove Marketing, Isle of Man
(01624) 645395 – tara@ashgrovemarketing.com

Gorgeous girl band The Saturdays, known to their ever growing legion of fans as ‘The Sats’, have five smash hit singles to date and their debut album, “Chasing Lights” reached platinum plus status. Their latest album “Wordshaker” was recorded in LA and they collaborated with The Jam (also worked with Lady Ga Ga and Mariah Carey) and The Runways (also worked with Jordin Sparks and Leona Lewis) on this album.

In 2009, the girls not only dazzled their own fans with live performances on their sell out “Work” tour, but were also lucky enough to support Take That, on their now legendary “Circus Tour”!

The band, recently performed their latest single “EGO” , the second from their current album on Dancing on Ice, will most definitely be a fantastic addition to the Friday night line up.

Also booked to perform on the first night of the festival is award winning* Lemar. Lemar was most notably brought to public attention on the BBC’s Fame Academy in 2002 and has gone on to receive great acclaim through not only his musical success but also through his two BRIT Awards received in 2004 and 2006 and Mobo award in 2005.

Lemar performed his new single “The Way Love Goes” on the BBC1 Show “So you think you can Dance” on Saturday 9th January. The single is released on Valentine’s Day and will be followed by his much anticipated greatest hits album on 1st March.

Organiser Jonathan Irving added, “We are thrilled to announce the addition of Lemar and The Saturdays as ‘very special guests’ to our line up on Friday 18th June, joining the fabulous of the moment JLS. JLS who continue to go from strength to strength, with the recent announcement of them being nominated for not one, but three awards at the Brit Awards 2010, the band will also be performing at the event!

The 2010 Manx Telecom Bay Festival brings together influential world class artists of all musical styles, including Calvin Harris, Spandau Ballet, The Coronas, The Feeling, and the truly unique Boy George!”

Two of the other acts headlining at the Manx Telecom Bay Festival are confirmed to play at the Isle of Wight Festival just days before. Electro-pop artist of the moment Calvin Harris and the legendary Spandau Ballet will perform mainstage on the 11th and 13th of June respectively. The Isle of Wight Festival is renowned for attracting both UK and international acts of the highest calibre. With its origins in the late 60’s, the initial event attracted such iconic artists as Dylan and Hendrix, and in recent years acts including Muse, R.E.M, Coldplay and David Bowie have all graced the mainstage. Smaller and more intimate than Glastonbury, the festival has a uniquely artistic and alternative vibe, reflected in the many independent artists and fringe events that take place alongside more mainstream attractions, and there are clear indications that the Island’s own Manx Telecom Bay Festival will promote a similar diversity.

Lemar

2004 – Best Urban Act – BRIT Awards

2005 – UK Act of the year – Mobo Awards

2006 – Best Urban Act – BRIT Awards

Telephone: 600 600

Restricted ticket numbers: 7,000 per night

Tickets for ‘X Factor meets Britain’s Got Talent’ Sunday afternoon from £19.50 plus booking fee

Sunday evening is ‘Last Night in the Park Stonking 80’s Party’ – 3.5 hours of non-stop wall to wall 80s hits, guaranteeing a great night of dancing and singing. Prices from £39.50 plus booking fee.

Festival standing tickets 3 days (4 shows) £125 plus booking fee.

All information at bayfestival.im

The MANX TELECOM BAY FESTIVAL is over the weekend 18th to 20th June 2010

For further information, please contact:
Tara Sheridan, Public Relations, Ashgrove Marketing, Isle of Man
(01624) 645395 – tara@ashgrovemarketing.com

This offer is not available online but only by phoning Regency on 01624 69 44 55. They are open Monday to Friday Saturday 9am to 5.30pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday (from January) noon to 5pm or email them at sales@regencytravelholidays.com. To save you thinking about it we will phone you on the other two due dates to make this all totally hassle free.

Terms and conditions: if you do not complete the payments your first payment is retained to cover the extra administrative costs and the tickets will be released for resale and your second deposit (if paid) will be returned to you in full. The minimum total purchase value is £100.

For those who don’t have a Student Union card but would still love a festival camping holiday in the Isle of Man this package is still only an amazing £169 !! Extra night would be £16 p.p.p.n. From Belfast would cost £199 for 7 days due to the ferry timings so have a relaxing holiday in the IOM!

This offer is not available online but only by phoning Regency Travel on 01624 69 44 55.

The show is scheduled to begin at 4pm with the ‘Islander Headliner’ – the winner of the IOM Battle of the Bands competition which starts in January. This will be followed by The Coronas, an Irish rock-indie group who achieved no.1 with their album in Ireland this September and recently completed nine gigs supporting The Script and were second to appear on the main stage at the Oxegen Festival. Then will come The Feeling: their new album is due out in the New Year following 2 previous hit albums. They were the most played act on British radio in 2006, receiving an astonishing 97,436 spins (or 267 a day) or every 5 minutes! Diversity, the awe-inspiring winners of Britain’s Got Talent, will then take to the stage before the, now legendary, Calvin Harris with his unique electronic dance sound!

