For a long time I had hoped for this good news, this year the EUROVISION SONG CONTEST will take place here in Italy, exactly in Turin, on 10, 12 and 14 May and Il Volo will be a guest on the evening of 12 May !!!!
It is wonderful news, not only for the great media exposure that this singing competition has throughout Europe and beyond, but it is also a prize to the skill and professionalism of Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca. It is also a great gift for all fans and all the people who knew and loved them during EUROVISION 2015.
The good news was given personally by Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio, during the evening news of RAI 1 on 27 April.
Here is the video and I will translate what was said.
WOMAN = Seven years ago, Il Volo triumphed at the Sanremo Festival with the song GRANDE AMORE, let’s listen to a piece again. (the song begins)
And good evening to IL Volo, here they are: Piero, Gianluca and Ignazio.
P + I + G = Hello, good evening, good evening everyone.
WOMAN = What a beautiful song.
PIERO = Thanks.
WOMAN = You won Sanremo, you sang it at Eurovision and now ???
PIERO = Tonight we are happy to announce here at TG1 that this year we will be guests at the Eurovision Song Contest. It will finally be held in Italy, after many years and we wish a great “good luck” to those who represent Italy: Mahmood and Blanco, it will be a great emotion for them.
WOMAN = It will be a very strong emotion, to listen to your song again, to be at Eurovision as winners (to televoting) and to come back even now.
GIANLUCA = For us it is obviously a great honor, it was a great emotion to be able to represent our country at Eurovision seven years ago, singing GRANDE AMORE in front of 200 million people, therefore certainly a great emotion that we will never forget, and therefore let’s say … (he turns to Ignazio)
WOMAN = Why are you looking at Ignazio?
IGNAZIO = Because the good fortune of three of us is that we help each other, in fact, I wanted to say that we will be at Eurovision exactly on May 12th.
PIERO = Exactly, on the evening of May 12th.
WOMAN = Listen, Ignazio, with you the somewhat philosophical closure, which makes sense.
PIERO = Right with him?
WOMAN = Right with him, I choose him, maybe it will be the mustache, the goatee that stimulates this question (Ignazio is pleased, and then he is serious).
Eurovision is a little bit the bridge of the music, the symbol of music that unites and that never like now, this bridge, this union, is needed.
IGNAZIO = Absolutely, in the edition where we participated, it was precisely EUROVISION BUILDING BRIDGES, which means “build bridges”, and not only cultural, but also in traditions, we were lucky enough to be able to share our culture, our tradition with so many countries of the world, thanks to EUROVISION and that is why we do our best wishes to Mahmood and Blanco, above all.
PIERO = We would like to remember that this year we will be back on tour, finally after these years and we can’t wait to get back on the stages.
WOMAN = You will sing your classics and the music of maestro Ennio Morricone, we are very happy.
Thanks for joining us.
P + I + G = Thank you
WOMAN = That’s all, we stop here.
Immediately after the news followed the tam, tam on all the various fan pages, it is useless to describe the happiness that this good news has unleashed here.
This beautiful video by Ignazio, Gianluca and Piero was also published on the EUROVISION Facebook page.
Reading the copious comments below this video, and almost all of them non-Italians, made me remember once again how much Il Volo had been much admired and appreciated by all of Europe and beyond.
Let’s review their video from seven years ago.
Even today I shudder to review this video, and immediately afterwards comes the anger for not winning.
Most of the comments under the video on the Facebook page, even today they say they had to be the winners of 2015, really amazing !!!
We also remind you that the last two editions of the Eurovision Song Contest have been undersized due to the pandemic and therefore this is the first post-pandemic edition. In Turin it is all a flurry of preparations. Listen and see how beautiful this video recorded in Turin, where many bands perform the theme song of Eurovision, in rock version, beautiful !!
Guys, it was a huge surprise, we can’t wait to see you in this beautiful context: EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2022.
We will all be tuned in on May 12th !!!
See you soon: Daniela
Credit to owners of all photos and videos.
This is where we in the States can view May 10, 12,and 14th.
If you have cable, you can enter NBC live stream in computer
and then go to the Peacock channel. They will stream
Eurovision LIVE each of the 3 days starting 3pm EDT and 12pm
in the PDT. Watch the guys on the 12th or all 3 days to see
how Italy does in the finals.
OR I’m sure a clip of Il Volo will be here or youtube the next
day. Hope this helps. Thanks to Daniela, Pat, and Jana.
You’re most welcome, Martha!
Martha, thank you very much for this list of places to see ESC, you have been very kind.
