Chiara’s song ‘Angel’, which represented Malta at the 2005 Eurovision song contest, inspired a then teenage Kobi Marimi in his journey into music, which has – thus far – led him to be Israel’s representative in this year’s Eurovision.

Marimi in fact sang Chiara’s song – which had eventually finished in second place that year – at a press conference earlier this week, and he also told Eurovoix that listening to ‘Angel’ in 2005 is his favourite Eurovision memory because the song made him feel validated in a very personal way.

“It was Eurovision 2005. I watched Chiara who represented Malta,” he said. Chiara’s performance of her song, “Angel,” made him feel validated in a very personal way. “For me, as an overweight child, watching her on stage, getting so much love — she won second place! She gave me so much power. I still listen to the song until today. I love it, I love her.”

It is those feelings that he had as an overweight child facing a lot of societal pressure that he channels into his song ‘Home’ in this year’s contest, as he represents the host country.

‘Angel’ was Chiara’s second effort out of three at representing Malta at the Eurovision, and she managed to obtain 192 points to finish second, behind Greece’s Helena Paparizou.  Chiara also represented Malta at the Eurovision in 1998 – where she cruelly missed out on winning the contest on the last set of votes – and in 2009, where she finished 22nd in the Grand Final.

The Eurovision Song Contest kicks off tonight with the first semi-final, while Michaela Pace will be singing her hit song ‘Chameleon’ in the second semi-final on Thursday.  Her song has been well-received in the international sphere, having been viewed over 7 million times on YouTube and is widely tipped to make it into Saturday’s Grand Final.