The message Italy wants to portray with their 2018 entry will surely be understood by everyone as the duo mad sure to translate the song in various languages. It’s fair to say that Italy has a very good chance on continuing their good results with “Non mi avete fatto niente”.

The Italian entry this year will be sung by Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro and is called Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente</em, which translates to You Haven’t Done Anything To Me. Italy qualify directly to the final.

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Second Rehearsal

Opinions expressed during our second rehearsal coverage are personal from the mentioned writers.

Pedro, Portugal (in the press) – Italy is in to win it once more. I really enjoy the duo’s connection on stage and how they sound and act so differently from eachother, it gives a lot of dynamism to their performance. The fact that parts of the song are translated into various languages is also a plus that helps everyone understand what they’re singing about. The focus in the English language at the end was also a very smart move. I wouldn’t be surprised if Italy ended up winning the whole thing.

Michael, United Kingdom (in the arena) – With a similar theme as France, this beats them by showing the lyrics on screen so everyone can understand what they are generally singing about. Also by being under the radar a little more this could work in their favour. The message is sung a little more aggressively than the French entry, and Italy should not be underestimated. This has to be in with a chance. The only stage effects are the screen lyrics. Excellent as always with Italian.

First Rehearsal

Non Mi Avette Fatto Niente is an uptempo song, but there are no dancers on the stage. Fabrizio and Ermal are therefore alone on the stage while the main colour is red.

On the screen, we see a lot of lyrics in different languages, similar as in the official music video. Some of the words are also covered with the images from the video, as the kids, nature or the barbed wire. Vocally, both are really good and in the end, they split from the main stage and go across the bridges on the sides of the stage, each one of them uses one of the bridges, and they meet again in the center of the catwalk.

The translated lyrics on the screen proves that the song is not about the artist but about the message in the lyrics and their meaning.

How Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro were selected

Italian Television (RAI) announced in October 2017 that the winning act from the Big Artists selection of San Remo 2018 would be invited to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest, Twenty songs were entered into the San Remo competition and it took place over the week of February 6 to February 10. In the end Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro won the competition and found their way to Lisbon.

Italy At The Eurovision Song Contest

It is surprising that Italy have only won the contest twice, being known as the land of the song. The first was in 1964 with Gigliola Cinquetti with the now classic Non Ho L’eta and then again in 1990 with Toto Cutugno and Insieme:1992. The Italians also got sick of not doing well in the contest and withdrew in 1993. In 1997 they made a surprising return with Jalisse and Fiumi Di Parole, finishing fourth. After that though Italy left the contest until 2011 making a remarkable return finishing second with Raphael Gualazzi and Madness Of Love. They have not won since their return but were highly fancied last year, yet ended only in 6th place, with Francesco Gabbani and Occidentali’s Karma.