Italy has been represented at theEurovision Song Contest 50 times since making its debut as one of only seven countries to compete at the first contest in1956, which took inspiration from theSanremo Music Festival.[1] The Italian participating broadcaster in the contest isRadiotelevisione italiana (RAI). It competed at the contest without interruption until1980, discontinuing its participation on a number of occasions during the 1980s and 1990s. After a 13-year absence starting in1998, the country returned to the contest in2011. Italy has won the contest three times, along with an additional 16 top-five finishes. Italy hosted the contest inNaples (1965),Rome (1991), andTurin (2022).
On 31 December 2010, theEuropean 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.[2] 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" byRaphael Gualazzi (2011) and "Soldi" byMahmood (2019), and third place for "Grande amore" byIl Volo (2015). "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 in2021, with "Zitti e buoni" by the rock bandMåneskin.
Italy has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest a number of times. The first withdrawal was in1981, when RAI stated that interest had diminished in the country.[3] This absence continued through1982, before Italy returned in1983. Italy again withdrew in1986 when RAI decided not to enter the contest.[4]From1994 to1996, Italy withdrew again, with RAI citing a lack of interest in participating. Italy returned in1997, before withdrawing again without explanation, and the country did not participate again until2011.[5]
None of the 20th century Eurovision-winning songs were particularly successful in the Italian charts. "Non ho l'età" byGigliola 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" byAlice andFranco 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.
RAI refused to broadcast the1974 contest live because their competing song, sung by Gigliola Cinquetti, coincided with the intense political campaigning for the1974 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 beingsubliminal messaging and a form ofpropaganda to influence the Italian voting public to vote 'yes' in the referendum (thus to repeal the law that allowed divorce).[6] The song thus remained censored on most Italian state TV and radio stations for over a month. At the contest inBrighton, Cinquetti finished second, losing toABBA. "Sì" went on to be a UK top ten hit, peaking at number eight. It also reached the German top 20.[citation needed] The contest was broadcast in June.
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 winnerToto Cutugno expressed their sorrow at Italy's non-participation and called for the country to return to the contest.[7][8]
Contestants from the2008 contest, starting with the winnerDima Bilan appeared on the Italian showCarramba! Che fortuna, hosted byRaffaella Carrà onRai Uno. Whether this was an initiative by Carrà (who presented in spring three shows inTVE 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."[9][10]
Shortly after revealing the list of participants for the2009 contest, the EBU announced that they would work harder to bring Italy back into the contest, along with former participantsMonaco andAustria.[11]
At a press conference presenting the fourth edition of theItalianX 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 theSanremo 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.[12] Their participation was further confirmed on 31 December with the announcement of the official participant list.[2]
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 andMarco 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-selectedEmma 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 ofSanremo 2016 after the waiver of the winnersStadio, 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 andFabrizio 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, whenMahmood placed second with 472 points. It was followed up, after the 2020 cancellation, byMåneskin'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 alongsideBlanco, placing sixth, followed by Mengoni returning in 2023, placing fourth,Angelina Mango placing seventh in 2024, andLucio Corsi (selected among the competitors ofSanremo 2025 after the waiver of the winnerOlly), placing fifth.
The Sanremo Music Festival is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city ofSanremo,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 theright of first refusal to represent Italy in the contest.[1][13]
Since 1999, four countries –France,Germany,Spain, and theUnited Kingdom – have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final regardless of their results in previous contests.[14] 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 withOGAE Serbia in 2007, then-executive supervisor of the contestSvante 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".[15][16] 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.[17] On 31 December 2010, it was announced that Italy would take part in the2011 contest and confirmed that the country would automatically qualify for the final as part of the "Big Five".[2]
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 forMåneskin (2021), second places forRaphael Gualazzi (2011) andMahmood (2019), and third place forIl Volo (2015). It is one of the only two countries of the Big Five – since it was introduced – to have won, the other being Germany in2010.
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.[29]
^Ferrio also conducted the Austrian and Irish entries
^Giacomazzi was originally brought in to conduct the Italian entry, but the Luxembourgish orchestra didn't perform it to singerDomenico Modugno's satisfaction. The Italian performance was then accompanied by a small ensemble of musicians, with Giacomazzi playing the piano. Therefore, the Italian entry didn't technically feature the orchestra, but Giacomazzi was still credited as the entry's conductor.
^abThe Italian entry was performed without orchestral accompaniment.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2012).Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn:Telos Publishing. pp. 93–101.ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2014).Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn:Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168.ISBN978-1-84583-093-9.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2016).Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn:Telos Publishing.ISBN978-1-84583-118-9.
^Anselmi, Eddy (2020).Il festival di Sanremo: 70 anni di storie, canzoni, cantanti e serate [The Sanremo festival: 70 years of stories, songs, singers and evenings] (in Italian).Milan, Italy:Planeta DeAgostini.ISBN978-88-511-7854-3."Nel 1961 è [Mantoni] commentatore Rai dell'Eurovision Song Contest." [In 1961 [Mantoni] was the commentator for Rai at the Eurovision Song Contest.]
^"Radio | sabato 3 aprile" [Radio | Saturday 3 April].Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 48, no. 13. Turin, Italy. 28 March – 3 April 1971. pp. 82–83. Retrieved4 June 2024 – via Rai Teche.
^"Radio | sabato 25 marzo" [Radio | Saturday 25 March].Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 49, no. 12. Turin, Italy. 19–25 March 1972. pp. 74–75. Retrieved6 June 2024 – via Rai Teche.
^"sabato 22 aprile" [Saturday 22 April].Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 55, no. 16. Turin, Italy. 16–22 April 1978. pp. 202–203. Retrieved26 June 2023 – via Rai Teche.
^"Stereo | Sabato 5 maggio" [Stereo | Saturday 5 May].Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 61, no. 18. Turin, Italy. 28 April – 5 May 1985. p. 71. Retrieved7 June 2024 – via Rai Teche.
^"Stereo | Sabato 4 maggio" [Stereo | Saturday 4 May].Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 62, no. 17. Turin, Italy. 28 April – 4 May 1985. p. 93. Retrieved4 June 2024 – via Rai Teche.
^Eurovision Song Contest 1997 (Television programme).Dublin,Republic of Ireland: Radio Telefís Éireann. 3 May 1997.
^"L'Eurofestival più gay" [The gayest Eurovision Song Contest] (in Italian).GAY.tv. 23 May 2003.Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved8 December 2022.
For the most recent participation see
Vienna
Kyiv
Tel Aviv
Liverpool
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