When it comes to the debate on who is the most successful Maltese singer over the past couple of years, the answer is simple. Firstly, the most successful singer in Malta isn’t Maltese… she’s Gozitan and secondly, that singer is Michela Pace.

Born with stars in her eyes and forever destined to win the hearts of the Maltese people, Michela has been on a path that would take her and her country to uncharted musical territories…

… and she’s just 18 years old.

This is the story of the unstoppable rising star, Michela Pace.

 

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A post shared by Michela (@michelamusicofficial) on Aug 21, 2019 at 5:37am PDT

There isn’t a soul on the Maltese islands that doesn’t know the name. But what many people don’t know is that her story began well before she was crowned the winner of the inaugural season of X Factor earlier this year.

In fact, Michela was sharpening her musical talents way before X Factor was even a thing, performing and winning abroad at the Music Talent League in Lithuania and going all the way to the finals at he Baltic Voices competition.

She also paid a visit to Hertfordshire and attended the Ultimate Artist Development programme, showing just how dedicated and serious she was about her chosen craft.

And she did this all before she turned 18.

Whilst most of us were in limbo about what we were going to do with the rest of our lives, Michela was already dead set on making a career out of music and that’s what she did.

She returned to Malta to try her luck at Eurovision 2017 and was even longlisted for the national selection with her song ‘Cruise Control’. Unfortunately, Michela wouldn’t see the Eurovision stage (just yet) and Claudia Faniello went to Kyiv instead but failed to qualify for the final round.

Focused and determined to give it her all, Michela looked to the next big thing, X Factor, and whilst she set her eyes on gold, the rest of the nation set theirs on her. With an exceptionally good and breathtaking first audition, everyone (including a teary-eyed Ira) knew that this was Michela’s show…and nothing was going to stop her.

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A post shared by Michela (@michelamusicofficial) on Jan 20, 2019 at 2:11am PST

Needless to say, Michela stole the show and her final performance of Lady Gaga’s Shallow not only won her the competition but has become a signature song of hers and she’s performed around Malta ever since.

X Factor Malta had its first winner. Michela Pace.

As they say, with great power comes great responsibility, and an X Factor title brought with it a chance for the young singer from Gozo to finally break the two-year Eurovision drought and take Malta to the finals.

The pressure was on. On April 4th 2019, Michela released her first single ever, Chameleon, a bubbly pop track that would represent Malta at the Eurovision Contest and it was a massive hit from the get-go.

The video became one of the most-streamed Eurovision songs on Youtube and hopes were high for the young 18 year old, who finally took Malta to the finals after a dramatic second semi-final in which she was the last person announced to make the cut.

The Eurovision final drought was over, but Michela would join a long list of Maltese contestants who fell short of a grand final vicotry.

Despite a spot-on performance in the grand finals, Michela and Chameleon finished the competition in a respectable 14th place.

 

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A post shared by Michela (@michelamusicofficial) on May 18, 2019 at 4:02pm PDT

Nonetheless, she returned home as a hero and whilst most people would consider this as the pinnacle of a musician’s career, Michela was just getting started…

She’s been super busy since she’s the Eurovision ended and most recently featured on Ira Losco’s dark and vulnerable song Cannonball.

Her rise to fame landed her the Best Rising Star at Lovin Malta’s Social Media Awards earlier this year and now she’s nominated in three categories for the Lovin Music Awards.

She’ll also be performing live at the LMAs come October 19th, where you’ll have a chance to vote for her for Best Performance Of The Night thanks to our telecom partners GO Music Wildcard.

Show your support for our rising star by attending the LMAs next week. Purchase a ticket below and we’ll see you there!