Serving Kant or Kantera? Malta picks its Eurovision song on Saturday

Eurovision fans will make their pick on Saturday night for the song and artist that will represent Malta in Basel next May.

16 artists will take to the stage on Saturday after making it through the semi-finals and one of them will be crowned the 2025 Malta Eurovision Song Contest winner.

This year’s selection of songs is a varied mix of genres, from upbeat pop to folk and għana elements.

From the 16 songs in competition, four have already stood out with Eurovision fans in Malta and beyond.

Kantera’s ‘Lalaratatakeke Lalaratakabum’ made waves locally for being a high-energy act that fuses traditional folk with modern elements. The group’s semi-final performance was full of local iconography, from the Maltese cross to the decorative tberfil.

‘Festa (No Time For Siesta)’ is another celebration of local tradition. It’s sung by the Eurovision supergroup JVF, made up of Jessika, Victorio Gauci and Fabrizio Faniello. All three have taken part in the Maltese Eurovision selections several times, with Faniello going on to represent Malta on two occasions. Jessika represented San Marino in 2018.

One of the more popular songs among Eurovision fans is ‘Heaven Sent’, a vocal masterclass sung by Kristy Spiteri. The song veers between upbeat pop and a James Bond theme.

But if the contest was selected on virality alone, one song would take the cake. Miriana Conte’s ‘Kant’ went viral among Eurovision fans the moment it was released for its cheeky wordplay with the phrase ‘serving kant’.

While ‘kant’ means ‘singing’ or ‘chant’ in Maltese, to an English-speaking audience it sounds like an offensive word for the female anatomy, although in some communities it means bold and extravagant.

The final will kick off at 9pm with the following running order:

1. Kant - Miriana Conte
2. Juno - Victoria
3. Għażliet - Dario Bezzina ft. Żeppi l-Muni
4. Festa (No Time for Siesta) - JVF
5. Rubble & Stone - The Alchemists
6. Unheard - Krista Sujak
7. Silenced - Raquela
8. Lalaratatakeke Lalaratakabum - Kantera
9. Concrete - Nathan
10. Still I Rise - Justine Shorfid
11. Qalb ma' Qalb - Adria Twins
12. Yo Listen - Martina Borg
13. Hideaway - Mark Anthony Bartolo
14. AZIZ/A - Kurt Calleja
15. Heaven Sent - Kristy Spiteri
16. Lablab (Talk Talk) - Stefan