“Don’t think because you’re a guy or girl from Malta you can’t make it,” Emma Muscat told fans on Friday.

The 19-year-old was addressing a press conference after landing from her experience in Italian competition show Amici. Ms Muscat was eliminated from the show last week.

Culture Minister Owen Bonnici and Nationalist MP David Agius were at the airport to meet the young starlet.

Ms Muscat said she didn’t regret anything, adding that she missed her family, her friends and her dog.

It was a chaotic scene at the Luqa airport, with scores of fans screaming Emma’s name as she came out. Some passionate teenage fans were even crying as the young starlet reached out to them.

Ms Muscat said she was excited to work on upcoming music and releasing an album. She noted that she had no concert planned.

As for her relationship with on-screen lover Biondo? “We’ve become like each other’s other half,” she gushed

The 19-year-old singer was eliminated at the semi-final stage following a televoting round which rankled with many of Emma’s fans in Malta.

Emma, who counts Alicia Keys and Arethra Franklin among her musical heroes, missed out on a place in the show’s final, with rival singer Einar instead taking her place.

Despite the elimination, Emma walked away from Amici with a Warner Music record contract in her back pocket.

In Amici, 20 aspiring young singers and dancers compete over half a year as they are gradually eliminated. It is Italy’s longest-running television talent show, having first appeared on TV screens in 2001.

Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina