San Marino is a small sovereign state located within the territory of Italy. It has a musical heritage which includes the 17th-century composer Francesco Maria Marini di Pesaro and the 20th-century composer Cesare Franchini Tassini (1925–2010).
San Marino has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 13 times, debuting in the 2008 contest, followed by participation from 2011 onward. The nation did not participate in 2009 or 2010, citing financial difficulties. Having failed to qualify in their first four attempts, the nation qualified for the contest's final for the first time in 2014. Valentina Monetta represented San Marino in 2012, 2013 and 2014, making her the first entrant to participate in three consecutive contests since the 1960s. In 2019, Serhat managed to qualify to the final, marking the second appearance of the country in a Eurovision final and achieving their best result to date of 19th place. Following the 2020 contest's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, their 2020 candidate Senhit was again selected to represent San Marino in the following contest. She qualified to the final, making it the first time that San Marino made it to two consecutive finals.
San Marino debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, held in Belgrade, Serbia. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) officially confirmed San Marino's participation in the contest in November 2007 after deliberation amongst the broadcaster's shareholders.
Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino, commonly known as San Marino RTV, is the public service broadcaster of San Marino. On 13 June 2011, San Marino RTV changed its name to SMtv San Marino. In November 2013, the name was changed back to San Marino RTV.
Valentina Monetta is a Sammarinese singer. She is best known for representing San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2017. In the 2014 contest, Monetta became the first entrant to qualify for the final for San Marino.
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 11th edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine on 30 November 2013. The venue for the contest was announced on 10 April 2013, as the Palace "Ukraine". Ukrainian broadcaster National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) was the host broadcaster for the event. It was the second time the contest was held in Kyiv, the first being the 2009 contest. It was also the second time in the history of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest that the event took place in last year's winning country, as well as the first time that the event was held in the same city twice. A total of twelve countries participated, with Macedonia and Malta making a return, and Albania, Belgium and Israel choosing to withdraw. San Marino made their debut in the contest. Cyprus was originally the thirteenth country to take part but pulled out the last minute.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Valentina Monetta with "Maybe" to represent the nation in the contest. Monetta had previously represented San Marino in both the 2012 and 2013 contests, though both entries failed to qualify for the grand final. The 2014 entry was promoted through the creation of music videos in both English and Italian, and a promotional tour that included stops in Amsterdam, Moscow and London. San Marino performed 12th in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, held on 6 May 2014, and placed 10th, receiving 40 points. The entry qualified for the grand final held four days later, where the nation placed 24th with 14 points. This marked their best placing to this point.
Michele Perniola, known also as 3x3n, is an Italian singer, best known for representing San Marino at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with his song "O-o-O Sole Intorno a Me". He also represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with Anita Simoncini. They performed the song "Chain of Lights".
Antonio Carozza,, better known as Antonello Carozza, is an Italian singer, songwriter, composer, art director in the Eurovision Song Contest, record producer, pianist and vocal coach. He was the art director of Michele Perniola and Anita Simoncini, who represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, and the President of the Italian Jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, held in Vienna, Austria. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola with "Chain of Lights" to represent the nation in the contest. Both Simoncini and Perniola had previously represented San Marino in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on separate occasions. The 2015 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest was promoted through the creation of a music video, a tour that included a stop in Moscow and a contest on social media that awarded prizes to winning participants. San Marino performed third in the second semi-final, held on 21 May 2015, and placed 16th with 11 points, failing to qualify for the final.
Anita Simoncini is a Sammarinese singer who represented San Marino in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014 as a member of the girl group The Peppermints with the song "Breaking My Heart". She also represented San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Michele Perniola with the song "Chain of Lights".
San Marino participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria. On 27 September 2015 it was confirmed that they would participate in the 2015 contest. The country used an internal selection to select the artist and the song. Kamilla Ismailova represented San Marino with the song "Mirror".
