Serving singing? Why Malta's Eurovision 2025 entry "kant" be performed in full

Image credit: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

She's got a secret, you should know.... but what is Malta serving at Eurovision 2025?

Representing the island country at Eurovision 2025 in Basel is Maltese popstar Miriana Conte with her song Serving. She has the task of ending a three-year non-qualification streak for Malta, with the country last qualifying for the Grand Final in 2021 with Destiny's Je Me Casse.

However, Miriana's journey to Eurovision has been a long and complicated one, and the story of her song Serving involves a fantastic tale of misheard lyrics, censorship and a (very) minor diplomatic incident.

Find out the full story behind Serving (formerly known as Kant) below.

Who is Miriana Conte, and why has her song gone viral?

Miriana Conte is a Maltese singer and performer who has competed in the Maltese national final, MESC, on no less than five occasions, in 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

Often praised for her huge vocals and stage presence, Miriana had nonetheless not broken through the crowd with her previous entries - until this year, when her song Kant immediately caused a stir online.

The word "kant" in Maltese translates to "singing", similar as in other neighbouring languages such as Italian ("canto"), French ("chant") and Spanish ("cantando").

However, with Miriana repeatedly singing about "serving kant" in her song, eagle-eyed fans quickly suggested that the song may have had a deeper meaning than simply do-re-mi-fa-so.

Unrelatedly, here is a picture of an Australian tourism campaign for the Northern Territory from some years ago:

Miriana Conte ultimately won the Maltese national final, MESC, finishing ahead of competitors Kristy Spiteri and Kantera.

However, with Kant now officially being a Eurovision song, the question arose - how would it be treated by the EBU?

What is the EBU's position on curse words at Eurovision?

While there is no specific rule against curse words being included in Eurovision songs, the EBU has historically tended on the side of censorship in similar cases in the past.

This is likely due to the content standards applicable to its member broadcasters - for example, the United Kingdom has a 9pm "watershed" before which content standards are much more limited. While some broadcasters are more liberal than others, the EBU is understandably cautious to meet the editorial standards of as many members as possible.

The newly-introduced Eurovision Code of Conduct also contains a number of prohibitions on "offensive language", which may further limit the capacity for swear words to make it to the Eurovision stage.

A number of previous songs have been censored by the EBU for containing curse words in English or in other languages such as Italian. We previously posted our analysis of some of these cases here.

However, of course, the word "kant" is not a curse word in Maltese or in any other language. It was only because of its use in the context of the expression "serving kant" that an issue arose. This led to much discussion as to whether the song would (or should) be censored.

Mixed messages

Following Miriana's win, the Eurovision website and social media posted this statement:

"Miriana Conte has won 'Malta Eurovision Song Contest' and will represent the country at Basel 2025 with the song 'Kant' ('Singing')."

This was interpreted as suggesting that the EBU had accepted Kant for Eurovision 2025 with the clarification that it the word meant "singing". Questionable / problematic songs on the past have not been added to the Eurovision site or posted on social media.

However, some weeks later Miriana Conte revealed on her social media that the EBU had forbidden the Maltese word "kant" from appearing in the lyrics of her Eurovision entry.

Maltese news outlet TVM reported that the EBU's Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group had previously informed Maltese Eurovision broadcaster PBS that 'kant' could be used in the song's lyrics and title.

However, following a report to the Eurovision Reference Group by an unknown EBU member - speculated, but not confirmed, to be the BBC - the EBU requested that the song's title be changed and the word 'kant' be entirely removed from the lyrics.

TVM also reported that PBS was "considering all the steps it can take" after being asked to communicate a decision within two days before the EBU's 10th March deadline for Eurovision song submissions.

The controversy quickly escalated, with the Maltese culture minister decrying the censorhip of the small country's Eurovision entry and saying "whatever they throw at us, let's serve some kant".

However, when asked on the BBC's Newsnight whether her intention in releasing the song was just to get publicity, she memorably responded:

My intention was not to get publicity. My intention was to serve singing.

Diva Not Down

Following the announcement that her song would not be able to be performed in full in Basel, Miriana Conte remained upbeat, posting the following on social media:

"While I'm shocked and disappointed, especially since we have less than a week to submit the song, I promise you this: the show will go on - Diva NOT down."

And she was right! Some weeks later, the final version of the Maltese entry for Eurovision 2025 was revealed, now retitled Serving, and with the phrase "serving kant" replaced with the less controversial "serving ahh".

The final version, which also revamped the song's production, was announced via an expensive-looking video containing a number of references to Miriana Conte's complicated journey to Eurovision - including references to her appearance on Newsnight and other media programs, as well as to her unexpected hospitalisation following a car accident on the night of the Maltese national final.

While Serving is the song which will be heard by Eurovision viewers in the second semifinal (and, should Malta qualify, in the grand final), however, Miriana Conte has been very clear that this is not the full version of her song.

In recent weeks, a final version of the song, entitled Serving Kant, has been released on Spotify, restoring the word "kant" to the mix while maintaining the upgraded production of the Eurovision version. You can listen to it here:

Mirirana Conte will perform for Malta in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday 15 May CET (being the morning of Friday 16 May 2025 in Australia). You can catch her performance, and those of the 15 other semifinalists, on SBS.

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