Eurovision 2021: Nachos, beer and impressing your guests

Destiny will be up 6th on the Eurovision stage tonight as she tries to woo European (and Australian) audiences to vote for her.

The transmission from the Netherlands starts at 9pm and will see 26 acts performing on stage until the nail-biting voting finale from Europe’s capitals.

It will provide ample time for eating, drinking, sharing jokes and memes, admiring the singers and the songs, or taking the micky out of the kitsch fest.

But as you prepare to watch the contest with three other households – lest you want to hear Charmaine Gauci singing Je Me Casse – here are a few fun facts to impress your guests.

Malta’s last 10 contests

Destiny’s qualification to the final already makes it a feat in itself. Malta failed to get past the semi-final stage in five of the last 10 editions.

The best placing since 2010 was achieved by the singing doctor, Gianluca Bezzina, who placed 8th in the 2013 final with his song Tomorrow.

Girl power

Destiny is the 15th female solo artist to represent Malta in the Eurovision. In contrast, only eight male solo artists got the chance to covet the Eurovision stage.

The rest of the Eurovision pack was made up of two groups – Times Three and Firelight – and four duets.

Three singers represented Malta more than once – Chiara (3 times), Ira Losco (2 times) and Fabrizio Faniello (2 times).

Destined for Europe

Destiny won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest held in Bulgaria in 2015 with the song Not My Soul. Four years later, she accompanied Michela Pace as a backing vocalist for the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv.

Destiny won the second edition of X Factor Malta to book her participation in Eurovision 2020, which had to be postponed to this year because of COVID-19.

Keep it young

Destiny is 18 and is one of three artists taking part in Eurovision 2021 who are under the age of 20. The other two are Greek singer Stefania, 18, and Swedish singer Tusse, 19.

Michela Pace (2019 edition) and Thea Garret (2010 edition) were also 18 when performing on the Eurovision stage.

Elusive victory

Destiny’s participation in the Eurovision is Malta’s 33rd time at the festival. Joe Grech with Marija l-Maltija represented Malta for the first time in 1971.

Malta has never won the Eurovision and its best placing was second – achieved twice by Ira Losco in 2002 with 7th Wonder and Chiara with Angel in 2005. Malta also place third twice – Mary Spiteri with Little Child in 1992 and Chiara with The One That I Love in 1998.

Parlez vous Anglais 

Destiny’s Je Me Casse is the first song from Malta with a French title. The song is in English but includes the phrase je me casse – French slang for I’m out of here. It is one of seven songs in this year’s Eurovision that is primarily in English with a few words or phrases in another language.

Apart from the 1971 and 1972 editions when Maltese artists sang in Maltese, in all other editions participants sang in English. However, Claudette Pace’s song Desire in the 2000 edition included the one phrase: ‘Dejjem ridtek, dejjem xtaqtek, lilek ħabbejt.’

Chukunyere MQR

Destiny was born on 25 August 2002 to a Nigerian father, former footballer Ndubisi Chukunyere, and a Maltese mother, Alexia. She has two younger siblings, Melody and Isaiah.

In December 2015, along with her team at the Junior Eurovision Song Festival, she was awarded Malta’s Medal for Service to the Republic and is entitled to use the post-nominal initials MQR.

Bon chance Destiny!