Italy at Eurovision 2025: Singer Olly, winner of Italy’s Sanremo Festival, announced he is giving up his right to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025. What happens next?
Singer Olly, who won Italy’s Sanremo Festival with the song “Balorda nostalgia,” announced in an Instagram post that he is giving up his right to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025, which will take place in Basel, Switzerland. The offer will now pass to second-place finisher Lucio Corsi, who has already confirmed he would accept if offered the chance to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025. Watch his performance along with all the details about Lucio Corsi later in this article!
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Olly’s Difficult Decision
The singer, fully aware of the high anticipation around his decision, shared his final thoughts:
“For days I’ve been questioning myself and asking everyone’s opinion, and the answer is always the same: ‘In the end, you have to do what you feel,’ because everyone knows how important it is for me to always be true to myself. Well, I don’t think you’d be sad if I postponed a few concerts for Eurovision, but I firmly believe that I need to connect with everything happening to me right now before looking further ahead, before continuing with my beloved live performances, which I always talk about with endless pride.
So I’ve decided to give up the opportunity to participate in Eurovision, knowing this is one of those chances that might only come once in a lifetime. I thank those who voted for me and gave me this opportunity and privilege; I hope to see you soon at one of my concerts to repay all the love I’m receiving these days. For me, this decision is my way of listening to myself and perhaps also my complicated way of saying thank you. Some may say I’m giving up a dream, but I think I’ve simply chosen to live it at my own pace.
I wish huge success to whoever takes my place; music in Italy is full of wonderful artists, and this year’s lineup is the sincerest proof of that. Always believe! Something is changing, and it’s clear to everyone.”
Now, after Olly has officially announced his decision, the offer will indeed pass to the second-place finisher Lucio Corsi, who has already expressed his interest in representing Italy at Eurovision 2025.
Italy at Eurovision 2025?
According to the rules of the Sanremo Festival, the offer will be given to the runner-up in the festival, Lucio Corsi.
“Volevo essere un duro” (translated as: “I Wanted to Be Tough”) is the name of the song performed by singer Lucio Corsi, which placed second at the 75th edition of the Sanremo Festival. The song was written by the singer himself along with Tommaso Ottomano. This was his first appearance at the festival. The song is performed in Italian.
Lucio took to the Sanremo stage dressed in a costume reminiscent of a doll, wearing clown makeup in white and red, filling the stage with a charm that melts hearts. The singer sang from the heart, initially playing the piano, then with a guitar at center stage, demonstrating complete vocal and stage control. The atmosphere during the song is very moving and special. The song deals with a person’s struggle with feelings of weakness and the desire to be someone else, someone tough and impenetrable, while trying to cope with the reality that he is unable to fit this image. Watch the performance:
The song describes the identity conflict and the inner struggle of the narrator who wants to overcome his weaknesses and strengthen. It expresses the frustration and longing to be “tough,” a person who doesn’t worry about the future and is unaffected by the harsh reality around him. The song uses images like robots, sumo wrestlers, and criminals to illustrate the ideal figures of strength and self-confidence that the narrator wants to connect with. The song portrays a picture of life in which the narrator tries to fit these roles but always finds himself returning to his true essence, which is less secure and more vulnerable.
During the song, the narrator deals with the realization that he is unable to meet these expectations he has set for himself and that the world has set before him. He describes the difficulty of being an “ordinary person” in a world that demands strength and courage over time. The song ends with the recognition and acceptance of the narrator’s true identity, that he is nothing beyond Lucio, the simple and real person behind the characters he tried to be.
Who is Lucio Corsi?
Lucio Corsi, born on October 15, 1993, in Grosseto, Italy, is an Italian singer-songwriter and musician. He grew up in the village of Vetulonia near where his family runs a restaurant. His mother is a painter, while his father has worked in various roles including as an employee of the Italian national broadcaster Rai and as an artist working with leather. Corsi’s love for music was sparked by watching the movie “The Blues Brothers” as a child, and he began writing songs at a very young age, performing in bars and squares of his hometown from 2011.
He began composing instrumental pieces of progressive rock before turning to lyrical writing. After finishing his high school studies in Grosseto, he moved to Milan with the aim of developing his musical career, initially living near Naviglio Pavese, then in Via Ripamonti, and eventually in Niguarda. This participation was the singer’s first ever in the Italian Sanremo Festival.
Source: Instagram
Eurovision 2025: This will be Italy’s 50th participation in Eurovision. Italy joined the contest in 1956, was one of the seven founding countries, and has won three times over the years. Italy’s most recent victory was at Eurovision 2021 with the song “Zitti e buoni” performed by the band Måneskin.
