The Sanremo Music Festival crowned Mahmood & Blanco winners last night. They will represent Italy in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest which takes place in Turin on 14 May.
The duo took victory with their song Brividi in the final round of voting from the Sanremo juries and the public.
This is the second time 29-year-old Mahmood has been Italy’s Eurovision representative. He won Sanremo with his song Soldi in 2019 and went on to finish second place in the Eurovision in Tel Aviv.
This time, he is joined by 18-year-old Blanco. They are on homesoil after Måneskin won the title last year with Zitti e Buoni.
Favourites come out on top
Mahmood & Blanco were favourites to win Sanremo. Second prize went to Elisa (who won Sanremo in 2001 with her huge hit Luce) for her song O forse se tu. In third place was veteran Gianni Morandi for his song Apri tutte le porte, written by Jovanotti.
The finale of the music extravaganza saw tributes to the singer-songwriter and musician Lucio Dalla on the 10th anniversary of his death. Italian pop icon Raffaella Carrà, who died last year aged 78, also received recognition.
Millions of viewers in Italy tuned in to watch over 100 performances from competitors and guest acts.
Italy’s rocky relationship with Eurovision
Sanremo is the world’s longest-running annual televised music competition at a national level. The first edition took place in 1951, providing inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Italy has only won Eurovision three times in the competition’s 66-year history. In fact, Italy withdraw from the contest from 1997 to 2011.
However, Måneskin’s triumph last year has spearked renewed interedd in the event. And, as a result of the Rome band’s win, the Eurovision be held in Italy for the first time in 30 years. The venue for the contest in May is the PalaOlimpico in Turin.
The hosts for the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest are Laura Pausini, Alessandro Cattelan and Mika.