Rai has released the rules for Sanremo 2021, confirming that the winner of the Campioni category will get first refusal to compete at Eurovision 2021.
The full rules for the Festival di Sanremo 2021 has been released by Rai today. The rules state that the winner of the Campioni category will get first refusal to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest. This confirmation means that Diodato must compete in Sanremo 2021 should he wish to compete at next years Eurovision Song Contest.
Since returning to the contest in 2011, the Festival di Sanremo has been used every year (except 2014) to select the Italian Eurovision representative. The 2021 edition of the festival will take place between March 2 and 6, having been moved from its traditional slot in early February due to the Covid-19 pandemic. An audience will be present at the festival. The public and journalists attending the shows will be swabbed at the start of the event, with monitoring of temperatures to ensure that no one has COVID-19. The exact size of the audience and journalists in attendance will be determined closer to the competition
Image Source: Eurovision.tv – Andres Putting / Source: Rai
Italy debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and has participated a total of 42 times to date. Italy returned to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 having last participated in the contest in 1997, the country has withdrawn from the contest on a number of occasions in the past. Italy has won the contest twice, the first time being in 1964 and the latest being in 1990. Italy’s hosting of the contest in 1991 has been remembered as one of the most chaotic contests to date. Since their return in 2011 Italy has finished in the top 10 on seven occasions.
