Sarah Bonnici

Maltese singer (born 1998)

  • Singer
Years active2009–present
Musical artist

Sarah Bonnici (Maltese pronunciation: [ˈsɐrɐ bɔˈnːiːt͡ʃɪ]; born 30 May 1998) is a Maltese singer. She represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Loop".[1]

Early and personal life

Bonnici was born on the island of Gozo.[2] She is the daughter of Marcel Bonnici, CEO of Mercury Towers and Ħamrun Spartans.[3] She has a master's degree in accounting.[4]

Career

Singer Sarah Bonnici performing in Madrid
Sarah Bonnici performing in Madrid during PrePartyES 2024

Bonnici was mentored by Miriam Christine from a young age.[5] In 2009, she competed in Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest, the national selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009, with "The Mambo Song", finishing in third place.[4][6] The following year, she won the 4th edition of L-Għanja Tal-Maltin Song Festival, placing first in her age group with a song written by Miriam Christine and winning Best Voice within the same contest.[7] In 2010, she participated in Malta Junior Eurovision Song Contest placing 7th with the song "Kitty Kitty Cat".[8] This appearance gave her the opportunity to join Malta's representative Nicole Azzopardi, as a dancer, at the 2010 Junior Eurovision Song Contest.[5]

Throughout her teenage years she participated in several international song competitions outside her native Malta, including the Trixie Festival in Bulgaria, the Carpathians Star Festival in Romania, and the Star to Born Festival Hungary.[4] Bonnici placed first in her category at the Ti Amo Festival in Romania and also won the Original Song Category with the song "Vivrà ancora".[4] She won the "New Talent" section of the Festival Kanzunetta Indipendenza in 2012,[9] and the main category of the festival in 2018.[10] Shortly after, she participated in the first edition of X Factor Malta.[11][4]

Bonnici participated in Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with "Heaven" written by Aidan, placing 12th in the final.[12] On 18 October 2023, she was announced among the participants of Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Loop", later being drawn to perform in the first show of the semi-final stage on 27 October.[13] At the end of the round, in late November, it was announced that she was among the qualifiers for the final on 3 February 2024.[14] There, she won the jury voting and came first overall with 102 points, being selected to represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.[6] Bonnici failed to qualify from the second semi-final on 9 May 2024, placing 16th out of 16 with 13 points.[15][16]

Discography

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album or EP
MLT
[17]
"Bandwagon" 2015 — Non-album singles
"Breathe Your Love" 2017 —
"Il-Pinna" 2018 —
"Heaven" 2022 —
"Never Ever" 2023 —
"Loop" 2024 1
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

  1. ^ "Sarah Bonnici heads from Malta to Malmö". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  2. ^ Conte, Davide (5 February 2024). "Malta: Who Is Sarah Bonnici?". Eurovoix.
  3. ^ Diacono, Tim (21 February 2024). "Watch: Mercury CEO And Football Club Head In Strong Takedown Of Malta's 'Amateur Mindset'". Lovin Malta. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Stivala, Ally (4 February 2024). "Who Is Sarah Bonnici, Malta's Eurovision 2024 Winner?". Lovin Malta. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b Giunta, Gianluca (3 February 2024). "Eurovision 2024: Sarah Bonnici con "Loop" per Malta". Eurofestival Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  6. ^ a b Magri, Giulia (4 February 2024). "Sarah Bonnici to represent Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest". Times of Malta. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Song Festival winners". The Malta Independent. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  8. ^ "MALTA 2010 - Malta - Nicole Azzopardi - Knock Knock... Boom Boom!". escYOUnited. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Full Results of the KKI 2012". music-news.com (in Maltese). 9 October 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Sarah Bonnici tirbaħ il-Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza 2018" [Sarah Bonnici wins the Festival Kanzunetta Indipendenza 2018]. NETnews (in Maltese). 12 September 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  11. ^ Pace, Maria (12 November 2018). "Sarah Bonnici: 'Leaving Gozo to live and study in Malta has been my biggest challenge'". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Record TV audience – over half a million viewers watch Eurovision Song Contest". TVMNews+. PBS. 20 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  13. ^ Granger, Anthony (25 October 2023). "Malta: Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Show One Participants Announced". Eurovoix. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  14. ^ Cano Alcalá, Beatriz (24 November 2023). "MESC 2024: Conoce los 12 finalistas que aspiran a representar a Malta en Eurovisión 2024" [MESC 2024: Get to know the 12 finalists wishing to represent Malta in Eurovision 2024]. ESCplus España (in European Spanish). Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  15. ^ Adams, William Lee (9 May 2024). "Eurovision 2024: Semi-Final 2 Results and Qualifiers". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  16. ^ Sturtridge, Isaac. "REVEALED: The Eurovision 2024 semi-final and final jury/televote detailed voting results". ESCXTRA. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  17. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in Malta:
    • "Loop": "PRS Malta on Facebook: BMAT PRS Malta Top 10 Airplay Chart - 28 April 2024". The Malta Independent. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
The Busker
with "Dance (Our Own Party)"
 Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
2024 		Succeeded by
TBD
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ParticipationArtistsSongs
  • "7th Wonder"
  • "All of My Love"
  • "Angel"
  • "Another Summer Night"
  • "Believe 'n Peace"
  • "Breathlessly"
  • "Chameleon"
  • "Coming Home"
  • "Could It Be"
  • Dance (Our Own Party)
  • "Desire"
  • "I Am What I Am"
  • "I Do"
  • "L-imħabba"
  • "In a Woman's Heart"
  • "Je me casse"
  • "Keep Me In Mind"
  • "Let Me Fly"
  • "Little Child"
  • "Loop"
  • "Marija l-Maltija"
  • "More Than Love"
  • "My Dream"
  • "On Again... Off Again"
  • "One Life"
  • "The One That I Love"
  • "Singing This Song"
  • "Taboo"
  • "This Is the Night"
  • "This Time"
  • "To Dream Again"
  • "Tomorrow"
  • "Vertigo"
  • "Vodka"
  • "Walk on Water"
  • "Warrior"
  • "What If We"
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