Miriana Conte will be serving up a newfound self-confidence that she has been working for years to achieve, Malta’s Eurovision Song Contest representative says as she prepares to dazzle in Basel this May with her quirky, fun and controversial song.
“I’m ready to serve Miriana to the full ‒ finally,” asserts the 23-year-old singer.
“I feel I am letting go of all barriers and I will be serving up the confidence I have been working on for so long.”
Her song, titled Kant, drew controversy because the word sounds like the vulgar term for a woman’s genitals.
Miriana sings of “serving kant”, and the BBC has said it won’t air it. The official title on the Eurovision Song Contest website has now been changed to Kant (“Singing”), referring to the English translation of the word in Maltese.
With the contest several weeks away, Miriana’s diary is full of meetings, tours, rehearsals and filming for the music video. Between meetings, she sat down and spoke to Times of Malta about her Eurovision journey.
The song, which she co-wrote with Benjamin Schmid and Matthew Mercieca, is about being true to herself, she says: “When I was younger, people used to tell me to be quiet, scolded me for being naughty, and I used to be told to cover my body".
"I was told to be someone I am not. I know that I have always felt confident singing, and that is why I am serving kant.”
Her energetic and theatrical performance includes outfit changes and pink exercise balls.
As she grew as an artist, she received harsh comments from the public about her looks, which only multiplied as clips of her performance of Kant went public.
“I am all for constructive criticism, but I do not stand bullying, and I have received a lot of that on social media,” she says.'
'Kemm inti ħoxna'
“Kemm inti ħoxna” (‘how fat you are’), “torta” (‘tart’) and “how did your parents allow you on stage wearing that?” are some of the first comments she recalls.
But she doesn’t let the hate bring her down.
“I always tell myself that I was strong enough to sing on stage in front of thousands of people when I was 16, and I keep doing that. The people who write those comments, they wouldn’t dare do that.”
This was certainly not the Qormija singer’s first time on the Malta Eurovision stage. At the age of 16, in 2016, she placed last with the song Don’t Look Down.
A year later she placed 12th and in 2022 she placed 6th. Last year she came ninth with her song Venom.
On the night, Conte didn’t realise she had won the contest. Photo: Facebook/Eurovision Song Malta'Eurovision participation is an addiction'
Her love for music and Eurovision started early – she has fond memories of singing Ira Losco’s 7th Wonder from start to finish as a child.
“I showed my love for singing at a very young age, and I was always persistent that it is what I wanted to do. By the age of five, my mum signed me up for singing lessons and I worked hard and competed in some local contests.”
She describes participating in the Eurovision as an “addiction”.
“Eurovision helped me to develop as an artist; you meet so many people with different perspectives and you widen your horizons and knowledge, yet I always stayed true to my roots.”
Even before Miriana performed Kant at the Malta Eurovision Song Contest, the song had gone viral.
“No one in Malta has ever seen something like Kant before, and this is the first controversial song we will be sending,” she says.
“We are very proud of the version we have. Kant means ‘singing’ in Maltese; this is the Eurovision Song Contest, and we are going there to serve kant. We are elevating the song and keeping everything as is.”
'The win broke certain barriers'
Amid the criticism, she has been “overwhelmed” by the positive messages and feedback she has received about Kant.
Yet, she never expected to win.
“It’s a big blur, I don’t remember much but I didn’t realise I won. I was clapping for the winner, without realising I had won,” she joked.
“One of the dancers was shaking me, saying I won, and I told him it couldn’t be.”
She says she knows it will take some time to sink in, “but I believe my win was for Malta, and it broke certain barriers and opened new opportunities”.
Malta last made it to the Eurovision final in 2021, when Destiny Chukunyere sailed through the semi-final with her empowering song Je Me Casse. She placed seventh in the Eurovision Song Contest, Malta’s best result since 2005.
Since then, artists Emma Muscat, The Busker and Sarah Bonnici have failed to make it through the semi-final.
As Miriana talks through her experience so far, she recognises how much she has grown as an artist and an individual.
“It feels really good to have won, it’s a huge achievement, and the small girl inside me – the same Miriana – is screaming. She is so proud. I am so glad I made little me proud.”