Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025

Eurovision Song Contest 2025
Participating broadcasterRadiotelevisione italiana (RAI)
Country Italy
National selection
Selection processSanremo Music Festival 2025
Selection date(s)15 February 2025
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2024 2025

Italy will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, which will be held in Basel, Switzerland. The Italian participating broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) will select its entry through the Sanremo Music Festival 2025. As a member of the "Big Five", Italy automatically qualifies to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Background

Prior to the 2025 contest, Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Italy forty-eight times since its first entry at the inaugural contest in 1956.[1] Since then, it has won the contest on three occasions: in 1964 with the song "Non ho l'età" performed by Gigliola Cinquetti, in 1990 with "Insieme: 1992" by Toto Cutugno, and in 2021 with "Zitti e buoni" by Måneskin. It has withdrawn from the contest a number of times, with their most recent absence spanning from 1998 until 2010. It made its return in 2011, and its entry "Madness of Love", performed by Raphael Gualazzi, placed second—its highest result, to that point, since its victory in 1990. A number of top 10 placements followed in subsequent editions, including its third victory in 2021. In 2024, it placed seventh with "La noia" performed by Angelina Mango.[1]

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RAI organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Between 2011 and 2013 and since 2015, RAI has regularly used the Sanremo Music Festival to select its entrant to the contest, at first through an intermediate stage of internal selection among the contestants, and after 2014 (when a full internal selection took place), the winner of the festival has always earned the right of first refusal to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision

Sanremo Music Festival 2025

RAI will organise the Sanremo Music Festival 2025, the 75th edition of the event, between 11 and 15 February 2025.[2] On 20 August 2024, the broadcaster published the rules of the competition, confirming that the winner of the festival's Big Artists section would earn the right to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest.[3]

30 artists will compete in the Big Artists section over the course of five consecutive nights, selected by the artistic director Carlo Conti by direct invitation and from public submissions, and their names were announced on 1 December 2024.[4][5] Three former Eurovision Song Contest entrants are among the competing artists: Massimo Ranieri (1971 and 1973), Francesca Michielin (2016), and Francesco Gabbani (2017), in addition to Achille Lauro, who represented San Marino in 2022.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "Italy". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  2. ^ Granger, Anthony (2024-07-19). "Italy: Festival di Sanremo 2025 Delayed One Week". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  3. ^ Dammacco, Beppe (2024-08-20). "Sanremo 2025: fuori il regolamento. Il vincitore va all'Eurovision" [Sanremo 2025: rules released. The winner goes to Eurovision]. Eurofestival News (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  4. ^ Conti, Andrea (2024-11-21). "Festival di Sanremo 2025, Carlo Conti: 'La selezione dei Big non mi fa dormire la notte, saranno più di 24. Li svelerò l'1 dicembre al Tg1 delle 13:30'" [Sanremo Festival 2025, Carlo Conti: "The Big Artists' selection keeps me awake at night, they will be more than 24. I will reveal them on 1 December on the 13:30 Tg1"]. FQMagazine (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  5. ^ Laffranchi, Andrea (2024-12-01). "Sanremo 2025, i cantanti in gara: la lista dei big del Festival, da Giorgia ed Elodie a Fedez e Achille Lauro" [Sanremo 2025, the competing singers: the list of the Festival's "Bigs", from Giorgia and Elodie to Fedez and Achille Lauro]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  6. ^ Dammacco, Beppe (2024-12-01). "Sanremo 2025: l'elenco dei Big in gara. Il numero degli artisti sale a 30" [Sanremo 2025: the list of Big in the competition. The number of artists rises to 30]. Eurofestival News (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-12-01.