Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox song contest country
Italy has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 50 times since making its debut as one of only seven countries to compete at the first contest in Template:Escyr, which took inspiration from the Sanremo Music Festival.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The Italian participating broadcaster in the contest is Template:Lang (RAI). It competed at the contest without interruption until Template:Escyr, discontinuing its participation on a number of occasions during the 1980s and 1990s. After a 13-year absence starting in Template:Escyr, the country returned to the contest in Template:Escyr. Italy has won the contest three times, along with an additional 16 top-five finishes. Italy hosted the contest in Naples (Template:Escyr), Rome (Template:Escyr), and Turin (Template:Escyr).
In Template:Escyr, "Template:Lang" performed by Domenico Modugno finished third. Commonly known as "Template:Lang", the song became a huge international hit, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 and winning two Grammy Awards at its first edition. "Template:Lang" by Emilio Pericoli also finished third in Template:Escyr, before Italy won for the first time in Template:Escyr with "Template:Lang" by Gigliola Cinquetti. Cinquetti returned to the contest in Template:Escyr and finished second with "Template:Lang", losing to "Waterloo" by ABBA. Italy then finished third in 1975 with "Template:Lang" by Wess and Dori Ghezzi. The country's best result of the 1980s was "Template:Lang" by Umberto Tozzi and Raf finishing third in Template:Escyr. Italy's second victory in the contest came in Template:Escyr with "Template:Lang" by Toto Cutugno. Other good 1990s results were "Template:Lang" by Mia Martini in Template:Escyr and "Template:Lang" by Jalisse in Template:Escyr, which both finished fourth. After 1997, Italy withdrew from the competition.
On 31 December 2010, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Italy would be returning to the contest as part of the "Big Five", thereby granting the country automatic qualification for the final.<ref name="Italy return">Template:Cite web</ref> Italy's return to the contest has proved to be successful, finishing in the top ten in 12 of the last 14 contests (2011–25), including second places for "Madness of Love" by Raphael Gualazzi (Template:Escyr) and "Template:Lang" by Mahmood (Template:Escyr), and third place for "Template:Lang" by Il Volo (Template:Escyr). "Grande amore" won the televote, receiving votes from all countries, but came sixth with the juries. This was the first time since the introduction of the mixed jury/televote system in 2009 that the televote winner did not end up winning the contest. Italy achieved its third victory in the contest in Template:Escyr, with "Zitti e buoni" by the rock band Måneskin.
History
Template:Lang (RAI) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has participated in the contest representing Italy since its Template:Escyr in 1956.
Absences
Italy has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest a number of times. The first withdrawal was in Template:Escyr, when RAI stated that interest had diminished in the country.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This absence continued through Template:Escyr, before Italy returned in Template:Escyr. Italy again withdrew in Template:Escyr when RAI decided not to enter the contest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From Template:Escyr to Template:Escyr, Italy withdrew again, with RAI citing a lack of interest in participating. Italy returned in Template:Escyr, before withdrawing again without explanation, and the country did not participate again until Template:Escyr.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
None of the 20th century Eurovision-winning songs were particularly successful in the Italian charts. "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti was a hit in February 1964 when the song won the 1964 contest, but according to the official "Hit Parade Italia" website, "Waterloo", "Ding-a-dong", "Puppet on a String", "Save Your Kisses for Me" and even Italy's own winning entry of 1990, "Insieme: 1992", all failed to enter the top ten of the records sales charts. A notable exception to this rule was the 1984 entry "I treni di Tozeur" by Alice and Franco Battiato, which shared fifth place in the final, but still became a #3 hit in Italy and also placed at #20 on the chart of the best-selling Italian singles in 1984.
TV censorship of the 1974 contest
RAI refused to broadcast the Template:Escyr live because their competing song, sung by Gigliola Cinquetti, coincided with the intense political campaigning for the 1974 Italian divorce referendum which was to be held a month later in May. Despite the Eurovision Song Contest taking place more than a month before the planned vote, Italian censors refused to allow the contest and song to be shown or heard. RAI censors felt that the song, titled "Sì" (Yes), and contained lyrics constantly repeating the aforementioned word could be subject to accusation of being subliminal messaging and a form of propaganda to influence the Italian voting public to vote 'yes' in the referendum (thus to repeal the law that allowed divorce).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song thus remained censored on most Italian state TV and radio stations for over a month. At the contest in Brighton, Cinquetti finished second, losing to ABBA. "Sì" went on to be a UK top ten hit, peaking at number eight. It also reached the German top 20.Template:Citation needed The contest was broadcast in June.
