Destiny Chukunyere has said that she’s been “blessed” at having had the opportunity to participate in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, in her first reaction after placing seventh in the competition on Saturday night.
18-year-old Destiny was set to make a strong showing in the competition representing Malta with her son Je Me Casse, ranking third-favourite with bookmakers for a win before heading into the final on Saturday night.
But despite winning her semi-final and placing third in the final jury vote, Malta lagged behind with audiences and received a disappointing 47 votes from European viewers during the televoting round.
Destiny's seventh-placed finish is Malta's best performance since 2005.
“Just woke up in Rotterdam and realized how blessed I am to have been part of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest,” Destiny said in a social media post on Sunday morning.
“I would like to thank all of you for the love and support you have shown me, my team for taking me to the next level, I am proud and happy to have you with me and I am more than sure that our journey together will continue.”
“Last but not least a big thank you to all my family for supporting me since day one and my grandad watching from up above. This one is for you!”
Official results released on Sunday morning show that Destiny won her semi-final on Tuesday with 325 points, putting her ahead of her closest rival of the night, Ukraine’s Go_A, by 58 points.
Eurovision juries in Norway, Romania, Australia and Sweden each gave Malta 12 points, clinching the win on Tuesday night.
Destiny’s final performance saw Malta received 208 points in total from national juries, but failed to make inroads with audiences around the content and scoring just 47 points during the subsequent televoting round.
No country's audience gave Malta maximum points, with its highest televoting score coming from Australia (eight points), followed by the UK (six points), Israel (five points) and Ireland (four points). Norway, Iceland, Spain and Greece each gave Malta three points while Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Romania each gave Malta two points. Cyprus and the Netherlands each gave Malta a solitary point.
Italy’s Maneskin took home the competition on final night in Rotterdam, with their song Zitti e Buoni climbing to the top spot after a massive jump in points from the audience vote.