The Italian act and song was confirmed on February 22nd. The annual Sanremo Festival (75º Festival della canzone Italiana) was held from February 11th to 15th. Twenty-nine singers performed 4 times over the 5 nights - 3 times with their official song and once as part of covers night. During each evening they sang their original song, there was be a vote. On the final evening the rankings of the radio jury, press jury and televote created a top 5. All the vote segments were then re-opened to find an overall winner. A few days later the festival winner, Olly, declined the invitation and the runner up then accepted the chance to represent Italy at Eurovision. Going to Basel is Lucio Corsi with the song "Volevo essere un duro" (I wanted to be a tough guy)
Lucio Corsi grew up in Tuscany and became inspired as a young boy to pursue music after watching The Blues Brothers on television. After graduating school he performed in local venues before moving to Milan in 2012. Over the years he has been a support act for Stadio, Brunori Sas, Baustelle and The Who, and has walked the runway as part of a Gucci campaign. He has also participated in the Musicultura, Musica da Bere and Premio Tenco song festivals. Hs early style was influenced by prog and glam rock, gaining critical acclaim for his surrealist & fairy tale lyrical imagery, but has since progressed to a more singer-songwriter style. He has 10 singles and EPs to his name as well as 4 albums, with a 5th being released at the end of March.
Taking my cues from the live Sanremo performances, it needs to be reminded that the musicians on stage are playing live and are backed by a live orchestra and backing singers (much of which will not be the case in Basel!) In all the performances, Lucio has his customary white make up, black eyeliner and wears his hair down, creating a striking look. The backdrop is rather plain but the yellowy-orange lighting creates an positive and optimistic glow that is hinted at in the song. Lucio starts alone just him and his piano we then also see and hear his artistic partner Tommaso doing harmonies and on guitar. Halfway through this long verse the rest of the instrumentation starts up but it still very gentle and goes straight into the chorus and verse two. This is quite a bit shorter than the first but the next chorus is a little longer. By this point Lucio has moved from the piano and is now playing guitar. During the second chorus many of the lines are spaced out with a line sung, then a line played on guitar. Now into the final minute, there is a short bridge before a very short chorus before short, almost spoken word, outro.
This song is very gentle and, although the song has a familiar tone and lilt, it does not sound or look like many of the bombastic or balladeering Italian entries we've had of late. The lyrics (dotted with names, places and recognisable Italian words) are delivered with a subtle quality, almost spoken, and the harmonies are very well done. During Sanremo he wore a number of outfits including a yellow shoulder padded number, a similar but red top and during his Topo Gigio duet he wore a white tailored suit, accentuating his make up and dark hair. I am not quite sure any of these would translate to the Eurovision stage but with some signposting to the lyrics on the back screen it could come together. The song needs very little work - it is literally seconds off the 3 minute mark - but the presentation - without Lucio changing his own style - needs some thinking through. What was presented on the Sanremo stage was primarily for the Italian public, not the rest of Europe. Unfortunately, I feel this song is not in contention for the win but does hold a place for another different song style in the show. This is a shame as it is a technically good song sung by an intriguing singer. This will get some love from the jury and televote but for many this will be memory holed by the busyness around it.
ARTIST - Lucio Corte
SONG -Volevo essere un duro
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Lucio Corsi, Antonio Cupertino, Tommaso Ottomano
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