Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991

Eurovision Song Contest 1991
Country	Italy
National selection
Selection process	Internal Selection
Selected entrant	Peppino di Capri
Selected song	"Comme è ddoce 'o mare"
Finals performance
Final result	7th, 89 points
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1990 • 1991 • 1992►

Italy was represented by Peppino di Capri, with the song '"Comme è ddoce 'o mare", at the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 May in Rome, following Toto Cutugno's unexpected victory for Italy the previous year. "Comme è ddoce 'o mare" was chosen internally by broadcaster RAI as the Italian entry, and is notable for being sung in the Neapolitan language rather than standard Italian.

The 1991 contest is notorious for RAI's chaotic organisation, both before and during the contest, which prompted a storm of criticism from other participating broadcasters and led to the Rome contest being considered the most amateurish and shambolically organised in Eurovision history. Prominent among the complaints was RAI's decision to appoint Cutugno and Italy's previous Eurovision winner Gigliola Cinquetti as presenters, since neither appeared to have more than the most rudimentary knowledge of either English or French (the two official languages of the European Broadcasting Union). This was a particular problem during the voting, as EBU rules required all national spokespersons to announce their results in English or French, which Cutugno and Cinquetti frequently had difficulty in understanding correctly, while lapsing into Italian conversation with one another. To compound matters, throughout the contest Cutugno tried to cover his ineptitude with buffoonery, which many felt made for rather awkward TV.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final di Capri performed last in the running order, following Cyprus. At the close of voting "Comme è ddoce 'o mare" had received 89 points (including maximum 12s from Finland and Portugal), placing Italy 7th of the 22 entries. Italy having performed last meant the Italian jury would also vote last. Before the announcement of the Italian votes, Sweden was in the lead with 146 points, followed by Israel on 139 and France on 134. Italian juries didn't award any points to either Sweden or Israel while giving their 12 to France, leading to the first tied result since 1969. However the EBU now had mechanisms in place to determine an outright winner in the event of a tie for first place, and the system in use at the time gave victory to Sweden.^[1]

See also

• Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 1991

References

Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 to 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 to 1996 1997 1998 to 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1950s Franca Raimondi (1956) Tonina Torrielli (1956) Nunzio Gallo Domenico Modugno Domenico Modugno 1960s Renato Rascel Betty Curtis Claudio Villa Emilio Pericoli Gigliola Cinquetti Bobby Solo Domenico Modugno Claudio Villa Sergio Endrigo Iva Zanicchi 1970s Gianni Morandi Massimo Ranieri Nicola Di Bari Massimo Ranieri Gigliola Cinquetti Wess and Dori Ghezzi Al Bano & Romina Power Mia Martini Ricchi e Poveri Matia Bazar 1980s Alan Sorrenti 1981 to 1982 Riccardo Fogli Alice & Battiato Al Bano & Romina Power 1986 Umberto Tozzi and Raf Luca Barbarossa Anna Oxa and Fausto Leali 1990s Toto Cutugno Peppino di Capri Mia Martini Enrico Ruggeri 1994 to 1996 Jalisse 1998 to 1999 2000s 2000 to 2009 2010s 2010 Raphael Gualazzi Nina Zilli Marco Mengoni Emma Il Volo Francesca Michielin   Songs 1950s "Amami se vuoi" (1956) "Aprite le finestre" (1956) "Corde della mia chitarra" "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" "Piove (Ciao, ciao bambina)" 1960s "Romantica" "Al di là" "Addio, addio" "Uno per tutte" "Non ho l'età" "Se piangi, se ridi" "Dio, come ti amo" "Non andare più lontano" "Marianne" "Due grosse lacrime bianche" 1970s "Occhi di ragazza" "L'amore è un attimo" "I giorni dell'arcobaleno" "Chi sarà con te" "Sì" "Era" "We'll Live It All Again" "Libera" "Questo amore" "Raggio di luna" 1980s "Non so che darei" 1981 to 1982 "Per Lucia" "I treni di Tozeur" "Magic Oh Magic" 1986 "Gente di mare" "Vivo (Ti scrivo)" "Avrei voluto" 1990s "Insieme: 1992" "Comme è ddoce 'o mare" "Rapsodia" "Sole d'Europa" 1994 to 1996 "Fiumi di parole" 1998 to 1999 2000s 2000 to 2009 2010s 2010 "Madness of Love" "L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)" "L'essenziale" "La mia città" "Grande amore" (Note: Entries scored out are when Italy did not compete)