[WATCH] Destiny claps back at Eurovision outfit critics: ‘I look beautiful’

Malta’s Eurovision Song Contest participant Destiny Chukunyere defended her outfit choice, saying she “looks beautiful” after her first rehearsal on Sunday.

Speaking to Wiwibloggs, a Eurovision news website, Destiny had this to say about her controversial look: “I feel confident in it, and that’s what matters… I feel confident; I look beautiful! I’m very happy with my look; I chose it because I feel confident in it. I can move, I can shake and shimmy.”

Destiny performed her first stage rehearsal inside the Rotterdam Ahoy on Sunday. ‘Je Me Casse,’ Malta’s entry is a favourite with the bookies, however, according to the odds collated by Eurovisionworld, Destiny slipped to second place behind France’s entry yesterday.

She said that her song was all about women feeling confident in their own skin and knowing their worth.

“We should not let social media influence us because we are so beautiful. I want to make women out there feel good and confident about themselves,” she said.

However, many disagreed with the outfit choice, including former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi, who called Destiny’s outfit a ”wardrobe dysfunction”.

However, former parliamentary secretary Rosianne Cutajar defended the look. “Destiny is delivering a powerful message that should not be overlooked. In a world where everyone tries to be liked and in a society where women are constantly told what to act like, and how to dress - an 18-year-old girl year chose to reject this stereotype and to do what she feels comfortable with.”

Writer Immanuel Mifsud also shared his thoughts on the situation. “There are two ways how to look at it: either the young girl was sexualised according to the diktat of the spectacle and how this has dictated that women should be (i.e. meat for consumption for the eyes) or else the young girl has the audacity to resist the dictatorship of thinness according to the diktat of the spectacle and how this dictated that women should be (i.e. thin and perfect). Now, it is either one or the other.”

This year Malta will perform in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Semi-final 1 on 18 May, and then in the final on 22 May if the country qualifies.