Michela Pace will represent Malta at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Chameleon”. It’s a bubbly empowering pop track, and is predicted to do very well for the Mediterranean country.

After two years of non-qualifications, Malta revamped its national selection and cancelled the annual Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC). Instead, the winner of the first X Factor Malta would be sent to Eurovision with a song chosen internally. Michela was incredibly popular and highly favoured on The X Factor, a trend that continues to Eurovision. Malta is hoping Michela can deliver it its first top ten result since 2013.

With anticipation and expectation running high, here are 10 facts about Malta’s teenage star.

1. She hails from Gozo

The island of Gozo has been described as Malta’s “hidden gem”, so it’s no surprise that it’s where Michela was born. Her hometown, Victoria, has a population of just 7,000. People from Gozo are called Gozitans, and we can be sure that all of them will be out in force to cheer their girl on in May.

2. She’s always been singing

Michela’s powerful voice and great stage presence didn’t come overnight. She’s always had music and performing in her heart. Two days before the second X Factor live show she posted an adorable picture of herself as a child holding a plastic microphone. She was born to win the hearts of Malta!

3. She attempted Eurovision previously

Even before The X Factor came along, Michela already had her eyes set on Eurovision. Back in 2017, she was longlisted for the Maltese national selection with the song “Cruise Control”. It was obviously not selected for the live shows, and Claudia Faniello went to Kyiv instead. If anyone has a copy of the song, we’d love to hear it!

4. She’s no stranger to music competitions

Michela has never been afraid of a competitive stage, not even Europe-wide music competitions. She’s previously won the Music Talent League in Lithuania and was a finalist in the Baltic Voices competition. She also went to Hertfordshire to attend the Ultimate Artist development programme, where she worked with Rihanna’s producer. All before the age of 18. Young lady can slay!

5. She brought Ira Losco to tears

Ira Losco is a Maltese superstar. She’s brought Malta closer to Eurovision victory than any other artist and took them to the final again in 2016. So it must’ve been a massive moment for Michela to perform for such a legend. She didn’t disappoint. Singing a rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, she wowed the judges and became an overnight sensation in Malta.

After Michela won The X Factor, Ira Losco said: “When I saw Michela sing this song for the first time, I was simply amazed at how much she is prepared to change and show us yet another side to her. Michela is a 360 degree artist. I simply love her song and her memorable voice”. A true superstar in the making.

MESMERISING Malta audition!

? POWERFUL Performance by Michela Pace makes judge cry on the X Factor Malta ?

Posted by X Factor Global on Thursday, October 18, 2018

6. She turned 18 just before The X Factor finals

Most people can remember their eighteenth birthday, but Michela’s was certainly something special. Two days before her birthday, Michela was announced as one of the four finalists for The X Factor. A day after turning 18, she sang her heart out in the finals. She was announced as the winner of The X Factor and Malta’s Eurovision singer that same day, while wearing bright yellow.

View this post on Instagram

Happy 18th Birthday to me! #xfactormalta

A post shared by Michela (@michelamusicofficial) on

7. She sings with her whole body

Michela describes herself as “an average teenager”. Her social media is filled with the usual teenage girl things: selfies, jam sessions, friends. But the superstar within her is never far away. She says that when she starts singing “it’s as if my voice takes over my entire being… Aretha Franklin once said that you sing soul with your whole body. I know exactly what she means”.

8. She has huge support 

To say that the entire country of Malta has fallen in love with Michela is a bit of an understatement. Very soon after winning The X Factor and being chosen as the country’s Eurovision singer, she was welcomed back in Victoria by a packed St Francis Square. The crowd included the Minister of Gozo Justyne Caruana, and she met with the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat a week later. A month afterwards, she had an audience with Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, dressed and made up to perfection.

9. She won Lovin Malta‘s Best Rising Star

Popular website Lovin Malta has also gotten behind Michela. Back in January, they held their Social Media Awards. The Eurovision sweetheart was nominated for Best Rising Star alongside tennis player Francesca Curmi and MESC star Maxine Pace. In the end, Michela won out.

Wow! I just won 'The Best Rising Star Award'. Special thanks to Lovin Malta & everyone who voted for me. Your support means the world to me ??

Posted by Michela on Friday, February 8, 2019

10. She’s incredibly nice

Michela is one girl you can expect to be meeting with fans at Tel Aviv this year. She’s a heavy social media user, and is always using it to interact with fans, responding to all her messages and thanking everyone for the massive support. She also brought her mum and dad along to Xarabank, one of Malta’s most-watched television shows. A great friend and a great daughter all-round.

Do you think Michela can break Malta’s non-qualification streak? Could “Chameleon” bring Malta a much-awaited first victory? Let us know in the comments.

Read more Eurovision 2019 artist facts here.

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Nicolas
Nicolas
4 years ago

What Ira Losco wrote the day after Chameleon was released : @michelapace_official is showing everyone that she IS an artist who is unafraid and unpredictable. Her track “Chameleon” sounds fresh and current. Her vocal is astounding. You can give this girl anything to interpret and she will NAIL it!! A true @xfactormalta revelation. THERE WILL BE CRYING ON EUROVISION NIGHT BY ME!! Hahahaha NO I’m not ashamed to cry when this girl belts out the notes! After all she gives us such emotion. LOVE IT!! #MaltaESC2019 #ESC2019 #ESCIsrael #michelapace And Michela has read this article. Screenshot of Point 5 is… Read more »

Alex
Alex
4 years ago

She’s 18?? Man I feel so old.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago

fact 11: chameleon still ain’t on spotify in italy

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
4 years ago

I love the entry and her so much, she out there being my favourite Maltese entry ever and my fave of the year. She already has such a big fanbase in her country, I think she’s going places.

Tidge
Tidge
4 years ago

I would love for her to win. I’m just nervous about how the staging is going to be done and whether she can bring the sass! ????

Miguel
Miguel
4 years ago

She is the dark horse this year, for sure.

If it was overhyped Sweden entry, everyone would be crazy about it.

Best from Spain.

Nicolas
Nicolas
4 years ago
Reply to  Miguel

If it was Sweden you can be sure this would be betting odds top 3 but it’s just Malta.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago
Reply to  Nicolas

now lettuce not exaggerate….. issa generic milanov song with a very 2016 production, it’s more likely it’ll get a walk on water type of result than anything. i was wishin for sumthin more in her style, chameleon is completely different from what she’d perform at the x factor.

Rogesc
Rogesc
4 years ago

Fact 11: She doesn’t know how to upload a song on spotify

Nicolas
Nicolas
4 years ago
Reply to  Rogesc

It is now available on all digital platforms since yesterday and anyway Michela had absolutely no power on it previously. This is all on the record label decisions.

James
James
4 years ago

It’s a big g surprise to see her MV accumulated millions of views in. Span of a few days. It would be interesting to see its analytics data to find out if much of those views were organic and not just coming from it being an ad all over YouTube. 🙂