The 2008–2010 period
In 2008, two notable Italian musicians, Vince Tempera (who was the conductor for Malta in 1975 and had helped San Marino take part in the ESC in 2008) and Eurovision winner Toto Cutugno expressed their sorrow at Italy's non-participation and called for the country to return to the contest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Contestants from the Template:Escyr, starting with the winner Dima Bilan appeared on the Italian show Carramba! Che fortuna, hosted by Raffaella Carrà on Rai Uno. Whether this was an initiative by Carrà (who presented in spring three shows in TVE concerning the event, including the national final) to try to bring Eurovision back to Italy is not clear, but Sietse Bakker, then-Manager Communications & PR of the Eurovision Song Contest, reiterated that "Italy is still very much welcome to take part in the competition."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Shortly after revealing the list of participants for the Template:Escyr, the EBU announced that they would work harder to bring Italy back into the contest, along with former participants Monaco and Austria.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Return (2011–present)
At a press conference presenting the fourth edition of the Italian X Factor, Rai 2 director Massimo Liofredi announced that the winner of the competition might advance to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest, rather than participate in the Sanremo Festival, as in previous years. On 2 December 2010, it was officially announced by the EBU that Italy had applied to compete in the 2011 contest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Their participation was further confirmed on 31 December with the announcement of the official participant list.<ref name="Italy return" />
In 2011, Raphael Gualazzi finished second, then Italy's best result since 1990. Italy came first with the jury vote, but only 11th in the televote to place second overall. Nina Zilli in 2012 and Marco Mengoni in 2013 placed in the top ten (ninth and seventh, respectively); the latter scored 126 points, exactly doubling the points total of the other "Big Five" countries that year.
This trend came to a stop in 2014, when internally-selected Emma Marrone finished in 21st place. In 2015, Il Volo finished third with 292 points placing first in the televote but sixth in the jury vote. Since the introduction of the 50/50 split voting system, this was the first time that the televote winner did not win the contest overall. Francesca Michielin, selected among the competitors of Sanremo 2016 after the waiver of the winners Stadio, ended in 16th place. Francesco Gabbani came in sixth place in 2017. In 2018, although not initially a big favourite with the bookmakers, Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro returned Italy to the top five, aided significantly by finishing third in the televote, which heavily counterbalanced the 17th place by the jury, finishing fifth overall.
Italy's best result since returning to the competition to that point came in 2019, when Mahmood placed second with 472 points. It was followed up, after the 2020 cancellation, by Måneskin's victory in the 2021 contest with 524 points, marking Italy's third win as well as breaking the band onto the international music scene. Mahmood returned in 2022 as the host entrant alongside Blanco, placing sixth, followed by Mengoni returning in 2023, placing fourth, Angelina Mango placing seventh in 2024, and Lucio Corsi (selected among the competitors of Sanremo 2025 after the waiver of the winner Olly), placing fifth.
Sanremo Music Festival
Template:Main The Sanremo Music Festival is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. First held in 1951 and itself the basis and inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest, the festival has often been used as a method of choosing the Italian entry for the European contest, with some exceptions over the years. Since 2015, the winner of the festival has been given the right of first refusal to represent Italy in the contest.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Italy and the "Big Five"
Since 1999, four countries – Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, and the Template:Esccnty – have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final regardless of their results in previous contests.<ref name="50yrs">Template:Cite book</ref> The participating broadcasters from these countries earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU, and subsequently became known as the "Big Four". In a meeting with OGAE Serbia in 2007, then-executive supervisor of the contest Svante Stockselius stated that, if Italy were to return to the contest in the future, the country would also automatically qualify for the final, becoming part of a "Big Five".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, with the official announcement of the return of Italy, it was not confirmed whether the country would compete in one of the two semi-finals or be part of the "Big Five", as RAI, third largest contributor to the EBU, had not applied for "Big Five" membership.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> On 31 December 2010, it was announced that Italy would take part in the Template:Escyr and confirmed that the country would automatically qualify for the final as part of the "Big Five".<ref name="Italy return" />
Italy is currently the most successful Big Five country in the Eurovision Song Contest following the introduction of the rule, finishing in the top ten in 12 of the last 14 contests (2011–25), including a victory for Måneskin (Template:Escyr), second places for Raphael Gualazzi (Template:Escyr) and Mahmood (Template:Escyr), and third place for Il Volo (Template:Escyr). It is one of the only two countries of the Big Five – since it was introduced – to have won, the other being Germany in Template:Escyr.
