ITALY AT THE EUROVISION: TOTO CUTUGNO

ITALY AT THE EUROVISION: TOTO CUTUGNO - INSIEME: 1992 (1990)

Italy took its well deserved third victory - finally! - at the Eurovision song contest 2021. Over the years several other Italian entries would have been worthy winners. In this series I will go through all of them from the worst ranking to the winners.

Italian 1990 Eurovision participation is a good example how Rai really didn't care so much. Sanremo winner I Pooh with Uomini soli didn't care to take part but they didn't really have a plan B or plan whatsoever when the deadline to submit the song was approaching. The legend tells the one in charge was walking down the corridors of Rai thinking how to resolve the problem rather soon than late as Ebu had reminded him once again and Toto Cutugno walks by as he was working in Raiuno as presenter (besides being Sanremo's runner up once again!) and he just asks: Toto, would you like to do Eurovision? We need a song by next week or so. He said Ok, sure, why not. The Italian preview video of Insieme: 1992 was then a demo version of unfinished song and he came to Zagred unaware that he should have his backing vocalists (then hired on spot) and orchestral arrangements ready. Or so the story goes, true or not? Long story short, in an Italian fashion they made it work and a song that this blogger like many others didn't pay any attention to beforehand sounded like a winner when performed it on stage that night. And win he did, out of 22.

Toto Cutugno (78) was already a seasoned artist when he did Eurovision, and a sort of Saara Aalto of his time: the eternal second. He had won Sanremo in 1980 but also had finished second after that six times, once third and two times 4th out of 15 participation. His L'Italiano that finished only 5th in 1983 has become almost an unofficial national anthem, at least abroad and his songs have been covered by many artists in many languages all over the world. He is, or at least was a few years ago, the songwriter with the most songs in the Finnish database for Finnish language cover versions!

He has also done a lot of television, most famously (...) hosting the Eurovision song contest 1991 in Rome with Gigliola Cinquetti. Maybe not the brightest moment in his career.....

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