Rock band Maneskin wins Eurovision Song Contest for Italy

A four-piece band of Italian rockers received the Eurovision Song Contest within the early hours of Sunday, giving one of many nations hit hardest in Europe by the coronavirus pandemic cause to cheer.
Maneskin’s win was solely Italy’s third victory within the immensely widespread contest and the primary since Toto Cutugno took the distinction in 1990.

The music pageant was cancelled final 12 months amid the pandemic however this 12 months’s occasion in Rotterdam’s Ahoy enviornment with its regime of testing and strict hygiene protocols was seen as a step towards a post-COVID-19 return to dwell leisure.
“We think that the whole event was a relief. We think that we were really thankful … to have had the chance to be part of this huge event,” Maneskin lead singer Damiano David stated.
“This Eurovision means a lot, I think, to the whole of Europe. It’s going to be a lighthouse. So thank you, everybody. Really,” he added.

Italy, the bookmakers’ favourite, trailed Switzerland, France and Malta after the nationwide juries delivered their votes however had been propelled to victory by votes from the viewing public.
“The audience is the most important thing, of course,” stated bassist Victoria De Angelis.
Maneskin performs Zitti E Buoni on the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest. (Photo: AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
“So the fact that so many people vote for us, it’s the most meaningful, because that means that those people are coming to our gigs, they are listening to our music. And this has much more value than a jury”
A crowd of three,500 followers, who all examined unfavourable for the coronavirus, watched the finalists carry out dwell.
Maneskin is Danish for moonlight, a tribute to De Angelis’ dwelling nation. The band, which honed its musical fashion busking in Rome, received with a complete of 529 factors from second-placed France. Switzerland, which led after nationwide juries had voted, completed third.

United Kingdom singer James Newman’s track, “Embers,” did not ignite any love in any respect and didn’t rating a single level, ending final, simply because the U.Okay. did on the earlier Eurovision two years in the past.
U.S. rapper Flo Rida didn’t handle to translate his star energy into factors for tiny San Marino’s entry that was sung by Senhit. They completed with simply 50 factors.
For lovers of kitsch, German singer Jendrik performed a glowing ukulele and danced with a lady wearing a large hand costume optimistically exhibiting the victory signal. He completed near final.
Lithuanian band The Roop danced in shiny yellow costumes in a tongue-in-cheek homage to Nineteen Eighties synth pop.
Pravi’s track. “Voilà,” was a restrained ballad that constructed to a swirling crescendo on a largely darkened stage, however there was nonetheless loads of the over-the-top spectacle that has turn out to be Eurovision’s trademark.

Norwegian singer Andreas Haukeland, whose stage title TIX is a reference to rising up with Tourette syndrome, sang “Fallen Angel” in a pair of big white wings whereas chained to 4 prancing devils.
At the opposite finish of the spectrum — Finland’s hard-rocking Blind Channel performed their track “Dark Side” amid bursts of pyrotechnics and Ukraine’s Go_A carried out surrounded by skeletal white timber.
Ahead of the present, crowds gathered outdoors the world within the Dutch metropolis of Rotterdam. Drag queens mingled with households as a person in a gold go well with waited to get into the venue.
Milo Mateo and Carlo Sossa, carrying matching sequin-covered hats and draped in Italian flags, got here from Italy for the present and had been hoping for a Maneskin victory since that may deliver subsequent 12 months’s contest to Italy.
“If we win, it will be very, very nice, because the next year will be in Italy. That’s very good. Let’s hope. Fingers crossed,” Mateo stated as he waited to get into the world.
The widespread Icelandic band Dadi og Gagnamagnid, recognized for its kitsch dance strikes and inexperienced leisurewear costumes, couldn’t carry out dwell as a result of one member examined constructive for the virus earlier within the week. Instead, viewers noticed a recording of one of many band’s gown rehearsals.
“The point was to go and actually experience how it was to compete in Eurovision, and that’s just really not happening,” lead singer Dadi Freyr stated from isolation in Rotterdam.
Maneskin lead singer David stated the victory was a vindication of the band’s profession trajectory that began with them busking on the streets of Rome.
“We feel like everything we did since the day we met and since the day we started playing and playing on the streets is really making sense and it’s worth it,” he stated.