Malta’s Eurovision entrant Miriana Conte banned from singing about ‘serving Kant’
Malta’s Miriana Conte has been told she ‘kant’ sing about ‘serving kant’ at Eurovision. (Eurovision.tv)
Miriana Conte, Malta’s 2025 Eurovision Song Contest entrant, has said she is “shocked and disappointed” after being told she can’t sing about “serving kant” at this year’s contest.
Conte has proven to be this year’s favourite among LGBTQ+ Eurovision lovers, thanks to her tongue-in-cheek nod to queer lingo in her song “Kant”.
While the literal Maltese translation of “Kant” is “to sing”, the word sounds remarkably like another, particularly offensive British word which has made its way into pop culture lexicon in recent years.
Conte’s song is largely about self-empowerment, being bold, and giving “queen energy”, but on the track’s beat drop, she croons about “serving Kant”.
It seems that the European Broadcasting Union has caught onto the explicit double entendre, as the organisation has banned her from using the song in its current form.
In a post on her Instagram, Conte confirmed that she would have to change the song’s lyrics, with just one week to go until the track has to be officially submitted for use in the contest.
“Currently filming the official ‘KANT’ music video, literally living my best life. We’ve just been notified that @ebu_hq [European Broadcasting Union] has decided against using the Maltese word ‘Kant’ in our entry in the Eurovision Song Contest,” she wrote, alongside a photo of her performing in a leopard print catsuit with an iridescent fan.
“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,” she added, before perfectly concluding with another nod to gay Twitter: “Diva NOT down.”
Miriana Conte is currently the fourth favourite to win Eurovision 2025 with “Kant”, according to betting site OLBG (after Sweden, France, and Finland), but the track was already the subject of controversy before now.
When the track was first shared, BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills said that it was unlikely to “ever” be played on the BBC.
Despite the word’s literal meaning, the fact it sounds identical to such an explicit British insult means it would likely breach Ofcom regulations if played un-bleeped during the Eurovision Song Contest.
Watershed rules indicate that programmes that begin pre-watershed, which starts at 9pm, should not include the most extreme swear words, including “f**k”, “f**king”, and “c**t”.
Even though Eurovision plays until midnight on BBC One, it starts broadcasting at 8pm, and thus is included in the Ofcom rule.
While its not the first time the EBU has directed a contestant to change their lyrics – in 2017, Sweden’s Eurovision entry “I Can’t Go On” had to change “f**king” to “freaking” – there’s likely to be some particular upset among Eurovision fans over this one.
Namely as Conte is a fan-favourite, but also as several other of this year’s participants have songs laden thick with double entendre.
Australia’s Go-Jo recently released the wild music video for his song “Milkshake Man”, which is about “everyone wanting the milk from the Milkshake Man” – ie, ejaculation. Finland’s Erika Vikman, meanwhile, is entering with “Ich komme”, which translates to “I’m Coming” – ie, ejaculation.
Eurovision begins with the semi-finals on 13 May and 15 May, with the final taking place on Saturday 17 May.
Here’s a breakdown of every Eurovision Song Contest 2025 entry announced so far.
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