Music is known as the universal language. Emotion can be expressed across language barriers through the art of music. For this reason, many artists tend to express their place of origin, feelings, and culture through music. Likewise, in the Eurovision competition the competitors use the music to express their national identity. Many countries in this competition sing about the history of their country, but while watching the Italian performances I discovered that they all sang about love. Each country's national identity is not only portrayed through the lyrics they sing, but often by their: style of music, setting and actions on stage, types of instruments used, outfits worn and lyrics of the songs.
Italy made a debut in the Eurovision competition in 2011 after a fourteen year absence. In 2011 Raphael Gualazzi performed the song “Madness of Love.” He started the performance by singing in his native language, Italian, then transitioning into English. The tempo of the song had classical jazz style tempo, slow in the beginning and then becoming fast towards the end. There were six men on stage and they were all wearing black with red suspenders except the lead vocalist, who was wearing a blue-grey suit. Italians in America are perceived in this way, well-dressed and brown toned skin. The singer in the 2011 competition followed suit. The lights shining down on the stage were the colors of the Italian flag: red, green and white. The Italian flag was also represented throughout the performance, with the use of the backdrop behind the pianist. The use of these colors throughout the performance gave a highly patriotic sensation and allowed the singers to express their Italian identity. The camera angles throughout the performance really gave emphasis on the lead singer. They were focused on the group together, but mainly circled around to get birds-eye views and side views of the lead singer, especially while he hit the high notes in Italian. The artists playing instruments were featured, especially during the saxophone, trumpet and piano solos. These camera angles lead to the home audience being drawn into the music and allowed for Italy’s popular musical genre to be shown. The lyrics of this song are about a lost love. It seems they are far apart as he says, “And you’ll fly over lands, Where your eyes can’t find the end, upon mountains down lanes, Being so far away from you just makes me feel so damned”(2011). This line is perceived as him speaking about leaving a loved one behind. He also is singing about her finding other men after he lives and to fill him with life as she did to him. He sings “I fell into your heart,” meaning fell in love with her. This also may be Italy being spoken of and how people can’t help but fall in love with Italy and its people.
The year following, 2012, Nina Zilli performed the song “L’amore e femmina (out of love).” She started the song in English and ended in Italian. The upbeat tempo of the song was one of the pop-rock genre. In this performance it was a lead singer accompanied by three backup singers. The lead singer was a light bronze skin tone, while the three backup singers were all African American. Nina Zilli was wearing a skin tight silver dress, while the backup singers were all in black outfits. Thus allowing for the Italian singer to stand out among the other three. The stage began lit up with the colors of the Italian flag but transitioned to a black stage with spotlights on the the singers. After she started to sing the stage was black and white throughout the whole performance. This background flows with the ethnicity of the performers Italy had on stage, Italian and black. The camera angles were focused mainly on the lead singer, constantly zooming in and out throughout the performance. Occasionally they would zoom in on the backup singers when they were singing. Although the representation of Italy through background and colors was less prominent in this song; it was more focused on the beautiful Italian woman as a representative of the Italian identity. Nina Zilli sang about an abusive relationship. In one line she says, “You knock me on the floor my heart goes Boom Boom Boom” (2012). The song goes on to sing about an unhealthy relationship and towards the end of the song she sings “But have you asked yourself why I bought a brand new shotgun.” This solidifies the idea about this song being about an abusive relationship. This also paints a picture of a strong Italian woman in these circumstances.
This expression of Italian identity continued in the 2013 Eurovision competition, when Marco Mengoni performed the song “L'essenziale.” The whole song was sung in Italian. In the song he is singing about loving his country. A depiction of what he is singing about is shown in the verse, “to fight and then strive for peace” (2013). This song could be perceived as him singing about a loved one, as well as a loved nation. Mengoni repeats the line “While the world breaks into pieces I compose new places and desires which also belongs to you from the beginning you are for me.” This line shows that he has tried to go somewhere else but his love for Italy is too strong; Italy is the only place for him to be, his “origin.” The performance started off with a view of the audience covered in a purple light. Then, Mengoni was shown standing under a spotlight with a purple and blue stage behind him. The camera angles in this performance were constantly close to his face showing the viewers his facial expressions. Marco Mengoni stood in the middle of the stage stationary until the tempo picked up as he walked out towards the audience. This ballad song was slow until the end where a faster paced tempo appeared. This singer being alone on stage represents Italy standing alone amongst their fellow “others” who are their competitors in the Eurovision concert. The singer is a symbol of Italy and their national identity.
In 2014, Emma Marrone sang the song, “La Mia Citta.” The introduction began with an image of italian food, before going to the stage. The stage was lit up, purple and blue, to appear as a geometric cube. When the song began fog descended from the top of the stage and the colors changed to white and gold. Everyone on the stage was wearing white and gold, with the lead singer in a skin tight dress. These colors paint Italy as pure and rich in culture, a treasure for all the world to relish. The camera angles during this performance really captured the lead singer and her movements across the whole stage. Also including shots of all the performers together. Six people were on the stage, giving a strong band feeling. They had multiple instruments such as: bass, guitar, drums and a piano guitar. The lead singer had a hair piece, like the crowns in the Olympic games held in Rome, Italy. These crowns represented a part of Italy that they were very proud of. The whole song was sung in Italian in a medium rock style tempo. The lyrics are about a love for a city as well as a person. She makes this connection with a city in Italy clear when she sings, “ I love downtown traffic, I love parking inattentively” then she sings, “ I run away, I want I take... I think about myself with no control I push hard and I’m not scared of you I want it all I want you…” (2014). This song comes across as a love-hate relationship between her and an Italian city, with a slight appearance of love for a person as well.
Last year in 2015, the group, II Volo, performed the song “Grande Amore,” meaning Grand love, which ties into Italy’s romantic language and culture. This was a group of three men singing a pop-opera song. The tempo of the song started slow, then after all three of the artists sang the tempo picked up. The whole song was sung in Italian like the famous Italian opera music. The men on stage were all tan, dark haired and were wearing dark blue-black suits, perfectly fitting the stereotypical persona of an Italian. The camera angles throughout the performance were focused on all three singers, zooming in on the soloists, and later returning to all three. The song is about a love for a woman. The group makes this clear when they sing, “I close my eyes and think of her the sweet scent of her skin” (2015). This line at the beginning of the song brings definite understanding to what the song is intended to be about. Throughout the song II Volo calls her great love this could even be a love for one’s country, Italy; or perhaps a deeper look into the views of love that Italian men have for women.
Italian music in the Eurovision competition has a pattern of singing in the native language, Italian. In these five performances, each year Italy has alternated between a man and women performer. Not only were they diverse sexually, but racially as well by their choice of singers. The title of each song is in Italian and they are all focused on the idea of romance. This emphasis on love seems to tie in perfectly with the language of Italian being one of the prominent romance languages, and their country one of the most romantic places to visit. Not only did the Italian identity resonate through the songs and singers, but their identity was also expressed through the various backgrounds, costumes, colors and lighting used in each performance. Overall, through the Eurovision performances over the years, a clear representation of Italy and their national identity has been clearly painted.
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