Participation overview
| 1 | First place |
| 2 | Second place |
| 3 | Third place |
| ◁ | Last place |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete |
| † | Upcoming event |
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
| Artist | Song | Language | At Congratulations | At Eurovision | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final | Points | Semi | Points | Year | Place | Points | |||
| Domenico Modugno | "Template:Lang" | Italian | 2 | 267 | 2 | 200 | Template:Escyr | 3 | 13 |
Hostings
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Escyr | Naples | Auditorium RAI | Renata Mauro |
| Template:Escyr | Rome | Teatro 15 di Cinecittà | Gigliola Cinquetti and Toto Cutugno |
| Template:Escyr | Turin | PalaOlimpico | Alessandro Cattelan, Laura Pausini and Mika |
Awards
Marcel Bezençon Awards
| Year | Category | Song | Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Escyr | Press Award | "Grande amore" | Il Volo | 3 | 292 | Template:Flagicon Vienna | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
| Template:Escyr | Press Award | "Occidentali's Karma" | Francesco Gabbani | 6 | 334 | Template:Flagicon Kyiv | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
| Template:Escyr | Composer Award | "Soldi" | Mahmood | 2 | 465 | Template:Flagicon Tel Aviv | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
| Template:Escyr | Composer Award | "Due vite" | Marco Mengoni | 4 | 350 | Template:Flagicon Liverpool | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
Winner by OGAE members
| Year | Song | Performer | Final result |
Points | Host city | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Escyr | "Grande amore" | Il Volo | 3 | 292 | Template:Flagicon Vienna | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
| Template:Escyr | "Occidentali's Karma" | Francesco Gabbani | 6 | 334 | Template:Flagicon Kyiv | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
| Template:Escyr | "Soldi" | Mahmood | 2 | 465 | Template:Flagicon Tel Aviv | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
Related involvement
Conductors
Heads of delegation
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
| Year | Head of delegation | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–2019 | Nicola Caligiore | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
| 2020–2021 | Simona Martorelli | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
| 2022–present | Mariangela Borneo | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
Commentators and spokespersons
Other shows
| Show | Commentator(s) | Channel(s) | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light | Flavio Insinna and Federico Russo | Rai 1 | {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| Template:Ill and Ema Stokholma | Rai 4 Rai Radio 2 |
Photo gallery
-
Domenico Modugno in Hilversum (Template:Escyr)
-
Bobby Solo in Naples (Template:Escyr)
-
Gianni Morandi in Amsterdam (Template:Escyr)
-
Raphael Gualazzi in Düsseldorf (Template:Escyr)
-
Marco Mengoni in Malmö (Template:Escyr)
-
Emma in Copenhagen (Template:Escyr)
-
Il Volo in Vienna (Template:Escyr)
-
Francesca Michielin in Stockholm (Template:Escyr)
-
Francesco Gabbani in Kyiv (Template:Escyr)
-
Mahmood in Tel Aviv (Template:Escyr)
-
Måneskin in Rotterdam (Template:Escyr)
-
Marco Mengoni in Liverpool (Template:Escyr)
-
Angelina Mango in Malmö (Template:Escyr)
-
Lucio Corsi in Basel (Template:Escyr)
,_Bestanddeelnr_923-3708.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
See also
- Italy in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links
Template:Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest Template:Eurovision Song Contest Template:Authority control