Conte heads to Basel for Eurovision feeling 'grateful and ready'
'I want to be the voice for every soul that feels like they do not belong'
Miriana Conte was heading for Basel on Monday, "grateful and ready" to take the stage at the Eurovision Song Contest.
After months of rehearsals, the 23-year-old singer left Malta feeling "fully prepared" to perform her song “Serving” as Malta's representative in the contest.
Conte took to social media a few hours earlier to share a heartfelt message reflecting on her journey.
“As I write this message with tears in my eyes, I feel fully prepared and grateful to be living the dream I dreamt of since I was young,” she wrote. “Maybe all the countless times where I felt like I did not fit, were for one sole purpose – I was never meant to fit.”
Her road to Eurovision has not been without controversy. Conte was subject to public criticism and body shaming, and the international festival organisers banned her original song Serving Kant after complaints that the Maltese word “kant” (meaning singing) sounded too similar to an English vulgarity.
The song has now been retitled Serving and the banned word will be replaced with the sound of a raspy “aahh”.
However, despite the backlash, Conte has pushed forward.
“Every bad comment I received, every personal attack I encountered about my music, about the way I look, weirdly enough feels like an achievement,” she wrote on social media. “Why so? Because I want to be different, and I want to be the voice for every soul that feels like they do not belong.”
She also expressed gratitude to her supporters. “I wouldn’t be here without you,” she said.
On Monday morning, Conte posted a photo of her draped in the Maltese flag outside the Malta International Airport. “Eurovision 2025, I’m comingggg,” she wrote, adding that she will always be proud to be Maltese.
The Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Basel, Switzerland, with semi-finals scheduled for May 13 and 15 and the grand final on May 17. Conte is set to perform in the second semi-final.
While her chances of reaching the finals are considered strong, bookmakers currently rank her 12th out of the 37 competing acts, leaving her an outside contender for the win on the night.