Through our Best of the Bunch series, we gave a recap on the Eurovision entries from 2006 to 2015 and gave you the opportunity to choose your Best of the Bunch. As you may remember, the current Best of the Bunch winners were put into our ‘Ultimate Eurovision’ but it’s time to see which of the latest three entries have remained as your favourites! In our Best of the Bunch: The Trials series, we are going to recap the entries from a certain nation starting with 2016 and continuing through to the latest Eurovision season of 2018. Your job is to simply enjoy the music, and vote for your Best of the Bunch winner!
Italy has had a long history at Eurovision, and they’ve been quite successful over the years too! The nation took an extended break from the contest between 1998 and 2010, but upon their return it was clear that Italy were going to be a force to be reckoned with, and looking over the results from recent years, that was very true. Today we are focusing on the latest three Eurovision entries from Italy, starting with 2016 and continuing through to 2018. After we recap, it will be up to you to decide which of the entries is your Best of the Bunch!
Italy 2016
2016 proved to be an interesting year for Italy and their selection process, and as we know, it became common for the winner of Sanremo to be given the opportunity to represent Italy at Eurovision. It didn’t turn out like that in 2016, as the winners of Sanremo declined the opportunity, and as such, fellow participant Francesca Michielin was chosen to represent the nation with the song No Degree of Separation. Francesca brought a contemporary and youthful approach to Eurovision which contrasted the successful trio Il Volo of the previous year, but the song and performance were charming. At the contest however, it didn’t fare as well as some of the previous entries since Italy’s return, finishing in 16th place with 124 points.
Italy 2017
The following year, Italy caused a storm with their selection of Francesco Gabbani with the song Occidentali’s Karma. It first took Italy by storm, but upon its selection also took Europe by storm, rocketing up the odds to become the clear favourite of the competition. Since Italy’s return, the nation has been close to winning the contest, but this entry was by far the most talked about in the lead up to the contest. Unfortunately, hype can often create the opposite effect, and by the time we reached Eurovision itself, it was becoming clear that Italy were going to fall short once again. The nation finished in 6th place with 334 points.
Italy 2018
That brings us to the most recent Italian entry, which as you may remember was the duo Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro. Separately the two had participated at Sanremo, but when they joined forces, Italy couldn’t resist choosing them with the song Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente. The song was moving, and the raw emotion was enough to capture Eurovision fans worldwide. Strong support from the televoters proved to be crucial to giving Italy yet another Top 10 finish, in this case, a Top 5 finish having landed in 5th with 308 points.
So now you’ve seen all three performances, it’s time to vote for your Best of the Bunch!
If you want more Best of the Bunch from Italy, check out our original series:
If you want to check out who made our Ultimate Eurovision, check it out here: