Song of the day – We all have Eurovision songs that we love and listen to regularly. But then there are songs we might only remember because someone posts a link on Facebook or a Forum. We will shuffle through Eurovision history and present a random song every now and then during summer to bring back memories and give you the chance to discuss songs and years during the “Eurovision drought”. Our song of this day is Italy’s Raphael Gualazzi singing ‘Madness of Love‘ (2011).
Italy returned to Eurovision in 2011 for the first time since 1997 as one of the Big 5 and nearly took home the crown on its return. Gualazzi finished in 2nd place behind Azerbaijan’s Ell and Nikki.
Gualazzi had been chosen via San Remo musical festival, where ‘Follia d’amore‘ won the newcomer artists’ section and also won the Critics’ “Mia Martini” Award for newcomers. The song was performed in both Italian and English, as ‘Madness of love‘ at Eurovision. The song is included in the soundtrack of the movie Manuale d’amore 3, directed by Giovanni Veronesi. It also received a nomination for the Nastro d’Argento 2011 for Best Original Song. Gualazzi returned to take part in San Remo in both 2013 and 2014.
The Eurovision Times 
One of the three 2011 gems along with GRE and GER
followed by EST, SLV, SRB and BiH that year!
My No.3 that year after Estonia and Germany and virtually tied with France. Italy came back with an artistic bang. Such jazzy class. Raphael is a very unique artist imo and this song truly stood out back then. It deservingly won the jury vote and got a 2nd place overall.
lol such a fix, EBU trying for years to get Italy back, then they go straight to the final and the juries put them in first place. Not so subtle
The 13th place in the televote is generous but overall reasonable in my opinion.
I thought it was 11th in televote but my memory could be bad
Just checked yeah you are right, it was 11th not 13th :)
Italy certainly came back with a bang! I still wish that Raphael had won back in 2011 because we might have got a song contest back then … instead of the variety show we have now, where even a stick figure can win the whole thing. When I was in the supermarket yesterday, they played “Heroes” there … and gosh! what an empty and boring song that is if you don’t watch Måns ( … <3 …) and his cartoons.
Best of 2011:
1st Germany – 2nd Italy – 3rd Greece – 4th Serbia – 5th BiH – 6th Cyprus – 7th Georgia – 8th Slovenia (I love those 8 songs). :)
Worst of 2011:
There are many too. :( Israel, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Armenia … and especially Croatia and Poland
we have four songs in common in the top 5, but your 5th one is in my bottom 5 that year! Croatia on the other hand we totally agree is the worst one! oh and Armenia, ugh
I think that wannabe so sexy Poland is even worse than silly Armenia or kitschy over the top Croatia.
I know that you hate Greece 2011. You’ve done so from the very beginning, and you are a man of principles. :)
I actually enjoy more the lyrics video of Heroes compared to the one with the live performance. But then I do like the song a lot and consider it one of the few this year that had something to say and did so in a thoughtful, tasteful way.
It would have won without the stick figure imo.
I think so too. It is well crafted, and the chorus is very catchy. Not my favourite from 2015, but it has sneaked into my top ten.
I still prefer Sweden as winner compared to the other options we had. In the beginning, I quite liked the song too … but alas, love didn’t last. I became terribly bored pretty soon.
One of the best songs in 2011 and pleasantly unspectacular and down to earth. I am normally not a big jazz fan, but some types of jazz are more interesting than others, and this one belongs to the good types.
2011 in general:
12/12: Germany
10/12: Lithuania, Italy
9/12: Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Slovenia, Iceland
8/12: Denmark, Switzerland, Moldova, Austria, Serbia
7/12: Albania, San Marino, Finland, Estonia, Greece, Romania
6/12: Turkey, Netherlands, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ireland, Sweden, AZERBAIJAN, Spain, Ukraine, Georgia
5/12: Portugal, Belgium, United Kingdom
4/12: Norway, Belarus, Latvia, Russia
3/12: Malta, Croatia, Slovakia
2/12: Poland, Armenia, FYR Macedonia, Israel
1/12:
0/12:
Average: 6,14
2011:
Italy <3
Germany
Georgia
Cyprus
Serbia
If we talk song-wise, the Cypriot song is ok I guess, still very formulaic for the Greek ear. However, that LIVE performance was A DISASTER !
My verdict is 4/10 ! :(
I know you have issues with Cyprus 11 :)
I agree on the live performance though.
My winner by far! It’s good to see a jazz song succeed in a contest like this one especially in this day and age! It was the best song out of that horrific Top 5. I can’t stand Ukraine nor Denmark and I hate Azerbaijan and Sweden with a passion.
The majority of the 2011 songs were awful, underwhelming live or weak. My Top 10:
1. Italy 10/12
2. Greece 10/12
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina 8/12
4. Serbia 8/12
5. Switzerland 8/12
6. Iceland 8/12
7. Ireland 8/12
8. Belgium 8/12
9. Romania 7/12
10. Austria 7/12
No Germany?
Germany is one of the many 7/12s of 2011. I just don’t get the hype for that song. She was great the year before but “Taken By a Stranger” does nothing for me I’m afraid. The live was mesmerizing though!
Quite the contrary for me; never got the hype for “Satelite”, while I think “Taken by a stranger” is a much much better song :)
I like both but prefer TBAS. I do understand the reasons why “Satellite” won though.
Yep, me too :)
Oops! B&H is 9/12 not 8/12.
I’m at oods with most of the people here.I never liked Italy 2011.I admit that after listening to it again today i find it a bit better than back in 2011 but that’s it.
