On May 23, 2021, the Maneskins have fun with the Eurovision trophy they have just won. – AFP or licensors
- Italian group Måneskin won Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam (Netherlands) on Saturday with the song Zitti e buoni.
- “We want to tell the young people who listen to us that you have to be yourself”, reacted Victoria de Angelis, the only girl in the quartet, during the press conference.
- The group, formed in 2016, became known through the telecrochet X Factor. His two albums, released in 2018 and last March were successful.
From our special correspondent in Rotterdam (Netherlands)
A rock song that wins Eurovision, that hardly ever happens. In 2006, the Lordi, a cohort of monsters from Finland, had won with a Hard Rock Hallelujah become cult. Michel Drucker, who commented on the competition that year, never recovered.
Fifteen years later, the Måneskins in turn become legendary, with a song in Italian: Zitti e buoni. A title that could be translated as “Shut up and stay wise”. Their song defends the opposite message: to play with conventions, to refuse to submit to injunctions, to take full responsibility in the face of moralizers. “We want to tell the young people who listen to us to be yourself, not to pay attention to stupid comments. People need to open their minds and stop judging others, ”reacted Victoria de Angelis, the only girl in the quartet, at the press conference.
In February, the Måneskins had revolutionized the Sanremo Festival. This institution of Italian song, generally focused on ballads and vocal performances, was shaken by their rock energy. Italy, in the midst of a curfew, seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, made them triumph. There was something about their stage performance that vibrated with a return to action, movement, partying, a pint of lukewarm ale swallowed in a sweat-filled concert hall. Their home victory opened the doors to Eurovision for them.
A collection of platinum records
Saturday night, fourth in the list of professional juries, they ended up overtaking everyone with the votes of the public by leaping 318 points. That they won is no surprise. The bookmakers had designated them big favorites, ahead of the French Barbara Pravi: their prediction was confirmed. But above all, the tapping of Zitti e buoni, double platinum disc in Italy, shuddered internationally. In a statement, Spotify let it be known that this song was the most streamed of the 2021 edition on its platform in the world. In France, it was the most listened to after here and, at the time of the vote, the French public awarded him ten points.
At the end of the year, the group will go on tour in Italy where it brings together a legion of transfixed fans. Created in 2016, the rock band chose a Danish word meaning “moonlight”, as a nod to Victoria’s Scandinavian origins. The following year, he revealed himself to the general public by finishing second in the telecrochet. X Factor. Their first album, He ballo della vita, released in the fall of 2018 and worn by the tubes Morirò da re and Torna a casa, was crowned triple platinum disc. Their latest opus, Teatro d’ira: Vol. 1, released in March, will have no trouble doing at least as well.
If they have their sights set on rock, the Måneskins are not however completely out of touch with Italian pop. They belong to this young generation of transalpine artists navigating from one musical genre to another, sometimes mixing them. Like a Mahmood or an Achille Lauro, they invest in a glamorous, androgynous aesthetic, far from heterosexual codes and standards and stand out in an Italy where the ambient machismo remains.
Singer Damiano David has the title of a Cure song tattooed on his skin: “Boys don’t cry”. Except that the “don’t” is crossed out and surmounted by a “do”, correcting the sentence in “The boys cry”. After the victory at Eurovision, however, it was not his tears that flowed at the press conference, but the champagne.