The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the world’s most watched non-sporting events and among the largest music competitions on the planet. This year’s warbling participants are taking to the stage this week in Liverpool to perform original songs in front of an international audience. With the theme #UnitedbyMusic, the 2023 Eurovision sfida (challenge) will culminate in the grand finale on Saturday, May 13, expected to be viewed by almost 7 million Italians.
Said to be modeled after the Festival di Sanremo, the first Eurovision Song Contest was held on May 24, 1956, in the Swiss-Italian town of Lugano and was hosted in Italian. Since its inauguration, Eurovision has grown in popularity and is now watched by music lovers across the planet.
Despite the influential role of Italy in the Eurovision contest, the bel Paese has taken home top honors just three times in the festival’s history. Here’s a look back at the three Italian songs that were effectively named the “best song in Europe” in their respective years.
Eurovision 1964 (Copenhagen): Non ho l'étà by Gigliola Cinquetti
Receiving three times as many votes as the runner-up, Gigliola Cinquetti was the first Italian to win the Eurovision trophy. At age 16 years and 92 days, Cinquetti held the record as the youngest winner of the contest — a title she kept until 1986 when Sandra Kim of Belgium took the honors at 13. Some 58 years after Cinquetti’s historic triumph, Cinquetti performed her winning song, Non Ho L'étà (Per Amarti) or (I’m Not Old Enough (to Love You)) during the finale of the 2022 Eurovision contest in Turin.
Eurovision 1990 (Zagreb): Insieme: 1992 by Toto Cutugno
Italian pop singer Salvatore “Toto” Cutugno won the Eurovision contest back in 1990 for his unity anthem Insieme: 1992 that celebrated the establishment of the European Union. Born in Tuscany and raised in Liguria, Cutugno became the oldest winner of the contest, a record that stood until Danish duo the Olsen Brothers broke it in 2000.
Eurovision 2021 (Rotterdam): Zitti e Buoni by Måneskin
Italian glam-rock group Måneskin burst onto the international scene thanks to their win at the 2021 Eurovision contest with their song Zitti e Buoni, which translates to “Shut up and behave.” The group made history by becoming the first Italian musical group to go home with a prestigious MTV Music Award for “Best Alternative Video.”
Lay down your bets: Italians at Eurovision 2023
The lineup for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest includes the first-place winner of the Sanremo Music Festival 2023, solo artist Marco Mengoni, whose victory earned him the right to represent Italy with his ballad, Due vite (Two Lives). Notably, Italy has an automatic entry into the Saturday final, as one of the “Big Five” competitors alongside France, Germany, Spain and the UK. Last year’s winner Ukraine also gets a free pass to the final.
Also competing but not guaranteed to make the final is the alt-rock band, Piqued Jacks, who will sing their entry “Like an Animal” entirely in English on Thursday, May 11,. Although the group lives in a Tuscan village, they qualified to represent the Republic of San Marino — the fifth smallest country in the world and a European micro-state enclaved by Italy — by winning Una Voce Per San Marino. Although a win for Piqued Jacks is considered a long shot, when votes from the public are being tabulated, anything can happen.
As of this writing, both acts are still in the running. If either of the two songs should be victorious, it will be only the fourth time in Eurovision history that an Italian song has walked away with the top title.
Where to watch Eurovision 2023 in Italy and abroad
Italian broadcaster RAI will air the remaining shows (May 11 and 13) on live television throughout Italy and they will also be available to watch on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel, if available in your region.
Eurovision fans in the US can watch coverage of the 2023 Grand Final on Saturday, May 13 on NBC’s streaming service Peacock, hosted by former Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir.
