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| Members of the band Maneskin from Italy Thomas Raggi, from left, Ethan Torchio, Victoria De Angelis and Damiano David pose for photographers with the trophy after winning the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest at Ahoy arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, May 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) |
Italy woke up Sunday to news that a glam
rock band who got their start busking on Rome’s main shopping drag had won the
Eurovision Song Contest and was bringing next year’s competition back to the
place where Europe’s song contests began.
From the premier’s office on down,
congratulations poured in Sunday from the Italian establishment for the rather
anti-establishment group Maneskin, giving Italy a sorely needed boost after a
dreadful year as one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus.
The band was the bookmakers’ favorite going
into the Eurovision finale and sealed the win early Sunday with the highest
popular vote in the enormously entertaining, and incredibly kitsch, annual song
festival.
“We are out of our minds!” Florence’s
Uffizi Galleries tweeted, echoing Maneskin’s winning song lyrics, along with an
image of a Caravaggio Medusa and the hashtag #Uffizirock.
Maneskin, Danish for “moonlight” and a
tribute to bass player Victoria De Angelis’ Danish ancestry, won with a total
of 529 points. France was second while Switzerland, which led after national
juries had voted, finished third.
“Rock’n’roll never dies, tonight we made
history. We love u,” the band tweeted before heading back home from Rotterdam,
Netherlands, where this year’s contest was held.
The band got its start performing on Via
del Corso, the main commercial thoroughfare in downtown Rome. Their scrappy
performances in front of a Geox store were a far cry from the over-the-top,
flame-throwing extravaganza Saturday night that literally split lead singer
Damiano David’s pants.
David told a news conference this week that
starting out on the street was embarrassing, since the group had to contend
with other musicians vying for the same prized piece of sidewalk while
neighbors complained about the noise.
“They were always calling the police,” De
Angelis said, laughing.
Maneskin’s win was only Italy’s third
victory in the contest and the first since Toto Cutugno took the honor in 1990.
The victory means Italy will host next year’s competition, with cities bidding
for the honor.
Launched in 1956 to foster unity after
World War II, Eurovision evolved over the years from a bland ballad-fest to a
campy, feel-good extravaganza. It has grown from seven countries to include
more than 40, including non-European nations such as Israel and far-away
Australia.
Legend has it that Eurovision got its
inspiration from Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival, which began in 1951 as a
post-war effort to boost Italian culture and the economy of the Ligurian
coastal city that has housed it ever since.
Perhaps best known for having launched the
likes of Andrea Boccelli and one of Italy’s most famous songs “Nel blu, dipinto
di blu” — popularly known as “Volare” — the Sanremo festival usually picks
Italy’s official selection for the Eurovision contest.
Maneskin won Sanremo this year with the same song, “Zitti e Buoni” (“Quiet and good”) that it performed Saturday night in Rotterdam.