While the Sanremo Music Festival often sends its winners to the Eurovision Song Contest each May, the show is not officially a national selection for the international contest. Instead, the winner gets the first right of refusal to compete at ESC, and if they turn down the opportunity it may go instead to the runner-up.
But Marco Mengoni made clear in his winner’s press conference on Sunday that he will be flying the flag for Italy in Liverpool this May. 2023 marks ten years since Mengoni represented Italy in Malmö, and he will certainly be hoping to match or beat the 7th place result he earned with “L’essenziale”. But whether he will compete with his winning song “Due Vite” is still up in the air.
La Nueva España reports that Mengoni told an Italian reporter that “Due Vite” might be his song for Liverpool, or perhaps a different track altogether.
A clip of the exchange was posted by Twitter user sanremo_en:
"Are you going to compete with Due Vite in Eurovision?"
"I will think about it starting from tomorrow. It can either be Due vite or… i don't know… the song that might win the selection to go to Eurovision. I will think about it from tomorrow." #Sanremo2023 https://t.co/TD4PTkdIdh pic.twitter.com/hAJ3rvTjF9
— Festival di Sanremo (en) (@sanremo_en) February 12, 2023
It’s unclear whether it was just a casual comment or a sincere indication that a song change may be coming. The official Eurovision Youtube Channel has not yet uploaded Mengoni’s winning performance or the music video for “Due Vite” – which could signal an imminent song change – but it could also mean that a three-minute cut of “Due Vite” (originally 3:45 in length) is being produced for the contest, which is common for songs that are selected but exceed the length limit.
In either case, Eurofans can look forward to a slightly different tune in Liverpool than they heard in Sanremo.
Do #YOU think Marco Mengoni should change his song for ESC? Do #YOU think a shortened version of “Due Vite” will have the same impact as the full track? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!