My 2011 top-7(the songs i really like) :
Germany
B&H
Bulgaria
Georgia
Greece
Switzerland
Slovenia
I think I might be an outsider when I say this, but this song is soo boring ehe :P Dont like his voice that much and the genre is not my cup of tea! Understand the jury hype doh. My winner this year is clearly Germany also really like Bosnia and Herzegovina <3 and Th catchy lipstick song from Ireland hihi ^^
My full ranking:
12
10 – Italy, Greece
9 – Bosnia & Herzegovina
8 – Serbia, Switzerland, Iceland, Ireland, Belgium
7 – Romania, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain, San Marino, Finland, Germany, Moldova, Georgia, Norway, Slovenia, France, Hungary, Bulgaria
6 – Cyprus, Albania, Denmark, United Kingdom, Ukraine
5 – Sweden, Russia, Malta, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Portugal
4 – Latvia, Slovakia
3 – Poland, Netherlands, Israel,
2 – Belarus, Armenia
1
0 – Croatia
A zero? :o
it’s the true horror!
It is TRUE HORROR indeed!
I agree with Morgan! It was 3 minutes of pain and torture! It doesn’t belong in the bin, it belongs deep within the heaping piles of the Eurovision Dump with others similar to it f.e. Georgia 2012, Czech Republic 2008, half of the 2006 edition, etc.
“half of the 2006 edition”
Sadly I couldn’t agree more. I have given 0/12 to only very few songs: LUX80, SWE86, MAK00, SWI04, MON06, UK07, EST08 and RUS12. That’s all. :)
You gave the Grannies a zero?! It’s by no means a great song (4/12) but it’s tolerable. It’s not the worst from that edition *cough* Georgia *cough*.
The rest you mentioned belongs in the Eurovision dumpyard as well.
I totally hate the grannies act because I was all about what a song contest shouldn’t be about imo … which is everything but music. Anri’s act stands at 1/12 on my list because yes, it was a hot mess but there are still seconds I do enjoy, even if for the wrong reasons. I wonder what went wrong with Russia. I loved or liked their entries in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 (2008 is tolerable too if I forget about the awfully tacky presentation … Still, Serbia, Turkey or Portugal should have won that year …) but I have hated every single entry from Russia since. :(
this time Im with Toggie, it’s a 0 for me too
And that is why they are ranked so low for me. There is a song there, but they got that 2nd place for being cute. And that is wrong. :-(
Russia is a frustrating country for me in the ESC. Since 2010, they haven’t sent a song I love! Dina and Polina are their best efforts, IMO, but they both have a 6/12 from me.
Selah Sue who represented Belgium in FDLC#5 has released a new album and this is one of my favorite songs:
Well, as for the actual song of the day, I’m right in the middle with all being said: I think it’s good but not as great as it’s often said to be, and definitely not deserving 1st of juries (I don’t believe in conspiracy and “get” why juries would support such an entry, but 1st by far for a returnee that was offered a Big 5 spot feels a tad too much)… In general, it’s a good song, well performed (not vocally per se, but I don’t mind the raw vocals for such an entry) and definitely stands out in eurovision for the genre or the cool. And it did have the break going on for it. But for that genre, it’s a weak song in itself and doesnt really get me involved. In the end I have it top 5 by default. Germany and Bosnia feel like the only great songs of the year, and I’d put them with “Et S’il Fallait Le Faire”, “Siren”, “Suus”, “Feed You My Love” and “Rhythm Inside” as the recent jewels (the most recent editions have all been disappointing since the return of goodies 2008-2012 but all had one great song except for 2014)… And yes I much prefer “Taken By A Stranger” to “Satellite” too!
The best Italian entry since their return. It’s truly a great one with a lovely, cool brass orchestration (the middle piano section is fantastic too). I share the absolute same Top 3 of 2011 as Togravus do, and thus Italy is my 2nd that year. And I agree that it would have been great with an Italian victory that year that hopefully had turned the contest into a better direction. Dreamers dream, yeah…
So my Top 10 of 2011 would probably be:
1. Germany
2. Italy
3. Greece
4. Moldova
5. France
6. Bosnia & Herzegovina
7. Cyprus
8. Georgia
9. Iceland
10. Belgium
I’m also very fond of The Netherlands in studio, but the live version sucked. And I’m probably the only guy in the ESC universe who thinks that Turkey 2011 was better than all their Top 10 entries from 2009, 2010 and 2012.
Finally, Armenia and Croatia were the worst. Glad we all agree here at least.
:)
I really love this nostalgic, yet gentle and relaxed song. Plus I expect/hope that old age will feel exactly like this song sounds … ;) :)
It’s a frequent guest on my playlist too. :)
This was supposed to be a reply to Niclas’ “Dreamers dream …” comment …
OK, I have come home too late. Everyone is already gone but I am not tired yet. I’ll read a book then … :)
So,have you picked your ETSC#4 entry?
Not yet. :)
you know guitar, dimitris or I go to bed very late (and the time zone means at this hour marc p or patrick p can be around too)
Italy ’11 leaves me cold. 2011 was the contest we attended live and I have very fond memories of it. Funny enough the last three songs performed are also my top three that year: Ukraine (best intro ever), Serbia and Georgia.
ESC 2011 was a big mess.
I do like some of the acts (Sweden, Ukraine, Germany, UK, Slovenia, Estonia…), but I will never get how Azerbaijan could win this.
Like, seriously, what happened?
I, too, am still baffled on as to how Azerbaijan won. I understand if “Running Scared” was as good as their 2009 and 2012 efforts, but that entire package was too syrupy and over the top for me. Plus Nikki couldn’t sing, but she’s not the only one who got a good result with bad vocals!
The full Greek version of “Golden Boy” by Eleni Foureira:
I think I prefer the Israeli version.
OMG, who would have thought that I would actually say that! :P
I think they’re both silly fun.
At least I can enjoy the presentation this time lol!