Over the course of April and May, on the lead up to the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, we will be celebrating the countries that are participating this year in Rotterdam. Today, we celebrate Italy.

Italy debuted at the Contest in 1956, in Lugano, Switzerland. Franca Raimondi took part with her entry “Aprite le finestre”, while Tonina Torrielli took part with her entry “Amami se vuoi”. Scoring at the inaugural Contest was kept secret and video footage no longer exits.

The most successful entry from Italy was in 1964 and 1990. In 1964, when the Contest took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti finished in first place with her entry “Non ho l’età”, scoring 49 points.

In 1990, when the Contest took place in Zagreb, Croatia, Toto Cutugno finished in first place with his entry “Insieme: 1992”, scoring 149 points. This included three sets of twelve points from Cyprus, Ireland and Spain.

The most recent Italian entry was due to be in 2020, when the cancelled Contest was due to take place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Diodato was due to represent Italy with his entry “Fai rumore”.

This year, Italy will be represented by Måneskin with their song “Zitti e buoni”. Will Måneskin take Italy to their third victory?

Join us tomorrow, as we celebrate Spain’s participation at the Eurovision Song Contest. Let us know what you think about the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER pages.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovision Ireland