| Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
|---|---|
| |
| Participating broadcaster | Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) |
| Participation summary | |
| Appearances | 48 |
| First appearance | 1956 |
| Highest placement | 1st: 1964, 1990, 2021 |
| Host | 1965, 1991, 2022 |
| Related articles | |
| External links | |
| RAI page | |
Italy's page at Eurovision.tv  | |
 For the most recent participation seeItaly in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | |
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.[1] 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).
In 1958, "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" performed by Domenico Modugno finished third. Commonly known as "Volare", the song became a huge international hit, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 and winning two Grammy Awards at its first edition. "Uno per tutte" by Emilio Pericoli also finished third in 1963, before Italy won for the first time in 1964 with "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti. Cinquetti returned to the contest in 1974 and finished second with "Sì", losing to "Waterloo" by ABBA. Italy then finished third in 1975 with "Era" by Wess and Dori Ghezzi. The country's best result of the 1980s was "Gente di mare" by Umberto Tozzi and Raf finishing third in 1987. Italy's second victory in the contest came in 1990 with "Insieme: 1992" by Toto Cutugno. Other good 1990s results were "Rapsodia" by Mia Martini in 1992 and "Fiumi di parole" by Jalisse in 1997, who both finished fourth. After 1997, Italy withdrew from the competition.
On 31 December 2010, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Italy would be returning to the contest as part of the "Big Five", thereby granting the country automatic qualification for the final.[2] Italy's return to the contest has proved to be successful, finishing in the top ten in 11 of the last 13 contests (2011–24), including second places for "Madness of Love" by Raphael Gualazzi (2011) and "Soldi" by Mahmood (2019), and third place for "Grande amore" by Il Volo (2015). "Grande amore" won the televote, receiving votes from all countries, but came sixth with the juries. This was the first time since the introduction of the mixed jury/televote system in 2009 that the televote winner did not end up winning the contest. Italy achieved its third victory in the contest in 2021, with "Zitti e buoni" by the rock band Måneskin.
- ^ "Sanremo - the festival that inspired Eurovision". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (31 December 2010). "43 nations on 2011 participants list". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2010.