Lucio Corsi thrilled with Italo glam rock in Sanremo Photo: IMAGO/Matteo Gribaudi
From our editorial team
The first major drama surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest in Italy has now ended with a happy ending. Italy's David Bowie is flying to the world's biggest international music competition, which will take place in Basel, Switzerland, in May.
The confusione grande has come to an end: traditionally, the winner of the "Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo", the country's most important music show, gets to represent Italy at the ESC. This year, singer Olly (23) won by just 0.4 per cent ahead of Lucio Corsi, the Italian David Bowie. Even on the night of the final, Olly was clearly under pressure. The surprise came at the final press conference the next day: Olly asked for a week to think about whether he wanted to go to the ESC at all. A novelty in the History of "Sanremo": discussed a country. More than 70 per cent tuned in on the final night.
The reasons for the ESC cancellation
The ESC decision has now been finalised: Olly will not be travelling to Basel. The singer explained his decision on Instagram: "For days I've been asking myself and getting opinions from everyone - the answer is always the same: 'In the end, you have to do what you feel', because everyone knows how important it is for me to always remain myself. I don't think you'd be sad if I postponed some concerts because of the ESC, but I'm a firm believer that I need to connect with everything that's going on in my life before I look any further into the future." And further: "I therefore decided to forego the opportunity to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest - in the knowledge that such opportunities may only come once in a lifetime." The organising television station, the public channel Rai 1, had already announced before the decision that it would accept the artist's decision.
Crowd favourite Lucio Corsi moves up
Olly will now be replaced by runner-up Lucio Corsi, who missed out on the ESC ticket by just 0.4 per cent. He was one of the audience favourites from day 1 of the festival. The 31-year-old is visually and musically reminiscent of the young David Bowie, but above all impressed the audience with his down-to-earth, endearing manner. He revealed that he had padded the wings of his glam rock costume with bags of crisps to make them stand up better. His song "Volevo essere un duro", "I wanted to be a tough guy", captured the spirit of the times. With a melancholy lightness, he sings about how he fell out of the trees as a child and is still only a white belt in judo today - even though mum always said that life is a piece of cake. The conclusion at the end: "I'm nobody. I'm nobody other than Lucio."
Lucio Corsi (31) is a singer-songwriter from Tuscany who moved to Milan for music in 2012. His latest album "La Gente Che Sogna", "People who dream", is particularly reminiscent of 1970s glam rock, his great passion. From May 2023 to autumn 2024, he toured extensively, including as the support act for "The Who" in Florence.
The ESC will take place with 37 nations in Basel, Switzerland, in 2025. 37 nations will compete against each other musically. The semi-finals will take place on 13 and 15 May, followed by the grand final on 17 May. The respective host country and the "Big Five" of the ESC, which includes Italy as well as the UK, France, Spain and Germany, automatically qualify for the final.
