Eurovision (ESC) Thursday – Italy 🇮🇹

Preface:

As I mentioned in a previous post (Random Thoughts Thursday: Eurovision), I’m going to start reviewing and making my predictions for ESC2022 as countries begin to name their artists and release their songs. While these songs will be performed at Eurovision, countries have some time to revamp the song (mainly to fit it into the 3-minute window) and staging.

In addition to making comments about the current entry, I’ll provide information about the country’s entry from last year’s Eurovision just as a comparison.

Mahmood & BLANCO – Brividi

Just as an FYI, Mahmood’s Soldi came in second place in ESC2019 losing by 26 points to Duncan Laurence’s Arcade.

Vocal:

I know this is going to be a very unpopular opinion, but I’m simply not a fan of Mahmood’s voice. While I know that he is a talented singer, there is something about his voice that turns me off. To be perfectly honest, this opinion extends to other Italian male singers like Nek, Eros Ramazzotti, and even Damiano from Måneskin (last year’s ESC21 winner). I’m not sure how I feel about Blanco at this point.

Musical Arrangement:

The ballad component with a live orchestra really works for me. Unfortunately, there will not be a live orchestra in ESC so I hope that the lack of an orchestra will not reduce the vibe/mood of the song for me (bc the vibe/mood is already pretty low for me). Low-key speaking, I would love for future ESCs to have a live orchestra, but I know that having a live orchestra might be a waste of time and money with current music trends.

Staging:

While I thought the staging was fine for a ballad, I feel like it might need a bit more to really understand (and more importantly feel) the song. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that the Italian to English translation is on the YouTube clip, but you know what I mean. For the national selection, I guess the staging works because the audience is primarily Italian, but the ESC audience is pretty mixed.

Final Thoughts:

I know that I’m going to be off for this rating, but I’m giving it a 3 out of 5. I realize that this song is in many folks’ top five, but I’m just not feeling as much as other folks. To be honest, I think the song/performance will do well because of Mahmood’s popularity from ESC2019. Had Mahmood (or a previous ESC top-five contestant) not been a part of this duo, I do not think the song would be as popular. That said, it is what it is, and I believe it will do well in this year’s contest.

Italy in last year’s Eurovision: The Winners!

Måneskin – Zitti e Buoni

We have the rehearsal video because the final is not available on YouTube.

• Semi-final results: Since Italy is a member of the Big Five, they automatically go to the final.
• Final results: 1st place out of 26 performances (524 total points – 206 national juries and 318 public votes).

I have to admit that I did not see this performance during the ESC because I probably was out having cigarettes while the band was performing. Also, I did not see or hear the song during ESC week (eg watching the official videos and rehearsal clips). I guess this is one of my issues with the Big Five and the hosting country automatically going to the final. For me, when acts perform during the semifinal rounds, it gives the song a chance to grow on me. Even if the Big Five countries and the hosting country go to the final, I think a semifinal performance could help gather more votes from non-obsessive ESC fans who probably will see these performances only during ESC week. Actually, the husband and I have rewatched ESC a few times, and I’m still blown away by this performance. OMG at the speed at which the lead singer sings during the second verse. Also, I loved the fact that the lead singer interacted with all members of the band during the performance. Many lead singers tend to stay center and front for the entire performance. I will say that this song is NOW one of my favorite ESC21 songs and has remained on many playlists for the past eight months post-ESC. I definitely see Måneskin having a great post-ESC career possibly similar to that of ABBA (ESC1974).

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