Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 48 times since making its debut as one of only seven countries to compete at the first contest in 1956, which took inspiration from the Sanremo Music Festival. Italy competed at the contest without interruption until 1980, discontinuing its participation on a number of occasions during the 1980s and 1990s. After a 13-year absence starting in 1998, the country returned to the contest in 2011. Italy has won the contest three times, along with an additional 16 top-five finishes. Italy hosted the contest in Naples (1965), Rome (1991) and Turin (2022).
Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni, better known as Raffaella Carrà, was an Italian singer, dancer, television presenter, actress and model. Considered a pop culture icon in Europe and Latin America, between the 1970s and 1980s she became a pioneer of feminism and women's sexual freedom in the television and music industry, as well as an LGBT icon and an icon of fashion and design.
X Factor Italia is a TV show that airs on prime time in Italy. The singing competition is the Italian version of Britain's The X Factor. As of Season 17, it is currently hosted by Francesca Michielin. Francesco Facchinetti hosted the show's first four seasons before being replaced by Alessandro Cattelan for Season 5 up to Season 14 before being replaced by Ludovico Tersigni for one season. While the first four seasons were aired on Rai Due, the second channel of Italian public television service, at the moment the show is broadcast on Sky Uno, the main channel of Sky Italy.
Marco Mengoni is an Italian singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 2009, after winning the third season of Italian talent show X Factor. Since that he has sold over 2.8 million records in Italy, peaking the Italian albums chart seven consecutive times and entering the Top 10 Italian Singles Chart fifteen times. He won the Sanremo Music Festival in 2013 and again in 2023, therefore representing Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest in both years, respectively.
Noemi is an Italian singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in 2009, after competing in the second season of Italian talent show X Factor. Immediately after being eliminated from the competition, she released her debut single, "Briciole", which peaked at number 2 on the FIMI Singles Chart. As of 2022, she has released 6 studio albums, which spawned commercially successful singles such as "Vuoto a perdere", "Sono solo parole", "La borsa di una donna", "Glicine" and the chart toppers "L'amore si odia", featuring vocals by Fiorella Mannoia, and "Per tutta la vita". She dueted with Italian band Stadio and with rapper Fedez, among others, and her single "Makumba", a duet with Carl Brave, became a summer hit in 2021. Noemi performed songs for the soundtrack of Italian films Women vs. Men and Domani è un altro giorno, receiving a special Nastro d'Argento award in 2019.
Mara Maionchi is an Italian record producer and television personality.
Francesca Michielin is an Italian singer-songwriter, music producer, writer and television presenter. She rose to fame after winning the fifth season of the Italian talent show X Factor, she published five studio album and several successful singles, peaking four times at numer one on the Italian Singles Chart and selling over 1.3 million copies in Italy.
Maria Chiara Fraschetta, better known by her stage name Nina Zilli, is an Italian singer-songwriter. After releasing her debut single "50mila", she achieved commercial success with the album Sempre lontano, released after participating in the newcomers' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2010. During the Sanremo Music Festival 2012, Zilli was chosen to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where she placed 9th with the song "L'amore è femmina ", included in her second studio album. Zilli returned to the Sanremo Music Festival in 2015, and competed with the song "Sola" from her upcoming album, Frasi&Fumo. She was also a judge of Italia's Got Talent from 2015 to 2017.
Antonio Diodato, known simply as Diodato, is an Italian singer-songwriter. He won the 70th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Fai rumore" and was scheduled to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, before the event's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is a list of Italian television related events from 2001.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "No Degree of Separation" written by Federica Abbate, Francesca Michielin, Cheope, Fabio Gargiulo and Norma Jean Martine. The song was performed by Francesca Michielin. Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) announced in October 2015 that the winning performer(s) of the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2016 would have the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden. The selected performer would also be given the right to choose their own song to compete with at Eurovision. The group Stadio ended up winning the Big Artists section, however they declined the opportunity to represent Italy in Stockholm. RAI then appointed the runner-up, Francesca Michielin, as the Italian entrant. Michielin performed a bilingual Italian and English version of her Sanremo runner-up entry "Nessun grado di separazione", which was titled "No Degree of Separation" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Occidentali's Karma", written by Francesco Gabbani, Filippo Gabbani, Luca Chiaravalli and Fabio Ilacqua. The song was performed by Francesco Gabbani. Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) announced in October 2016 that the winning performer(s) of the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2017 would earn the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The selected performer would also be given the right to choose their own song to compete with at Eurovision. In February 2017, Francesco Gabbani emerged as the winner of Sanremo with the song "Occidentali's Karma". The artist accepted the invitation to represent Italy at Eurovision and decided that "Occidentali's Karma" would be his contest entry.
Francesco Gabbani is an Italian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He rose to fame after winning the newcomers' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2016 with the song "Amen". The next year, he went on to win the main section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2017 with the song "Occidentali's Karma", and represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 finishing in 6th place.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2019, officially the 69th Italian Song Festival, was the 69th annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo and organised and broadcast by RAI. The show was held between 5 February 2019 and 9 February 2019. Claudio Baglioni was the artistic director of the contest, and co-hosted it with Virginia Raffaele and Claudio Bisio. 24 entries competed in one section only. Mahmood emerged as the winner of the festival with his song "Soldi".
Måneskin are an Italian rock band formed in Rome in 2016. The band is composed of lead vocalist Damiano David, bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi, and drummer Ethan Torchio. Performing in the streets in their early days, Måneskin rose to prominence after coming in second in the eleventh season of the Italian version of X Factor in 2017. Their international breakthrough occurred when the foursome won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 for Italy with the song "Zitti e buoni".
Alessandro Mahmoud, known professionally as Mahmood, is an Italian singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence after competing on the sixth season of the Italian version of The X Factor. He has won the Sanremo Music Festival twice, in 2019 with the song "Soldi" and in 2022 alongside Blanco with the song "Brividi". His Sanremo victories allowed him to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in those respective years, finishing in second place in 2019 and in sixth place in 2022 as the host entrant.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the 2021 contest with the song "Zitti e buoni" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at the PalaOlimpico, and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2022. The three live shows were presented by Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan, Italian singer Laura Pausini and Lebanese-born British-French singer Mika.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2021, officially the 71st Italian Song Festival, was the 71st edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, organised and broadcast by RAI. The show was held between 2 and 6 March 2021.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2022, officially the 72nd Italian Song Festival, was the 72nd edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, organised and broadcast by RAI. The show was held between 1 and 5 February 2022, and was presented for the third time in a row by Amadeus, who also served as the artistic director for the competition, alongside a number of co-hosts. It was won by Mahmood and Blanco with "Brividi".
Paola Di Benedetto is an Italian television presenter, radio personality, television personality, showgirl, model and columnist.
