Malta's Ira Losco Competes Six Months Pregnant

MAY 15 2016 · 12:10

Ira Losco · "Walk on Water" · Malta · 2016 Placement: 12 · Score: 153 · Language: English · Composers: Molly Pettersson Hammar, Kristofer Östergren · Venue: Ericsson Globe · Host: Stockholm, Sweden · Type: return · Broadcast: streaming era Ira Losco returns to Eurovision fourteen years after her 2002 runner-up finish, this time six months pregnant. PBS Malta had selected her with the song 'Chameleon'; EBU rules allowed Losco's team to swap songs, and they substituted 'Walk on Water' shortly before Stockholm. She performs in a loose white dress, showing her pregnancy, backed by two dancers and dramatic lighting. 153 points for 12th place. Jamala wins with '1944'. Context Losco was a beloved Maltese pop institution — her 2002 'Seventh Wonder' had finished 2nd. The song swap was publicly explained as strategic; reportedly 'Chameleon' had leaked online prematurely, triggering the change. Pregnant performance at Eurovision was not unprecedented but rare at this visible stage. Legacy Losco gave birth shortly after Eurovision. She continued as Malta's leading pop star. The 2016 pregnancy appearance is frequently cited in gender-studies Eurovision scholarship as visible pregnant performance in a competition overwhelmingly dominated by youth-sexualized performance norms. 'Walk on Water' charted across Maltese and UK markets.