Is Malta's 'Chameleon' fake?

If you are Maltese, or live in Malta, it is no news to you that Michela will be representing our country in this years Eurovision with the song ‘Chameleon’ (ye la la la). She was chosen as our ambassador after winning and slaying the first season of X-Factor Malta.

The music video is full of stunning visuals and vibrant colours just how one would expect a chameleon to look like. One scene in particular features Michela wearing a mustard dress and almost camouflaging into the background that also has the same print as her dress. A still from this scene was then used as the single cover on multiple streaming platforms.

However, (this is where the tea comes in) during a live Instagram session between the Maltese youtuber Charlene (@all_about_charlene) and Bernice (@queenofpatatas), the original single cover was leaked, and it shows the before and after of the editing that was done on Michela’s face and let’s just say, THEY WENT HAM! One can obviously notice that they slimmed down Michela’s face in the final version, and they also added some more makeup on the singer’s face.

This screenshot was taken directly from Charlene's live session.

Our team investigated this issue a little further and found the original picture on Ira Losco's Instagram profile. Take a look at this GIF we put together to show the before and after of the photo. (Disclaimer: The un-edited picture we found is not the exact same one from the final version. We reached out to Bernice to ask if she could send us the original photo she showed during the live session but as from the time this is being published. we haven't received any reply yet. However, while the two photos still being very similar, you can easily notice the editing that was done on the final photo.)

In our opinion, there was no need to slim down Michela's face. She is beautiful just the way she is, and in today's society, we should teach our young one to accept the reality of who we are and not to Photoshop our bodies to be 'perfect'. On a more technical point of view, we understand that this was done just for aesthetic purposes and not to harm Michela or anyone else, because at the end of the day, there is not a single artist who does not edit their professional photos.

What do you think about this issue? Do you think it was necessary for the final photo to be edited, or should it have been left as is?