ITALY

The Italian participant was selected back in February through the San Remo song festival. The winner of the contest was Marco Mengoni but no decision was made on the song he would be singing.

On the Eurovision deadline date, March 18th, RAI confirmed that he would be singing the song that gained him the San Remo title, "L'essenziale" (The essential)

During his San Remo performance he was on stage alone. The background is a purple colour and behind him are spinning screens which seem to show flashes of  neon. Being San Remo, he has a full orchestra behind him to help with the building nature of the song. Marco is dressed in a sharp suit and tie and his hair in a quiff. He looks quite retro and it is a shame that the song is not. He is behind a microphone stand for most of the performance until the end.

Marco has a very strange performance style - almost like he is in his own little bubble. Although he does not stand their with his eyes closed, he doesn't seem to focus on the audience or take into account the TV cameras. I am not sure that the European TV audience will appreciate the performance as it stands. Marco is a very well loved singer in Italy and you can tell that in his short career he has gained a lot of experience.

The song is another slow building ballad at this year's contest and is a very Italian production. The song itself is well structured and the chorus is quite memorable, although not repeated as much as it could be. It takes a while to get going and the ending is a little weak. Both will probably need to be re-orchestrated for Eurovision. I think that the song needs to be switched about a bit to make the song really stand out and show off its strengths.

Italy automatically qualifies for the final and so will go straight through to Saturday night. The song, as is, is too long by about half a minute. It is not clear exactly to me how they will shave this part off. I don't think this is a winner. It is an intense song by an intense singer and I feel that some people will appreciate the song, whilst others will find it hard to access. I also feel his perofmance style, as is, will no appeal to everybody. I do think this will be a jury favourite.

 

Artist - Marco Mengoni

Song - L'essenziale (The essential)
Music - Francesco De Benedittis, Roberto Casalino, Marco Mengoni
Lyrics - Roberto Casalino