Italy returns to the Eurovision Song Contest

Italy – For Eurovision fans this is news of almost historic impact and a Christmas present 22 days too early! It seem like Germany’s victory has an impact not only on Austria but also Italy. The EBU confirmed today that the Italian broadcaster RAI has applied for participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf.  The last time Italy sent an entry to the contest was in 1997. “Over the years, our team put a lot of effort into bringing our Italian colleagues back on board for the EBU’s flagship entertainment event,” said Jørgen Franck, TV Director ad interim. “We consider their renewed interest a great compliment, and we are eager to show the Italian people how the contest evolved over the past 13 years. I am sure they will be positively surprised!” No information about the Italian representative have been revealed yet. More than 3 months ago the entertainment director of RAI 2 announced that the winner of the casting show X-Factor might represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest. The show ended last week, with Nathalie Giannitrapani winning.

Let’s just all be happy together about this great development. The return of Italy could mean that the Big4 will be turned into a Big5 and it certainly means a boost in interest and popularity of the contest. Furthermore the chunk of money the RAI will pay in participation fees (as is justified by their size) might make it easier for smaller countries to participate after all.

Italy week!

In order to celebrate Italy’s return to Eurovision the next week “The Eurovision Times” will celebrate an “Italy week” and look back at the Mediterranean countries’ history in Europe’s oldest televised music competition.

You might also like: Editorial: “Italy’s Eurovision return is historic”

See all known PARTICIPANTS of Eurovision 2011!