Introduction

• Participant(s): Måneskin
  
• Song: “Zitti e buoni” (Quiet And Good)
  
• Writer(s): Måneskin
• Composer(s): Måneskin
• Broadcaster: RAI
  
• Social media:       
  
• Team review: 

The most important TV show in Italy is the San Remo Festival, which normally takes place in February. And in times of the pandemic it’s more than important that an entertainment show with music can be watched. The winner of this festival is mostly the representative for Eurovision as well. Therefore, last year’s singer Diodato, who could not travel to Rotterdam has not been in the race this year. But his song “Fai Rumore” will stay in people’s memory, strongly connected with the lockdown when people were singing “Fai Rumore” from their balconies . This was very impressive and touching.

On the other hand it’s a chance for new singers. Among all the big names a rock band named Måneskin could win the San Remo Festival with the song “Zitti e buoni”, which means “shut up and behave”. Italy has never send a rock song to Eurovision, but the ESC is open for all genres of music. This year, there is another rock song from the Finnish band Blind Channel with “Dark Side”. While Finland has to qualify for the Grand Final, Italy has a guaranteed place in the Grand Final, because Italy belongs to the “Big 5” countries. The “Big 5” countries are France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom and they are the biggest financiers of the contest, that’s why they have this privilege as well as the host country the Netherlands.

The band Måneskin consists of Damiano David (vocals), Thomas Raggi (guitar), Victoria De Angelis (bass) and Ethan Torchio (drums) and was founded in Rome in 2016 as they know each other from school. Ethan joined the group through an ad via Facebook. The untypical band name has been chosen, because Victoria comes from Denmark and it simply means “Moonlight” in Danish. Måneskin participated in the X-Factor show and became very popular, the first EP “Chosen”  has been released and they gave many gigs around Italy, they could sign their first record contract with Sony Music. The first single “Morirò da Re”  was released in 2018 and with the ballad “Torna A Casa”  they could even reached #1 in the Italian charts. The first album “Il Ballo Della Vita” could also reach a number one position. The band is living in London and is currently working on their new album “Teatro d’Ira – Vol. 1”.

Have a look at the songs from Måneskin:

• “L’altra dimensione”
• “Vent’anni” 

The song “Zitti e buoni” is a real rock song with some funky elements, very shrill and waken, the rhythm is animating. As the song titles already tells us “shut up and behave”, the band has their own vision and attitude. The video clip is striking and interesting as well as the fashion style. This is something for the youth and the rock lovers, who will watch the ESC this year. Not a typical song, we normally hear from Italy, so it will be very interesting, how this song will shape up. This is an excerpt from the English lyrics:

You’d better not make anymore mistakes
You’d better be quiet and behave Around here,
there are strange people-like dealers
Too many nights I've spent locked outside
Now I'm kicking these doors
Eyes up like climbers
So excuse me mum if I'm always out,
but I'm out of my mind, but different from them

History

• Debut: 1956
• Participations: 47
• Victories: 2
• Finals: 47
• Top 10: 34
• Chances for Top 10: 72%
• Chances for Grand Final: 100%

For Italy it will be the 47th time participating in the Eurovision Song Contest! The original idea of the ESC resulted from the Italian music festival “San Remo Festival” which started in 1951 for the first time and it’s still exciting and is very popular, one of the most watched shows in Italy. A lot of popular Italian singers normally appear as well as international top stars. The winners have often been the representatives for Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest. The original concept came up to do a similar contest on an international level, which has become reality in 1956. Normally one of the winners of the San Remo festival has been chosen to be the Italian representative for the ESC, or the runner up.

Despite of so many Italian evergreens and top hits, Italy could only win two times with “Non Ho L'étà” by Gigliola Cinquetti in 1964 and “Insieme: 1992” by Toto Cutugno in 1990, but always shaped up quite well, especially after the comeback in 2011. Over the years many of the Italian contributions became hits or even evergreens worldwide and these are strongly connected with typical Italian music like “Per Lucia” by Riccardo Fogli in 1983 (11th), “Gente di Mare” by Umberto Tozzi & Raff in 1987 (3rd) and “Fiumi di Parole” by Jalisse in 1997 (4th) and lately the tenor trio Il Volo with “Grand Amore” (3rd). Furthermore there were many Top 10 rankings for Italy – five times 2nd and five times 3rd -, so it’s one of the most successful countries in Eurovision. The chances for a Top10 placing are enormously high with 72%. Maybe it’s also due to the fact that Italian music is very popular in general all over the world, and the Italian entries show the Italian music at its best and it is appreciated everywhere.

Italy has paused for twelve years (1998 – 2010) until the Italian broadcaster RAI has decided to return in 2011, this has been highly appreciated internationally, as Italy is known for high quality music. Luckily, Italy shaped up very well in Düsseldorf with “Follia D’Amore” by Raphael Gualazzi who came 2nd. One year later with “L’Amore E Femina” by Nina Zilli a 9th rank could be reached. Another year later Marco Mengoni could even make a respectable 7th place in Malmö, while the 2014 entry "La Mia Città" by Emma Marrone reached the 21st place in Copenhagen only, but therefore Il Volo could make the Italians proud again with “Grande Amore” and a 3rd place! In 2017 Franceco Gabbani, who was one of the big favourites to win with “Occidentali’s Karma” and came 6th, Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro with “Non mi avete fatto niente” made a brilliant 5th place in Lisbon in Lisbon! Last time in Tel Aviv 2019 Mahmood was not exception, with “Soldi”, he came 2nd.

Biggest successes

• 2x 1st place
  “Non Ho L'étà” |Gigliola Cinquetti (Copenhagen 1964)
  “Insieme: 1992” |Toto Cutugno (Zagreb 1990)
• 5x 2nd place
  “Aprite Le Finestre” |Franca Raimondi (Lugano 1956)
  “Amami Se Vuoi” | Tonina Torielli (Lugano 1956)
  “Si” |Gigliola Cinquetti (Brigthon 1974)
  “Madness Of Love” |Raphael Gualazzi (Düsseldorf 2011)
  “Soldi” | Mahmood (Tel Aviv 2019)
• 5x 3rd place
  “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu”| Domenico Modugno (Hilversum 1958)
  “Uno Per Tutte” |Emilio Pericoli (London 1963)
  “Era” |Wess and Dori Ghezzi (Stockholm 1975)
  “Gente Di Mare” |Umberto Tozzi and Raf (Brussels 1987)
  “Grande Amore” | Il Volo (Vienna 2015)

Video Nostalgia

• “Dio Come Ti Amo” | Domenico Modugno
  Rank 17, Luxembourg 1966
  
• “Questo Amore” | Ricchi e Poveri
  Rank 12, Paris 1978
  
• “Rapsodia” | Mia Martini
  Rank 4, Malmö 1992