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Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest frequently from 1956 to 1997. It was one of only seven countries that competed at the very first contest. The country competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, marking its first participation in the contest after a 14-year absence. Italy is also one of the countries that has never done a full performance in English - only four of their entries have been performed in a mix of English and Italian.

Italy sometimes uses the "Festival di Sanremo" to choose their song, with the winner receiving first refusal to participate in Eurovision. The festival is also credited for giving the inspiration for the Eurovision concept.

The EBU had previously announced that they would work harder to bring Italy back to the contest in 2010, along with former participants Monaco and Austria, but again Italy did not participate in the contest.

On 31 December 2010, it was officially announced by the EBU that Italy would return to the contest. As it is one of the biggest contributors to the EBU, it would automatically qualify for the final, thus turning the already established "Big Four" into what is now known as the Big Five.

Italy's return to the contest proved to be successful, having always achieved a top 10 position since with the exception of 2014 (where the country placed lower than 20th) and 2016 (finishing outside the top 15), which culminated in their first win since 1990 (Måneskin - Zitti e buoni) in 2021.

Gallery[]

Participants[]

Year Artist Song Language Place Points Semi Points
1956 Franca Raimondi Aprite le finestre Italian 2 N/A No Semi Finals
Tonina Torrielli Amami se vuoi
1957 Nunzio Gallo Corde della mia chitarra 6 7
1958 Domenico Modugno Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu 3 13
1959 Piove (Ciao, ciao bambina) 6 11
1960 Renato Rascel Romantica 8 5
1961 Betty Curtis Al di là 5 12
1962 Claudio Villa Addio, addio 9 3
1963 Emilio Pericoli Uno per tutte 3 37
1964 Gigliola Cinquetti Non ho l'età 1 49
1965 Bobby Solo Se piangi, se ridi 5 15
1966 Domenico Modugno Dio, come ti amo 17 0
1967 Claudio Villa Non andare più lontano 11 4
1968 Sergio Endrigo Marianne 10 7
1969 Iva Zanicchi Due grosse lacrime bianche 13 5
1970 Gianni Morandi Occhi di ragazza 8 5
1971 Massimo Ranieri L'amore è un attimo 5 91
1972 Nicola di Bari I giorni dell'arcobaleno 6 92
1973 Massimo Ranieri Chi sarà con te 13 74
1974 Gigliola Cinquetti 2 18
1975 Wess & Dori Ghezzi Era 3 115
1976 Al Bano & Romina Power We'll Live It All Again Italian, English 7 69
1977 Mia Martini Libera Italian 13 33
1978 Ricchi e Poveri Questo amore 12 53
1979 Matia Bazar Raggio di luna 15 27
1980 Alan Sorrenti Non so che darei 6 87
19811982 Did not participate
1983 Riccardo Fogli Per Lucia Italian 11 41 No Semi Finals
1984 Alice & Franco Battiato I treni di Tozeur 5 70
1985 Al Bano & Romina Power Magic, oh, Magic Italian, English 7 78
1986 Did not participate
1987 Umberto Tozzi & Raf Gente di Mare Italian 3 103 No Semi Finals
1988 Luca Barbarossa Vivo (Ti scrivo) 12 52
1989 Anna Oxa & Fausto Leali Avrei Voluto 9 56
1990 Toto Cutugno Insieme: 1992 1 149
1991 Peppino di Capri Comme è ddoce 'o mare Neapolitan 7 89
1992 Mia Martini Rapsodia Italian 4 111
1993 Enrico Ruggeri Sole d'Europa 12 45 Participated in 1992
1994-1996 Did not participate
1997 Jalisse Fiumi di Parole Italian 4 114 No Semi Final
1998-2010 Did not participate
2011 Raphael Gualazzi Madness of Love Italian, English 2 189 Member of the Big Five
2012 Nina Zilli L'amore è femmina (Out of Love) 9 101
2013 Marco Mengoni L'Essenziale Italian 7 126
2014 Emma La Mia Città 21 33
2015 Il Volo Grande Amore 3 292
2016 Francesca Michielin No Degree of Separation Italian, English 16 124
2017 Francesco Gabbani Occidentali's Karma Italian 6 334
2018 Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro Non mi avete fatto niente 5 308
2019 Mahmood Soldi 2 472
2020 Diodato Fai rumore Contest cancelled
2021 Måneskin Zitti e buoni 1 524 Member of the Big Five
2022 Mahmood & Blanco Brividi 6 268
2023 Marco Mengoni Due vite 4 350
2024 Angelina Mango La noia

Trivia[]

  • The first two Italian winners set age records at the time of their win (Gigliola Cinquetti was the youngest winner at age 16 when she won 1964, whereas Toto Cutugno was the oldest when he won 1990). Both have since then been broken.
  • The Sanremo Festival is one of the oldest televised music competitions in the world, with only Japan's Kohaku Uta Gassen predating it by a couple of weeks.

Videos[]

Eurovision Song Contest
Editions
195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Countries
AlbaniaAndorraArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroMoroccoThe NetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSerbia and MontenegroSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited KingdomUkraineYugoslavia
Winning Songs
RefrainNet Als ToenDors, mon amourEen beetjeTom PillibiNous les amoureuxUn premier amourDanseviseNon ho l'etàPoupée de Cire, Poupée de SonMerci, ChériePuppet on a StringLa, La, LaBoom Bang-a-BangVivo CantandoUn jour, un enfantDe TroubadourAll Kinds of EverythingUn banc, un arbre, une rueAprès ToiTu Te ReconnaîtrasWaterlooDing-a-DongSave Your Kisses For MeL'Oiseau et l'enfantA-Ba-Ni-BiHallelujahWhat's Another YearMaking Your Mind UpEin bißchen FriedenSi la vie est cadeauDiggiloo DiggileyLa Det SwingeJ'aime La VieHold Me NowNe Partez Pas Sans MoiRock MeInsieme: 1992Fångad av en stormvindWhy Me?In Your EyesRock 'n' Roll KidsNocturneThe VoiceLove Shine a LightDivaTake Me To Your HeavenFly on the Wings of LoveEverybodyI WannaEveryway That I CanWild DancesMy Number OneHard Rock HallelujahMolitvaBelieveFairytaleSatelliteRunning ScaredEuphoriaOnly TeardropsRise Like a PhoenixHeroes1944Amar pelos doisToyArcadeZitti e buoniStefaniaTattoo
Specials
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision's Greatest HitsEurope Shine a Light
Aspects of Eurovision
CommentatorEuroClubEurovision VillageExecutive SupervisorFlag ParadeGrand PrixGreen RoomHead of DelegationInterval ActNational FinalNational JuryOfficial RulesOpening CeremonyPre-PartiesPre-Song PostcardsReference GroupRest of the World VoteRunning Order DrawSemi-FinalsScoreboardSpokespersonTelevotingVoting Systems
Miscellaneous
Big FiveCurse of 43Curse of Number TwoCurse of GreenDouze Points!ESCRadio AwardsESC Top 250Eurovision AgainEurovision National BroadcastersEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaFounding SevenLGBT visibilityLynda WoodruffMarcel Bezençon AwardsNul PointsOGAERecordsStand-insThe Reorder BoardTie SituationTop Scoring SongsVoting DiasporaWinner's CurseWithdrawn SongsYou're a Vision Award
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