Malta forced to change Eurovision entry over “Kant” wordplay

Malta’s Eurovision representative, 24-year-old Miriana Conte, has been forced to change her entry song 'Kant' after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ruled against it just one week before the song submission deadline.

The EBU objected to the song’s title due to its pronunciation, which closely resembles the C-word in English. The track’s chorus repeatedly features the lyric “serving kant.” While "kant" means “singing” in Maltese, its phonetic similarity to the English slang term led to the ban, as the EBU reportedly took issue with its intentional wordplay.

“Serving kant” is a deliberate play on queer and drag slang, where the phrase means expressing boldness or confidence in a positive way.

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Basel, Switzerland, from May 13 to 17. Malta has never won the competition but has come close, finishing as runner-up in 2002 and 2005.

Conte took to social media to share the news. She wrote: "We’ve just been notified that @ebu_hq has decided against using the Maltese word ‘Kant’ in our entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.

"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"

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