…….And as if all this were not enough, the night will then be topped with the big headline act Spandau Ballet. Therefore this makes this day a TRUE festival as well as being total GOLD! So ‘Sizzling Saturday’ promises to be a night of total excitement and first-class entertainment with something appealing to everyone’s different tastes.

The event has already received an overwhelming amount of interest with excellent ticket sales. Many are purchasing tickets as the perfect Christmas gift and for a small extra cost they are purchasing a gift pack with their own personal message for that special moment. Mr Irving said: “Tickets for the Friday night show with JLS and their special guests have had a huge take up with just a handful of Gold seats now left, plus a couple of hundred Silver seats and some standing. All the Gold seats for the ‘X Factor Meets Britain’s Got Talent’, on the afternoon of Sunday 20th June, have all completely sold out only leaving some standing. The ‘Last Night In The Park’ 80’s Party is now 50% sold out. So I would recommend people hurry!”

So, if you don’t want to risk missing out on this fantastic “Sizzling Saturday” night, make sure you register before midnight this Sunday (29th November) at www.bayfestival.im
Tickets will be available for purchase from Tuesday 1st December to all those who have registered online and will go on general sale at 8am on the Wednesday 2nd December.

We’ve announced the X factor, now get ready for the WOW factor. Who is the hottest band in the whole of Britain right NOW? Yes, it’s JLS! They will be bringing their whole show to the Manx Telecom Bay Festival on Friday 18th June next year.

JLS’s newly released single ‘Everybody in Love’ shot straight to number 1 on the downloads chart this week, selling twice as many copies as Cheryl Cole’s ‘Fight For This Love’.

Pre-sales of their debut album ‘JLS’ being released this Monday, have already topped over 200,000 copies. This will significantly dwarf recent releases by Alexander Burke, Cheryl Cole and Bon Jovi. The talk is they they will have sold over 1 million albums by Christmas.

“JLS won Best Newcomer award at the 2009 MOBO’s and then went on to scoop up the Best Song. We are unbelievably excited to have signed them for the Manx Telecom Bay Festival 2010,” says promoter Jonathan Irving “and they will be performing a full production show complete with backing dancers, stunning light show, special stage effects and video screens. In fact just like their spell binding performance on the X factor last Sunday, which they took by storm.”

Their very tight and slick dance routines are already leaving audiences completely mesmerised and transfixed and shouting and wanting for more.

JLS also won the BRIT award this year for the Best British Single and this band is destined for even greater fame and success in 2010 – which is excellent timing for their appearance at the Manx Telecom Bay Festival. Last weekend they brought the whole of the Trafford Shopping Centre to a complete halt with total gridlock when they arrived to switch on the Christmas lights. So many thousands of fans turned up that at one point the centre had to be closed as they could not accommodate any more of the thousands that had descended on the area.

And it’s not just JLS that will have you rocking, a number of very special guests are lined up to perform on the same night, details to be released in due course.

When dates were announced for JLS’s 2010 UK tour, tickets were sold out in less than twenty four hours, so don’t miss the unmissable. Some of these tickets are now on re-sale sites at considerably more than face value. With only 7,000 tickets available for this Manx spectacular you’ll need to pre-register before midnight on Sunday 8th November at www.bayfestival.im.

To add even greater excitement the organisers of the Manx Telecom Bay Festival are giving a very special Christmas gift to all the families and people living on the Isle of Man. As long as you register by this Sunday midnight you will be able to purchase tickets next Tuesday 10th November, for one day only, with a discount of 10%. There is no discount on Festival tickets as they are already incredible value. This discount will bring a child’s standing ticket price down to just £29.25 and an adult at £39.15 plus booking fee.

It is easier and quicker to book online at www.bayfestival.im but you can also book through the call centre on 600 600.
As from Wednesday 11th November they will go on general sale back up at the full price, which is still extremely competitive anyway compared to prices being paid in the UK.

Jonathan Irving added, “As we have always said from the outset, the Manx Telecom Bay Festival will deliver something for everyone and that’s exactly what we are doing. We are incredibly pleased to be bringing the JLS phenomena to the island.”

Are You Ready For The Weekend? Calvin Harris will be!

Are You Ready For The Weekend? In addition to JLS the Manx Telecom Bay Festival are also extremely pleased to announce that Calvin Harris will be appearing as the main support on Saturday 19th June. The highly acclaimed electronic musician, singer-songwriter and record producer is well known for whipping up the fever pitch at major festivals.Tickets will not go on sale as yet but will be released once the Saturday headline artist is announced shortly. However Festival tickets are on general sale now which will entitle the holder to all 4 shows over the 3 days.

Tickets went on sale at 8am today exclusively for people who had pre-registered. By 8:28am, tickets for seats were sold out. Organisers have added an extra 300 seats inside the arena, which will go on sale tomorrow morning at 8am, but they warn that once they’ve gone no more seats will be added.

