Destiny Chukunyere (born 29 August 2002), known

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

ously as Destiny, is a Maltese singer. She won the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the thirteenth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and took place, for the first time, in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian national broadcaster Bulgarian National Television, BNT was the host broadcast ...

, where she represented

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

with the song " Not My Soul". In 2017, she participated in the eleventh series of ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

'' and finished 6th in the second semi-final and thus was eliminated. She won the second season of the Maltese version of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' and was chosen to represent

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song " Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. This w ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

with the song " All of My Love" before the contest was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Instead, Destiny represented Malta in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade (song), Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was se ...

, this time with the song " Je me casse", where she finished in 7th place with 255 points.

Early life

Chukunyere was born on 29 August 2002. She lives in

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara or BKR) is a city in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the Malta (island), island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous pari ...

and attended a secondary school in

Ħamrun Hamrun ( ) is a town in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 9,244 as of March 2014. The people The townspeople are traditionally known as ''Tas-Sikkina'' (literally meaning 'of the knife' or 'those who ca ...

. Her father is

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

Nigerian former footballer

Ndubisi Chukunyere Ndubisi Chukunyere (born 23 December 1979 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a former Nigerian footballer who last played for Maltese Premier League side Hibernians, in the capacity of striker. Playing career Chukunyere began his career as a member of Sta ...

, while her mother is

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

. She has two younger siblings; a sister named Melody and a brother named Isaiah.

Career

Prior to her participation in the ''Junior Eurovision'', Chukunyere participated in various singing competitions including ''

Festival Kanzunetta Indipendenza Konkors Kanzunetta Indipendenza ("Independence Song Contest") is Maltese song competition held on a day near September 21 (Malta's independence day). All songs are performed in the Maltese language and is one of the most anticipated events on the M ...

'' 2014 in which she placed third with the song "Festa t'Ilwien"; and won the Asterisks Music Festival, and ''SanRemo'' Junior in Italy.

2015–2017: ''Junior Eurovision Song Contest''

On 11 July 2015, Chukunyere won the Maltese national final held at the

Mediterranean Conference Centre The Mediterranean Conference Centre (MCC, ) is a conference centre in Valletta, Malta. The building was built as a hospital in the 16th century by the Order of St. John, and it was known as the Sacra Infermeria or the Holy Infirmary (). It was ...

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

. She represented Malta at the

, in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria on 21 November. Chukunyere won the live national final with the

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

song "

Think In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, and delibe ...

", enabling her to represent Malta; her Junior Eurovision entry called " Not My Soul" was composed by Elton Zarb and written by Muxu with her involvement. Chukunyere won the contest with 185 points breaking the previous record score set by

María Isabel María Isabel López Rodríguez (born 4 January 1995), known professionally as María Isabel, is a Spanish singer. She rose to prominence after she won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 for with the song " Antes muerta que sencilla". ...

in 2004. On 13 December 2015, Chukunyere and her team were awarded the

Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika The Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika (Medal for Service to the Republic) is a medal of the Republic of Malta. The medal is awarded by the President of Malta, with the written approval of the Prime Minister of Malta, for distinguished service to M ...

2017–2019: ''Britain's Got Talent''

In early 2017, Chukunyere auditioned for series 11 of ITV's ''

'' singing "Think", by Aretha Franklin, where she was given four yeses. Her audition was aired on 20 May. She has received praise from established music critic

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

and international renowned

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Joseph Calleja Joseph Calleja (born January 22, 1978) is a Maltese operatic tenor. Early life and career Calleja was born in Attard, Malta. He began singing at the age of 16, having been discovered by tenor Brian Cefai and continued his studies with Maltese ...

. After listening and watching her perform, Cowell told to the rest of the judges that they "have been waiting for someone to come out who ... could be a star, and Destiny may be the one." On 27 May, she was announced as one of the qualifiers to the live shows and performed in the second semi-final on 30 May. She placed 6th in the semi-final and thus was eliminated.

2019–2020: ''X Factor Malta''

In 2019, Chukunyere appeared in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel as a backing singer for the Maltese entrant's, Michela Pace, song "

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

". The song qualified for the final, finishing in 14th place with 107 points. In 2019, Chukunyere was revealed to be taking part in the second season of '' X Factor Malta''. She was placed in the Girls category, mentored by

Ira Losco Ira Losco M.Q.R. (born 31 July 1981) is a Maltese pop singer. Her career breakthrough came in 2002, when she represented Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song " 7th Wonder". She placed second in the competition, Malta's best ...

, and advanced to the live shows. On 8 February 2020, she won the competition.

2020–2021: ''Eurovision Song Contest''

Due to her ''X Factor Malta'' win, Chukunyere was to represent

in the

, taking place in

, Netherlands. Her entry song, " All of My Love", was released on 9 March 2020. However, on 18 March, the event was cancelled due to the

. On 16 May 2020, it was confirmed that Chukunyere would represent Malta at the 2021 contest with the song " Je me casse". Her 2021 entry was released on 15 March 2021 on the official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest. "Je me casse" was released on all major streaming services on 22 March 2021. She placed seventh in the final with 255 points, receiving 208 points from the juries and 47 points from the public.

2022–Present: ''The Voice Kids Malta''

On July 15, 2022, it was announced that Chukunyere will be featured as a coach on the first season of ''The Voice Kids Malta''.

Musical style and influences

Chukunyere has named

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

, and

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

as her biggest idols and inspirations.

Discography

Singles

Promotional singles

References

External links

{{Authority control 2002 births Living people Maltese child singers 21st-century Maltese women singers 21st-century Maltese singers Maltese people of Nigerian descent Junior Eurovision Song Contest winners Recipients of Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika People from Birkirkara Britain's Got Talent contestants Maltese pop singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants