Eurovision Mengoni is in Liverpool and Mahmood sings Lennon

Eurovision, Mengoni is in Liverpool and Mahmood sings Lennon

Marco Mengoni will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest and Mahmood will guest-sing Imagine by John Lennon in last night’s medley dedicated to songs by the Beatles and songs important to Liverpool’s history. The city of the Fab Four will host the new edition of Eurovision on May 9, 11 and 13 as war-torn Ukraine (winner of the last edition) is unable to host the event.

Rai President Marinella Soldi says: “It is a song festival that lives important values ​​such as friendship between peoples, openness to other cultures, inclusion and diversity, rejection of violence, acceptance and sustainability.” The two semi-finals will be broadcast on Rai2, the final on Rai1.

The off-air commentary is entrusted to Gabriele Corsi, who is in his third year: “Veterans usually end badly, or rather they are ‘resident'”. Next to him the newcomer Mara Maionchi: “You know me, I hope to be funny and make intelligent judgments. In the end, I’m always me and let’s hope everything goes well ».

In a video message, Mengoni shows the Italian flag (“washed, dried and ironed”) and says: “I’m already here, the first round went very well and while I’m waiting for the final I’m settling in.”

“It’s good for Italy to be part of the Eurovision Song Contest – stresses Stefano Coletta, Entertainment Director at Prime Time –: it’s a huge democratic world and it’s interesting to look at the differences with other countries. There is a maximum display of artistic and expressive freedom. Entertainment is often read here with a moralistic key».

Simona Martorelli, RAI Director of International Relations, replies to Blanco – who took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin a year ago with Mahmood – (“We arrived tired, with a tour behind us and nobody fulfilled our wishes”), it is the organization must adapt to the artist, on the contrary».