Following their first rehearsal at Eurovision 2024, our Tim got a chance to catch up with Sarah Bonnici to discuss her Malmö experience so far.
Watch our interview with Sarah Bonnici right here:
During their interview, Tim and Sarah talked about how her first rehearsal went, as well as how the Contest has helped her put her stamp on her music. She also tells us about some of the pressure she feels about Malta’s recent poor results. The pair also discuss the wise advice that was given to her by The Busker following their Eurovision experience.
Sarah Bonnici’s Eurovision Journey so far
Sarah Bonnici was selected to represent Malta with “Loop” after winning national final “Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2024”. The song was later revamped, and rereleased in March. Late last month it was determined that Sarah will perform first in the second Eurovision Semi-Final in Malmö on May 9th.
During the pre-party circuit, Sarah performed at Pre-Party ES24 on March 30th, the London Eurovision Party on April 7th and Eurovision in Concert on April 13th.
On Sunday, she performed on the Eurovision stage for her first rehearsal. You can find out more about her first rehearsal, and our thoughts on that here.
Who is Sarah Bonnici?
Sarah Bonnici is a 25 year old singer from Gozo in Malta. Since 2009, from a young age Sarah has been involved in the music industry. Sarah has been trying to get to Eurovision since 2009, when she entered the “Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest” with “The Mambo Song”. In the competition, Sarah finished fourth. Later in 2010, Sarah tried to represent her nation in Junior Eurovision again, and while again she did not win the national final, she did win a chance to become a backing dancer for the eventual entry.
As Sarah entered her teenage years, she participated in singing competitions all over Europe in countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Sarah was also successful in a lot of these competitions. In 2018 Sarah also participated in the Maltese version of The X Factor. A few years later in 2022, Sarah competed in the adult version of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest, with her song “Heaven”. “Heaven” finished twelfth in the final.
Her Eurovision song for 2024, “Loop”, is written by John Emil Johansson, Kevin Lee, Sebastian Pritchard-James, Leire Gotxi Angel, Matthew James Borg, Michael Joe Cini, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Ale Zabala, as well as input from Sarah herself.
Malta’s Eurovision Journey
Malta made its Eurovision debut in 1971, with Joe Grech performing “Marija I-Maltija” (Maria the Maltese Lass), finishing 18th with 52 points. Malta did not participate in Eurovision from 1975 until 1991. That year they returned with the song “Could It Be” by Paul Giordimaina and Georgina, finishing 12th with 32 points. Since then, Malta has been at every Eurovision and finished in the top 10 an impressive 12 times. Their best result so far is second place, which they’ve achieved twice. The first time was in 2002, when Ira Losco sang “7th Wonder,” and the second time in 2005 with Chiara’s “Angel.”
Malta’s most recent Eurovision entry was The Busker, singing his song “Dance (Our Own Party)”. Performing during the first semi-final in Liverpool, the band scored 3 points from the televote, earning 15th place and therefore, not qualifying for the final.
What do you think of our interview with Sarah Bonnici? Do you think she will qualify for the final this year? Where would you like Malta to finish this year? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we cover the rehearsals of Eurovision 2024!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: Tim J / That Eurovision Site
That Eurovision Site
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