The event, on the afternoon of Sunday 20 June 2010, will feature past finalists and winners for the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent including Diversity, George Sampson, Eoghan Quigg, Leon Jackson, Ruth Lorenzo, Signature and Stavros Flatley.

Jonathan Irving, promoter of the Manx Telecom Bay Festival, said:

“We knew that the X Factor Meets Britain’s Got Talent would be popular, but we were amazed that the seats sold out so quickly and so had to take a quick decision to add more seats in order to try and meet at least some of the excess demand.

“Around 10,000 people pre-registered for tickets, which they were able to buy online and over the phone from this morning. So far we have sold enough tickets to have filled the Villa Marina twice over – and that is just on the first day and before the lines were open to the general public. Tomorrow, the lines and online booking service open to everyone, so the last few seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, and not only to those who pre-registered.”

Standing tickets have also sold very well for both X Factor Meets Britain’s Got Talent, and the ‘Here and Now – Last Night in the Park – Stonking 80s Party’, which will take place on the evening of Sunday 20 June.
The 80s party will be standing only as seven original 80s artists and bands take to the stage, including Rick Astley, Boy George, Belinda Carlisle and Kim Wilde.

Mr Irving said:

“There are around 7,000 standing tickets for each event, and so far we have sold about a third for the Stonking 80s Party, so I would urge everyone to book them now.

“Over the next couple of weeks we will publicise the Friday ‘pop’ night and Saturday ‘indie/rock’ night line-ups, and we think they will be just as popular as both the 80s and X Factor Meets Britain’s Got Talent events.”

Jonathan Irving, promoter of the Manx Telecom Bay Festival has been overwhelmed by local support and enthusiasm since announcing the line-up for the last day of the event.

Mr Irving commented: “It is quite clear that ‘X Factor Meets Britain’s Got Talent’ has struck a chord with families on the Island for potential Christmas and Father’s Day presents!

“These shows attract weekly audiences in excess of 15 million so we are fortunate to have secured artists such as Signature, Leon Jackson (the winner of the X Factor) and Stavros Flatley!

“Diversity will perform the routine they had rehearsed for the Michael Jackson O2 show. They are presently making a 3-D film called ‘StreetDance’ with George Sampson, who is also appearing at the Manx Telecom Bay Festival. The film is due to be released at the same time as the festival. “The very best of the 80’s in the ‘Here and Now – Last Night in the Park – Stonking 80’s Party’ has also received a good reaction.*

Mr Irving continued: “With seven original 80’s artists or bands it’s going to be one huge party. People are recognising the gravitas of these artists – Rick Astley for example received the ‘Best Act Ever’ award at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2008. Boy George has recently worked with Kylie Minogue and is about to release a new single and album. The show also includes Belinda Carlisle, Kim Wilde and others.

Mr Irving continued, “We’ve had great feedback from different sections of the community. Young and old are excited at the prospect of the different gigs – and feel there will be something for everyone.

“I’ve also had lots of people asking about the rest of the line-up – but all will be revealed quite soon!“
Mr Irving concluded by saying, “All this, and we still have to announce the Friday and Saturday nights! I would encourage people to buy early as it is clear the seats won’t be around for long based on the interest so far.

“Over the next couple of weeks we will publicise the Friday ‘pop’ night and Saturday ‘indie/rock’ night line-ups. Please watch this space. We always promised to deliver three different genres – and that’s what we will do.”

PokerStars is the latest Manx company to show its support for the 2010 Manx Telecom sponsored
Bay Festival.

The company, which operates the world’s largest online poker site from its Douglas Bay
headquarters, has become the first to sign up as a concert sponsor. It will support the second
night of the festival, Saturday 19th June 2010.

In addition to the support of PokerStars, Manx Telecom has signed to be overall event sponsor,
and Manx Radio the official media partner. The festival will take place at Nobles Park, Douglas,
between 18th and 20th June 2010; the artist line-up will be announced later this year.
Becs Cubbon, Senior Manager at PokerStars, commented: “The team at PokerStars is delighted
to be supporting such a talked-about event. The 2007 Peel Bay Festival proved that the team are
able to put on a spectacular show and attract the biggest names in music, and I am sure next
year will be even bigger and better!

“This really is about supporting local events on the Island, giving something back to the Manx
community and showing to the rest of the world what the Isle of Man is capable of. It is a very
exciting time in the planning stages of the festival, and I for one can’t wait to find out who will be
performing here next year!”

Jamie Irving, co-Director of the Manx Telecom sponsored Bay Festival, commented: “The team at
PokerStars have already shown great commitment to the festival, and their enthusiasm for the
event is infectious! They share with us our foresight for the future and it is great to be working
with such like-minded individuals.

“I am so pleased that PokerStars has become the first company to sign up as a concert sponsor,
and look forward to working with them over the next few months to stage an event that the
Island will never forget.”