Fairytale indeed

[jawnbc]

Well, looks like we may have our most successful Eurovision single since Gina G's "Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit."  Currently Alexander Rybak is in the top 10 on the iTunes charts for every single European country where tracking is published--except Italy, which does not show the ESC anymore. Amazing! 

Comments

[shirtlifterbear.livejournal.com]

I've wondered why Italy doesn't compete in or show Eurovision.

Am I remembering correctly that they had their own national competition that was a big deal, and got tired of not winning EVC?

[jawnbc]

Correct! The San Remo Festival predates Eurovision by a few years, is much larger in scale (multiple categories over many days), and pretty much occupies the space the ESC occupies in places like Sweden.

Whoever won San Remo had the choice to compete with the same song at the Eurovision. And despite sending multiple great songs, Italy only won twice. Their last entry in '97 finished 5th.

I don't blame them, but I think some high quality Italian pop would only be a plus for everyone. If Italy comes back, they would be part of the Big 4 5, since they pay so much compared to most other countries.

[shirtlifterbear.livejournal.com]

I think I've actually seen clips from San Remo!

And I'd LOVE to see what Paola e Chiara would bring to EVC!

*grin*

[london1967.livejournal.com]

They stopped taking part when I moved to England.

I was the only person watching it.