Italy: Olly has declined, Lucio Corsi officially selected instead
Last week, Olly was crowned the latest winner of the annual Sanremo Festival. One question did remain unanswered since then, would he represent Italy at the song contest? In short, the answer is now officially a no, and instead we will see Lucio Corsi in Basel.
Italy in Eurovision 2025
Since 2015, the Italian broadcaster (RAI) imposed a first refusal right to the winner of the Sanremo festival. When Italy returned to the contest in 2011, after a long absence, it was very uncertain who would represent the country and how that contestant would even be selected.
Between 2011 and 2014, the Italian entry was selected in 4 different ways. Then, in 2015, when the broadcaster included the possibility of a refusal right, that’s when the rules became much more clear for the participants of Sanremo. Since 2015, the winner has only refused to represent the country once, which happened in 2016. Now, it has happened once again.
Not long ago, Olly officially confirmed himself on his instagram page, that he had decided to decline participation. The Sanremo winner was given until February 23rd to decide, whether he would represent Italy or not in Basel. With one day to spare, he has now confirmed that he won’t be the one and Europe won’t be hearing his winning song “Balorda Nostalgia“.
Despite the decline, the Italian broadcaster was prepared in such case and has already confirmed that Lucio Corsi will be the replacement representative instead. A repeat of what happened in 2016, when the winners back then Stadio also declined and the honor instead went to Francesca Michielin.
This means that Lucio Corsi will perform his song “Volevo Essere Un Duro” instead. As Italy is one of the BIG-5 nations, that means Italy is already pre-qualified for the final and will compete in the grand final, set to be held on the 17th of May.
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Source(s): RAI.it (In Italian)
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