All opinions expressed in this article are those of the person quoted and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the other team members or ESC United as a whole.
It’s 5 days to go until Junior Eurovision 2023, and we are counting down the 16 nations who are participating in Nice, France on Sunday, November 26, 2023.
Every day we will do an overview of a participating nation in alphabetical order, recapping how they got to Junior Eurovision, a brief history of the nation’s participation, a brief biography of the artist, and finally, our “expert” panel of editors give the entries a score out of 10 and a brief review.
Next up, we look at Italy, whose kids since debut in 2014 started mirroring the relative success of the adults, but have recently founds themselves in a mid-table slump.
Italy’s history at Junior Eurovision:
Italy is another late-comer to the Junior Eurovision party, but when they accepted their invitation in 2014 for their debut, they only went and won it with junior crooner Vincenzo Cantiello and his balladic “Tu primo grande amore.”
That was followed up with a 16th place finish the next year. Then Fiamma Boccia came in third in 2016 with “Cara Mamma,” 11th in 2017, 7th in 2018, 7th in 2019, before taking off 2019 due to Italy’s struggles being Europe’s frontline against COVID-19.
Elisabetta Lizza returned to Junior Eurovision 2021 for Italy with the rocker “Specchio (Mirror on the Wall),” coming in 10th and Chanel Dilecta’s “Bla bla bla” coming in 11th in 2022.
Before Junior Eurovision 2023:
There’s no Sanremo Music Festival picking the kids for Italy at Junior Eurovision, but the state broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) has an almost UK-esque arrangement with a record label to select its JESC artists, in this case Universal Music Group Italy.
On October 5, 2023, RAI announced that Melissa and Ranya would represent Italy at Junior Eurovision.
The Artist:
Recent form for Italy is to select a winner or finalist for The Voice Kids, and 2023 is no different.
Melissa Agliottone is a 13-year-old from Sant’Elpidio a Mare, and won Italy’s version of The Voice Kids earlier in 2023.
Ranya Moufidi is also 13 years old and hails from Bergamo. She was a finalist on The Voice Kids.
The Song:
Franco Fasano and Marco Iardella, who have been the core of Italy’s JESC songwriting and production team since 2019, return yet again with “Un mondo guisto” (“A Just World”).
With the background out of the way, here is what we at ESC United think of Italy’s entry for Junior Eurovision 2023.
Providing their thoughts for Junior Eurovision this season: Alexandros (Greece), Yehonatan Cohen (Israel), Boris Meersman (Belgium), James Maude (Los Angeles, California), and William Carter (Dallas, Texas).
The Verdict:
Alexandros – 3 – “While the musical composition may not align with my personal taste, it is crucial to recognize the commendable vocal capacity demonstrated by the two singers. The style of the performance bears a distinctly Italian influence, a characteristic that I consistently admire.”
Boris – 4 – “Junior Eurovision to me always felt like a place where we get to witness Music By Children, For Children. Sadly this is slowly evolving towards “Music performed by children, written by adults for dumb pick me gays”, but every now and then we get an entry that fails to hit either demographic. What exactly are Italy planning to achieve with this song? Melissa and Ranya pine for “a just world” and yet neither of the girls have had a hand in composing their song. SO HOW GENUINE IS IT THEN? Perhaps if they had co-written the product wouldn’t be so… cliché and dull? Do kids enjoy this sort of music? The ONLY thing that distinguishes “Un mundo guisto” from the other midtempo songs is that it’s a duet. I’m hoping for Italy’s sake that they can stage this in a memorable fashion, otherwise they’ll find themselves hopelessly outclassed by the rest of the playing field.”
James – 4.5 – “I am not sure who this duet ballad is for. This composition is the best argument I can make for Italy having a Sanremo Junior type contest, because I am not sure dueling pre-teens on a melodramatic ballad would connect with an Italian public at large, let alone a European one.”
William – 6.5 – “Melissa and Ranya are way cooler than the rest of this, and they have a lot of performance chemistry on screen. The song itself is a lot stronger in the verses than it is in the chorus, unfortunately, and the melody doesn’t really stick around in my brain long enough to become memorable. It’s still one of the better Italian JESC entries of the last few years, as far as I’m concerned. But, for a country that so often excels at the adult contest, Italy is strangely almost never as competitive at Junior.”
Yehonatan – 5 – “I don’t have much to say about this one. They have good vocals, but the composition is not hooking me in enough to be vocal about the song.”
Total: 23 points (Average = 4.600)
In aggregate, we at ESC United gives Italy a 4.6 average, mostly on the opinion that this doesn’t really connect with an audience.
Eight countries in, here are our current rankings in editor scores:
1.) France – 42.5 points (Average = 8.500)
2.) Armenia – 38.0 points (Average = 7.600)
3.) Ireland – 37.5 points (Average = 7.500)
4.) Georgia – 35.0 (Average = 7.000)
5.) Albania – 33.5 points (Average = 6.700)
6.) Estonia – 32.5 points (Average = 6.500)
7.) Germany – 30.5 points (Average = 6.100)
8.) ITALY – 23 points (Average = 4.600)
What do #YOU think of Italy’s entry for Junior Eurovision? Let us know in the comments below, on our social media, or in our forum.
