Winner's Press Conference 2021

Watch: Måneskin’s first interview as Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Champions

Måneskin’s vocalist Damiano, bassist Victoria, guitarist Thomas and drummer Ethan, marched triumphantly into the press conference at Rotterdam Ahoy, looking very much like the life-long pals they are:

'We’re four friends playing the music we love, ' said lead singer Damiano when asked what had gone through their mind when they realised they’d won the Eurovision Song Contest. 'All our hard work finally made sense.'

Hard work has clearly been a huge part of Italy’s path to Eurovision glory, and tonight it paid off. Whilst they were only in third place after the jury votes, the public vote pushed them into first place over France by a margin of 25 points.

'It means everything’ added Victoria, when asked what that public push meant to them.

That wasn’t all we learned about Måneskin during the press conference – they plan to celebrate by jumping in the river, and they loved being part of the Eurovision bubble – 'it’s one of the friendliest environments ever’. Their favourite song this year was Go_A’s Shum from Ukraine, who placed 5th.

So what’s next for Måneskin? The band confirmed a tour starting in December and more new music. But 'no more musical competitions for a while’ (they’ve now competed in X Factor, Sanremo and Eurovision), added lead singer Damiano. 'It’s too much anxiety.'

Victoria shared her thoughts on what she thought made some acts more successful at Eurovision than others:

'It’s a Contest. Someone has to come last, but even so, it should be more about participating and sharing music with the world. We didn’t come here to win – we came to share our music. Eurovision is a huge and important platform.'

Watch: Italy wins Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Grand Final

She also shared her thoughts on why it was so important for the band to defy gender stereotypes: 'people need to open their minds and stop judging others.'

Damiano added: 'We just want to thank all the artists that shared their music through this huge event.'

To wrap up the press conference, Eurovision Executive Supervisor Martin Österdahl congratulated Måneskin on their win, told them they were forever in the history books and handed Italian broadcasters RAI their Eurovision welcome pack – the beginning of their journey to hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 would begin in the morning.

Watch: the Grand Final on YouTube or learn how to watch in your region.
Read: the Grand Final Live Blog (all the action as it happened!)