Claudia Faniello had a four-year break from the Malta Eurovision Song Contest before she returned in style to clinch the title last week.

It was Ms Faniello’s ninth attempt at the festival and in a revealing Times Talk interview she attributes this never-say-die attitude to her mother’s role in her upbringing.

“We were raised from a young age to learn from our experiences and mistakes and to be better every day,” she told Kurt Sansone.

Ms Faniello also spoke about her relationship with elder brother Fabrizio, who twice made it to the Eurovision finals, and how as a child she used to look up to him.

With this year’s festival winner being chosen exclusively by televoting, Ms Faniello said it was a good decision giving people the choice. “Breathlessly will be there because people want it.”

She said the song was about everyday relationships, which tallies with the type of social messages Ms Faniello prefers to give out through her singing.

“I am not the type to deliver political messages,” she said, when asked whether singers should adopt political roles.

Watch the full interview in the above video.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.