Where are they now? Daniel Testa

In February of this year, Daniel tried to represent his country at the adult Eurovision Song Contest, qualifying to the final of Malta’s national selection and eventually coming third! But what does he remember about taking part in Junior Eurovision in Cyprus? We caught up with him a few months ago to find out!

“I still remember the moment when we arrived at the hotel in Cyprus, there were a lot of press, photographers, and security – at 11 years old I felt like a massive celebrity which was really, really cool!”. recalls Daniel. “On the night of the final, I remember them calling me out three songs before, waiting backstage for my time to go on stage, it was a very exciting moment at that age and I really enjoyed it”.

It’s been six years since Daniel entered the competition, but he is still in touch with a few of the other participants from 2008. “In fact, Viktoria Petryk from Ukraine, messaged me to wish me good luck in the national selection in Malta” he revealed. Viktoria, of course, came very close to representing her own country in Eurovision this year as well!

Eight years older, and most certainly wiser from the experience, Daniel is now at college. “I’m a student studying biology and chemistry, because I’d like to become a doctor” he says. “But I’ll need six to seven years to finish my course at university. I also work at Malta’s top radio station as a presenter, and I’ve done some pantomimes and things like that, so always doing lots of stuff”.

Looking back on his participation in Junior Eurovision, Daniel has only fond memories on his decision to take part. “At that age, it’s the best thing you can do, to enter Junior Eurovision - it’s a massive stepping stone to perform in front of large numbers of people so it can really help” says Daniel. “Obviously you have to go step by step, but Junior Eurovision it as big step up and I’m very happy I did it.”

Junior Eurovision received unprecedented coverage in Malta last year, following Gaia’s victory In Kyiv, as Daniel explains: “I was watching when Gaia won, I was really pleased and was so happy. I went on Facebook, and literally all of Malta was posting on there!”

Having come close to making it to the adult Eurovision stage, Has Daniel got the bug to try and represent Malta again? “Yes! Hopefully there won’t be many, many Malta song entries before I can represent Malta, but I’d love to try next year as well.”

Coming from an island that just loves Eurovision, Daniel has a message for all of you, our readers, too: “I hope you liked my song this year, and hope to see you next year!” That we did Daniel, and good luck for 2015!

Lastly, can Daniel still sing his Junior Eurovision entry, "Junior Swing"? He sure can! Enjoy: