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. The Italian participant broadcaster in the contest is Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). It 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).
Rai 1 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting mainstream and generalist programming, usually aimed towards families, including TG1 news bulletins, prime time drama, cinema and entertainment, and major breaking news, sports and special events.
Gian Luigi "Gianni" Morandi is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer. It is estimated that Morandi has sold about 50 million recordings.
Giorgio Locatelli is an Italian Michelin starred chef and restaurateur working and living in the United Kingdom.
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.
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 number 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.
Lorenzo Fragola is an Italian singer-songwriter. He rose to fame after winning the eighth season of the Italian talent show X Factor. His winner's single, "The Reason Why", debuted atop the Italian Singles Chart, and was later certified double platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Fragola competed both in the 65th and 66th Sanremo Music Festival, performing the songs "Siamo uguali" and "Infinite volte", and placing tenth and fifth, respectively. Both his debut album 1995, released in Italy on 31 March 2015, and its follow-up, Zero Gravity (2016) debuted atop the Italian Albums Chart.
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". He also represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, where he finished 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 at the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, 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.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2020, officially the 70th Italian Song Festival, was the 70th edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held at the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo and organised and broadcast by RAI. The show was held between 4 and 8 February 2020 and was presented by Amadeus, who also served as the artistic director for the competition, alongside Fiorello.
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 show was presented by Amadeus, who also served as the artistic director for the competition. Fiorello returned as co-host after appearing as a regular guest in the previous edition.
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 at the Teatro Ariston in 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.
Diana Del Bufalo is an Italian actress and singer.
Paola Di Benedetto is an Italian television presenter, radio personality, television personality, showgirl, model and columnist.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2023, officially the 73rd Italian Song Festival, was the 73rd 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 7 and 11 February 2023, and was presented for the fourth time in a row by Amadeus, who also served as the artistic director for the competition, with Gianni Morandi co-hosting.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2024, officially the 74th Italian Song Festival, was the 74th edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held at the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, organised and broadcast by RAI. It was held between 6 and 10 February 2024, and presented for the fifth and final time in a row by Amadeus, who also served as the artistic director for the competition. The festival was won by Angelina Mango with "La noia", earning her the right to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2025, officially the 75th Italian Song Festival, is set to be the 75th edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, organised and broadcast by RAI. It is scheduled to be held between 11 and 15 February 2025 and presented by Carlo Conti, who will also serve as the artistic director for the competition.