This is so absolutely wonderful news and I’ll definitely be all tuned in on the 12th of May. Wonder if they Will be singing “Grande Amore” as sort of Down the memory Lane thing or one of their new Morricone songs.. we’ll just have to wait and See. Only sad that they havent been invited to sing on the 14th at the Grand finale as one tends to skip the semi finals and wait for the Big Evening. PS some news mention that they Will be hosts? But I guess that is an error and they mean Will be special guests?
Yes Kirsten, they will be special guests, they are not competing this time, Italy is represented by Mahmood and Blanco.
Il Volo, as a guest, will sing on May 12, the evening of the final, May 14, will sing the Maneskin, the Italian rock band that won Eurovision 2021.
Surely Il Volo will sing Grande Amore, but also Morricone, I can’t wait.
It will be a bittersweet moment for me. They were treated badly by the Italian press and they should have won the top prize. They have proven the Italian press wrong. Our guys are an Italian treasure, loved and respected by millions of fans all over the world. Break a leg guys!!!
Rose Marie, I will rejoice with you for this beautiful rematch, although I would have liked with all my heart to see them winners that May 2015.
The Italian press, after the announcement of this event with Il Volo, is publishing many favorable articles, which finally recognize their skill, popularity and how much Il Volo is loved everywhere.
At each article I smile, finally the writer has understood !!!!
Not sure if we have anything other than the final here in the UK. Not that I have watched since nineteen hundred and frozen to death. Just been checking on the winners since the early 50’s, and the last one I remember was Nicole singing “Ein bißchen Frieden” (“A Little Peace”) at the Conference Centre in Harrogate (Yorkshire) in 1982. It was an obvious winner before the contest began.
What I remember most was the fuss made about the venue as Harrogate is a very small town. The Conference Centre had only just been built at the time, so was a thumbs up for Yorkshire and Harrogate.
Good luck to our guys. I am sure it will all go well for them as they are such professionals.
Roz
Unfortunately Roz, I know that in the UK lately the ESC is only being broadcast in the final. Il Volo will sing on the 12th, because they are special guests, they are not competing.
But be aware that many channels will stream it and you can watch it from your computer.
Even in Italy ESC was no longer very popular, it was since 2015 with the performance of Il Volo that ESC has once again become a followed event.
Thanks Daniela for your dedication of keeping us in check about the fabulous three. I am a newby and always curious to get to know them, saw them on PBS last year and enjoy listening to their music. They’ve the best voice of the century.
Thanks Sunny Morris, you are very kind, you are new and therefore you have to discover many things and you will like them all. Enjoy the reading.
That’s wonderful news, unfortunately probably I won’t be able to see the concert live, I will be on my way back from Bergamo at this time. I’m sorry I won’t see the boys on Eurovision stage, but I’m excited to see some other beautiful places in Italy. This year Poland represents Krystian Ochman. I think he has a lot in common with Ignazio,Piero and Gianluca. He is young, very talented with beautiful clasical voice, and just like our guys nice , simple and humble. I hope he will do well, I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Thank you very much Daniela and Pat
You’re welcome, Jolanta!
Wow, Jolanta, you’re always on the go. Bergamo, you are really close to Brescia.
You will be able to follow everything on your mobile.
Fingers crossed for the young representative of Poland!
That’s wonderful news. Unfortunately I won’t be able to see the concert live. At this time I will be on my way back from Bergamo. I’m sorry I won’t see the boys on Eurovision stage but I’m excited to see some other beautiful places in Italy. This year Poland represents Krystian Ochman. I think he has a lot in common with Ignazio,Piero and Gianluca. He is young,very talented, with beautiful clasical voice and just like our guys nice,simple and humble. I hope he will do well in Turin, I will keep my fingers crossed. Thank you Daniela and Pat.
Sorry I haven’t seen my comment and have written it once again and now are two 🤭
I am so happy for the boys. They certainly deserve this. I just watched the winning performance of Mahmood and Blanco. I wish them well but no matter what Il Volo sings they will still be the best performers of the evening. I agree with you Daniela. That video of Grande Amore is emotional everytime I watch it. They should have easily won. But they have won the hearts of people all over the world. I can’t wait to see them perform.
Yes, Cathy, Il Volo should have won in 2015, but they certainly won in the hearts of many people.
Mahmood and Blanco are good, but it’s not my genre, nor is that of Maneskin, the Italian band that won last year, but the music is always beautiful, there is room for all tastes, in the respect for everyone.
I am delighted to read in Martha’s comment on how to watch in the States. Would not have know otherwise.I now have that on my calendar!
I am so glad that our boys are finally having the attention of Italy that they so much wanted. Everyone here in the States that I conversed with after the contest could not believe they didn’t win! Several people think it was because they started here in the States by signing a contract here. For a time it was Italy’s loss but now they are recognized there for the great talent they are. I know it must mean a lot to the boys to be invited back as special guest.
Thanks again for your memories!
Yes, Eleanor, Martha was very kind to provide those addresses to be able to see Il Volo at the ESC.
Il Volo did not win in 2015 because in that period the votes from home had less weight than they have today, the vote given by the juries instead had more value. What happened? Il Volo was the most voted from home, they won by a large margin, but the vote of the juries penalized them, this is because some juries (northern European nations such as Sweden, Norway, Russia), it seems they had stipulated, an exchange of votes Between them. This has penalized Italy but has also raised a big problem on the part of those who vote from home, as their vote is absolutely useless. Therefore, due to these protests resulting from the non-victory of Il Volo, he had the weight of the vote corrected, from home. Italy could not vote for Il Volo, because the nation cannot vote, even from home, for its own representative.
I hope I have given you an overview of what happened in 2015.
The manipulation of votes is nothing new. I remember many years ago when The Allison’s came second with Are You Sure, can’t remember what won. Many of my friends were saying that as we voted for so and so, then they should have voted for us. I never could understand why. Surely it is the song one is voting for, not the country, or have I missed something somewhere!
In the very early days, 1950’s, before my time I might add, France won it nearly every year. Of course in those days all the competing songs were on the same night, which is probably why UK telly has lost interest in the thing.
I have always wondered how Russia, and especially Israel became part of Europe.
Roz
Yes, these games of exchange of votes between one nation and another have always been there, but that year there were more United Nations not voting for victory.
Australia was also admitted to Eurovision!
I found a YT video of the Eurovision interview 2015 which is quite hilarious. Whoever video edited this is super smart. And of course, our boys are capable of answering anything got thrown to them. Sorry with the language, only meant to be funny. I hope the link works!
https://youtu.be/IJhDO8Z3dJE
It’s true, Il Volo always has these very nice attitudes.
The interview with the ESC before the race in 2015 also highlighted the sympathy of Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca. Journalists from all over Europe were always looking to interview the three Italians, the Italian press was not.
Ciao Daniela, and thanks for translating–although I did get quite a bit of it on my own, as they used a lot of words that were similar in English! Ignazio’s expressions were so cute (sigh)–maybe you noticed also! And your explanation of the rules and now the change in voting was very enlightening–grazie mille. I’m understanding that the Il Volo
situation was responsible (at least partly) for the change, and also that they would have won if the current rules applied. Correct?
In reality, Judi, it has been calculated that even with the new weight of the vote count from home, Il Volo would have finished second, unfortunately the juries have penalized our boys a lot, this too has produced many protests, I do not think that after 2015 the juries of nations still make these shameful deals.
Hmm, the way things are at the moment I can’t see Germany wanting to vote for Italy, or the other way around!
Roz
Oh, this is lovely❤️🥰
Grazie, Daniela🥰
(I was just thinking that – while I was watching above video on them singing Grande Amore at the 2015 Eurovision. The real winners are really them.)
They certainly have been, given the results they have achieved with Grande Amore, which is known everywhere, Cynthia!
Thanks again, Daniela, for keeping us apprised of what our guys are doing these days. I hope you have a fabulous upcoming summer😊🇭🇺🇺🇸
Sembra che Il Volo canteranno* una versione nuova di Grande Amore il giovedì prossimo. Sarà la versione inglese di cui Gianluca ha parlato? Spero di no.
*canterà ???
Possono cantare in qualsiasi lingua, è destinato a suonare brillante, persino il gallese! Cariad mawr!
È un’idea meravigliosa di RAI invitare i veri vincitori dell’anno 2015. Guarderà il finale? Non vedo l’ora guardarlo perché non ci sarà Måns Zelmerlöw. Non pensavo mai che il giorno sarebbe arrivato. Grazie mille Italia.
Pryd fydd y diwedd terfynol? Ddim yn gwbod yn sicr.
There will be boo boos above.
Oh heck. There is an English version of Grande Amore that has been released today. I think my prediction about Thursday night will be correct. The video is available on YouTube.
Probably won’t see it Thordis, Haven’t watched it in years, see no reason to start now! Used to watch the scoring, but haven’t done that since the days of Brotherhood of Man. Can’t remember if they won, or if they finished second, or even last, which is what happened to the UK entry last year!
I quite like the English version of Grande Amore. It has never been one of my favourite Il Volo songs, but……….. it is growing on me.
Tiz my birthday next week, so will be spending Tuesday and Wednesday evening having an Il Volo fest. I know Kate (dear daughter) has bought me the twin CD and DVD Notte Magica, and Dolores has sent me another DVD, so could be a couple of busy evenings. Have to watch them then as we are going on our jollies on Thursday. At least I can take my Kindle with me, along with headphones, so I can at least listen to them via Amazon Music. 🙂
Roz