Mahmood & Blanco have won the 72nd Festival di Sanremo with their song 'Brividi' and with it the opportunity to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest on home soil in Turin.
📺 Watch: Mahmood & BLANCO – Brividi
Before competing in Sanremo, all contestants are required to tell broadcaster Rai whether they would be willing to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest should they triumph… shortly after the show, the pair confirmed that they will travel to Turin.
This will be Mahmood’s second Eurovision appearance having already represented Italy with his song Soldi in 2019, finishing second in Tel Aviv.
📺 Watch: Mahmood – Soldi (2019)
Finishing in 3rd place at Sanremo was Gianni Morandi who, like Mahmood, has also represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest once before… he came 8th in 1970 with the song Occhi di Ragazza.
Hosted by Amadeus, the week-long televisual extravaganza has seen over 100 glittering performances from the competing participants and guest acts, with shows running late into the night.
During the show on Wednesday evening, the three hosts of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest were revealed to be: Laura Pausini, Alessandro Cattelan and Mika.
Twenty-five acts were in the running to win Sanremo…
72º Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2022
Matteo Romano – Virale
Giusy Ferreri – Miele
Rkomi – Insuperabile
Iva Zanicchi – Voglio amarti
Aka 7even – Perfetta così
Massimo Ranieri – Lettera di là dal mare
Noemi – Ti amo non lo so dire
Fabrizio Moro – Sei tu
Dargen D’Amico – Dove si balla
Elisa – O forse sei tu
Irama – Ovunque sarai
Michele Bravi – Inverno dei fiori
La Rappresentante di Lista – Ciao ciao
Emma – Ogni volta è così
Mahmood & Blanco – Brividi
Highsnob & Hu – Abbi cura di te
Sangiovanni – Farfalle
Gianni Morandi – Apri tutte le porte
Ditonellapiaga & Donatella Rettore – Chimica
Yuman – Ora e qui
Achille Lauro feat. Harlem Gospel Choir – Domenica
Ana Mena – Duecentomila ore
Tananai – Sesso occasionale
Giovanni Truppi – Tuo padre, mia madre, Lucia
Le Vibrazioni – Tantissimo
Elisa, Gianni Morandi, and Mahmood & Blanco were the top 3 finalists after the penultimate round of voting (press jury, demoscopic jury and televote); the other 22 acts were eliminated and phone lines were opened once more for the super final.
The Results:
Mahmood & Blanco – Brividi (1st)
Elisa – O forse sei tu (2nd)
Gianni Morandi – Apri tutte le porte (3rd)
Italy, as the host country, automatically qualifies for the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest which will take place on Saturday 14 May 2022.
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
In 1997, the country withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest but since their return in 2011 they’ve finished inside the top 10 on a whopping 8 occasions out of 10, picking up two silver medals and a win along the way….
📺 Watch: Måneskin – Zitti E Buoni (Grand Final 2021)
The Italians struck gold at the 2021 Grand Final in Rotterdam with alt-rock band Måneskin. Their self-penned track Zitti E Buoni (English translation: ‘Shut Up and Behave’) won the Eurovision Song Contest with 524 points and became an instant hit, as did their follow-up songs I Wanna Be Your Slave and Mamma Mia.
The band have enjoyed enormous success across Europe and beyond, topping global streaming charts (their cover of Beggin’ alone was used in 9 million TikTok creations overall and 3.7 billion views of the #Maneskin hashtag) and becoming the first Eurovision Song Contest winners since ABBA to appear on America’s hugely popular Saturday Night Live.
Can Italy do the double this year?
Let us know what you think via the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook channels.
