For the most recent participation, see Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. For the upcoming participation, see Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
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
Participation history
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998 – 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Related articles
Sanremo Music Festival
Canzonissima
External links
RAI page
Italy's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Italy 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] 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).
In 1958, Domenico Modugno finished third with the song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu". 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. Emilio Pericoli also finished third in 1963, before Italy won for the first time in 1964 with Gigliola Cinquetti and "Non ho l'età". Cinquetti returned to the contest in 1974 and finished second with the song "Sì", losing to ABBA's "Waterloo". Italy then finished third in 1975 with Wess and Dori Ghezzi and the song "Era". The country's best result of the 1980s was Umberto Tozzi and Raf finishing third in 1987. Italy's second victory in the contest came in 1990 with Toto Cutugno and the song "Insieme: 1992". Other good 1990s results were Mia Martini in 1992 and 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 10 of the last 12 contests (2011–23), including second places for Raphael Gualazzi (2011) and Mahmood (2019), and third place for Il Volo (2015). Il Volo 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 the rock band Måneskin and the song "Zitti e buoni".
^"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.
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Global Information
For the most recent participation see