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, held in Stockholm, Sweden. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Turkish singer Serhat with "I Didn't Know" to represent the nation in the contest. The song was written by Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz and Nektarios Tyrakis and was presented to the public on 9 March 2016 alongside its music video. While initially a ballad version had been selected, SMRTV subsequently opted to use the disco version of the song for the contest based on feedback from the public. To promote the entry, Serhat embarked on a promotional tour across Europe in the lead up the Eurovision Song Contest. San Marino performed eighth in the first semi-final, held on 10 May 2016, and placed 12th with 68 points, failing to qualify for the final.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, held in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Sammarinese singer Valentina Monetta and American singer Jimmie Wilson with "Spirit of the Night" to represent the nation in the contest. Monetta had previously represented San Marino as a solo artist on three previous occasions. The 2017 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest was promoted through the creation of a music video and promotional performances in Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Madrid. San Marino performed 10th in the second semi-final, held on 11 May 2017, and placed 18th with one point, failing to qualify for the final.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, held in Lisbon, Portugal. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) partnered with the London-based company 1in360 to stage an online search for their entrant, marking the first time the nation did not select their representative internally. The process, entitled 1in360, culminated in an 11-participant final with acts chosen from three wildcard selection processes and two 11-act showcase events. The winner of 1in360 was "Who We Are" performed by Jessika featuring Jenifer Brening. The 2018 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest was promoted through performances in London, Amsterdam, Madrid and Lisbon as well as a 10-week anti-bullying campaign to raise money for the Diana Award. San Marino performed fourth in the second semi-final, held on 10 May 2018, and placed 17th with 28 points, failing to qualify for the final.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, held in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) confirmed that a second season of 1in360 would not take place to select the entry. In January 2019, they announced that Serhat had been internally selected to represent the nation in the contest with the song "Say Na Na Na", co-written by himself and Mary Susan Applegate. Serhat had previously represented San Marino in 2016 but failed to qualify for the final. To promote the entry, a music video for the song was released and Serhat made appearances at Eurovision parties in Amsterdam and Madrid in the lead up to the contest. San Marino performed last (17th) in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, held on 14 May 2019, and placed 8th, receiving 150 points. The entry qualified for the final held four days later, where the nation placed 19th with 77 points. This marked their best placing to this point and their second final qualification.
San Marino planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was scheduled to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Italian singer Senhit was chosen to represent the nation with her song "Freaky!". Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) internally selected the singer, while her song was selected through a national final entitled Digital Battle. Senhit previously represented San Marino in the 2011 contest, but failed to qualify for the final. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe during 2020, the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled in mid-March 2020. "Freaky!" was subsequently an entry for several replacement events including Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, Der kleine Song Contest and Sveriges 12:a. Senhit announced during the former of the three that she would return to represent the nation at the 2021 contest the following year.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) internally selected Senhit as their representative with the song "Adrenalina" featuring Flo Rida. Senhit was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Freaky!" before the event's eventual cancellation and had also served as the nation's 2011 entrant. "Adrenalina" was written and composed by Thomas Stengaard, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Jimmy Thörnfeldt, Kenny Silverdique, Suzi Pancenkov, Malou Linn Eloise Ruotsalainen and Chanel Tukia, along with Senhit and Flo Rida themselves. While Flo Rida had provided vocals for the track, his participation in the performance of the song on the Eurovision stage was only confirmed on the day of the second semi-final due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions.
San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with the song "Stripper" performed by Achille Lauro. The Sammarinese broadcaster, San Marino RTV (SMRTV), organised a new national final concept entitled Una voce per San Marino to decide their representative. The event consisted of 299 emerging and nine established artists competing over a three month period from December 2021 through February 2022 for the opportunity to represent the nation at the contest. The winning entry "Stripper" was written by Lauro, Daniele Dezi, Daniele Mungai, Davide Petrella, Federico De Marinis, Francesco Viscovo, Gregorio Calculli, Marco Lanciotti, Matteo Ciceroni, Mattia Cutolo and Simon Pietro Manzari.
San Marino is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden. The Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) will organise the national final format Una voce per San Marino to select their representative.
For the most recent participation see
