“I feel very blessed with everything that’s happening,” says Miriana, “because this is the place I always wanted to reach and there’s nothing else I want to do in the world.”
“I don’t know myself without singing. Singing has always been the key thing in my life. My mom tells me that I didn’t speak my first words – I sang them. She says it was if I had ‘swallowed the radio’!”
Miriana describes how she was ‘the headache’ of her family as a child, and she very much appreciates their support of her ‘crazy expressive’ side. “I was always very energetic and hyper, so it wasn’t a surprise when recently I was diagnosed with ADHD: in fact, that’s part of the message of the song. But it’s also about being yourself, no matter what society expects of you. Growing up, children are expected to be quiet and abide by the rules and I was always, always the opposite of that. I used to really struggle and so I really value spending time with the people I love, my friends, and with my partner. That’s what recharges my battery.”
“My family is very close, and I have a younger sister, Eliza, who has just turned 17. Although we look very alike, in character we are like the sun and the moon. She’s an introvert yet she has a very good voice, and after I won this year’s selection competition for Eurovision 2025, she started vocal lessons. I’m very happy to have inspired her.”
Miriana is also supported by her partner, Jade Flask, a PE teacher and footballer, whom, she says “really gets it, and really supports me. It’s not easy being with a singer or a dancer. It’s not just the glitz and glam and being on stage. There are long late hours, and it’s hard to spend enough time together. But Jade is coming to Basel with me along with my sister and my grandparents. My parents will be supporting me from Malta.”
“My father struggles with various mental health conditions so I understood some of the challenges of mental illness from a young age. I think that’s why I try to help people whenever they’re going through a tough time.”
“We could all be more sensitive towards one another and if I wasn’t a singer, I’d like to be a psychologist or a social worker. I spent some time working in recruitment and I loved being able to help people from different countries, who opened up and trusted me.”
Miriana understands the value of both talking and listening, having been going to therapy since she was young. “I also read a lot of self-help books,” she adds. “I find journalling helps me sometimes too, and I write to my younger self. When I close my eyes I think back to my younger self, the Mariana who felt like an outcast. She wouldn’t believe it if I ever told her everything that’s going on right now.”
“When I first took part in the selection competition, I was only 16 with a passion for singing, and I still remember all the horrible names I was called and the body-shaming. I cried a lot because I felt so upset and embarrassed. If I had listened to even half of those comments, I would never have shown my face on stage again, or even in the real world. Lots of young girls have been telling me recently that they were hardly leaving the house because they felt so insecure about their bodies. Then, seeing me on stage, wearing a tight outfit and loving the way I look, gave them the confidence to go out without feeling so uncomfortable about themselves. I think the people who are so quick to write nasty comments on-line don’t stop to think that they are insulting real people, and that they cause them hurt and damage.”
“In Serving I am singing about those moments when I felt so broken because I couldn’t fit into society. The only thing I could focus on was singing. I would be singing if the world was falling down. “I did not let anything break me and I hope my song will give other youngsters the strength to carry on being true to themselves too. If I also help open the door for more creative artistry here, and from Malta on the world stage that’s great.”
“This was my fifth time in the Malta song Contest but winning was still a big shock, because we’re still very conservative on this island and I’m the opposite of that. I’m confident being myself now, and I hope I am pushing boundaries by being a bit of a warrior for women in Malta. I wear the style and outfits I like whatever other people say. We should all be able to look how we want without being judged.”
Although she’s sexy and saucy on stage, Miriana confesses that she isn’t always like that. “It depends on my mood,” she laughs. “You can see me running around like a hobo one day or else I’ll be dressed up like Beyoncé. I have those two different sides and there’s no middle ground!”
“The inclusion of the phrase ‘serving Kant’ came about when I was at the Malta Eurovision Song Camp. I was writing the lyrics when had an epiphany moment. I realised that I could say Kant because it means singing in the Maltese language and has the quirky double-meaning. I am passionate about singing and I am also proud to be Serving K*nt, which phonetically is used in the queer community to mean charisma, individuality, nerve and talent. Feminine and fierce, it’s a very positive phrase. And I hope that if people understand more about me as a person and what I have experienced growing up, they will better appreciate the song now known as Serving!”
Miriana is looking forward to representing Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, expects to be releasing a single in June and has plans for an album later in the year.
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