A group of young performers from Galway were left bitterly disappointed yesterday when their scheduled appearance at the MTV European Music Awards in Dublin next week was cancelled.
The singers, aged between 16 and 21, had hoped to rub shoulders with Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, Celine Dion and The Corrs during the two-hour show, which is expected to be watched by an audience of 100 million.
The 45 singers from the Performing Arts School had been scheduled to provide backing vocals for the US hip-hop star Puff Daddy during the concert, which will be televised from the Point Theatre next Thursday, November 11th.
"It seems that Puff Daddy decided over the weekend that he wanted to fly in his own gospel choir from the United States," said Mr John Kearns, the founder and director of the school.
"We are left with a lot of disappointed young people here. They had just begun to get excited about the show, as they had their passport photos taken for their security passes for the event at the weekend."