ITALY

Maneskin – ‘Zitti e buoni’

In a break with convention, Italy have decided to ignore the unwritten rule that guitars are only allowed on stage for one performance during Eurovision and in what could be seen as a gesture of solidarity with, or two fingers up to, have decided to join Finland in presenting a Rock entry for 2021.

Rock purists will no doubt have noticed the unmistakable hum of amplifiers turned up to 11 that preceded the opening bars of their San Remo performance signifying one of the hallmarks of real rock music – its live and its loud.

This perhaps explains then why, despite it being one of the most popular genres of music worldwide, Rock has never really established a strong footing at Eurovision.  Pretend musicianship miming to a pre recorded music track just doesn’t cut it with real rock fans and the one or two bands that do make it to the Eurovision stage each year are generally regarded as somewhat of a novelty.

With Italy currently among the bookmakers favourites to win, could they win with a serious Rock entry?   Until such times that the contest reverts to at least allowing performers the choice of playing their instruments live on stage, I somehow doubt it.

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