As we know Italy has been absent from Eurovision since 1997 but they started skipping years already in the 1980's and continued to do so also in the 1990's before stopping participating altogether. Even if often the Sanremo winner was sent to Eurovision that was no rule and especially in the 1980's artists were invited by other merits, or often the singer had won Sanremo not that year but the year before. Anyways, I would like to stick to the original idea and think that the winner (or runner up) would have been sent and in this series will speculate on that. So, here we go with 1981 - the year Italy skipped Eurovision for the first time: 1981. Officially because of the low quality of the songs, and judging the skirt ripping winners in Dublin they might just be right...
Alice won this edition with classic Per Elisa beating another classic, Maledetta primavera by Loretta Goggi. This contest also provided an international megahit for Ricchi e Poveri with Sará perche ti amo (5th). So, all these three would have been surely top contenders in Eurovision in my opinion considering their success abroad. Other songs worth mentioning are Dario Baldan Bembo with Tu cosa fai stasera (3th), Luca Barbarossa with Roma spogliata (4th) and Paolo Barabani with Hop hop somarello (6th). Alice would of course have her chance in 1984 while Loretta would make a huge career as presentator and comedian besides singer and Barbarossa would appear later, too, while Ricchi e Poveri did not return.
Comments
1981 was a good year for Sanremo (with a deserving winner, finally!). There were at least other two classics: Edoardo De Crescenzo's masterpiece ("Ancora") and Fiorella Mannoia's "Caffè nero bollente", an aggressive song about female masturbation. Really an odd and impudent theme for a song at the Ariston Theatre...
Ciao!