Italy 2022: Mahmood & Blanco with ‘Brividi’

After storming to a predictable San Remo victory, Mahmood and Blanco (M/B) confirmed they will be flying the flag for the hosts:

With the possible exception of Denmark 2014 which if I recall was facied a little too for some reason, all the hosts that have been in the race for a top 4/5 in the years I'm familiar with have been Greece, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Sweden 2016. All dominant countries at the time and ignoring Frans, all fit into that same ‘Classy, big ballad’ kind of mold. There is a perception that I am also guilty of that that is the way to do a host entry, and that every other attempt has been either more experimental or deliberately poor to ensure no back to back win one way or another. Note how the Netherlands went from “send something classy, do well but don't win” to “go and be different and do whatever you want Jeangru” at the prospect of having to hold a third edition after missing out on many of the perks too. So whilst this is a ‘great host entry’, it's important not to overplay that. ‘Brividi’ has to rely on its on merits rather than some notion we may hold other what type of genre does or doesn't work.

Thankfully ‘Brividi’ is a great song with an even better performance and provides the only goosebumps moment of the season so far going into that chorus. It's captivating and I've looked down at the running time a few times shocked how the first two minutes of the song have flown by. It has that kind of effect where you'll just sit and watch.

No other country will have a duet like this and the two guys work great together and make this what it is. Mahmood will get most of the attention and he will bring some international support but a shout out to Blanco who is no passenger here. If anything my main gripe is with Mahmood's falsetto and highest pitch which could maybe be pulled back a little. More a personal taste thing perhaps as it's fine from a juror's perspective.

Italy is Italy so as said last year take the numbers with a grain of salt but even for an Italian entry the streams and views are impressive, as was the dominant win over the rest of the field. To see the press, demoscopic jury and televote all go for this over two more interesting narratives is a sign of its strength.

That televote/jury balance could be their main advantage with this looking secure on both fronts. Any arguments that this is ‘boring’ for the televote miss what this is entirely and let's not forget the record points tally belongs to Salvador Sobral and ‘Molitva’ won over ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’. The televote always respect class and where do you knock this down as a jury? If anything their position is stronger than Maneskin's last year although that is reflected in the current odds.

The staging is perfect as is and just a matter of getting the camerawork spot on. This doesn't need anything adding and the live is superior to the music video- let the viewer feel the music here and the message comes through. Right now the balance is excellent between telling the story with authenticity without going overboard, the bikes are a nice callback and consistency but beyond having them at the back, just leave these pros to it.

We are of course awaiting the 3 minute cut and I don't have any great suggestions here, it's not an easy one, and am just going to wait and see what they come up with and give it a fair shake.

As hosts Italy will be picking their spot randomly unless you enjoy a good conspiracy so do have the chance of landing an earlier than usual draw which would not be ideal but part of the anarchist in me would love to see this drawn second where they would still put up a fight from and would make an interesting story.

So far this stands above anything heard anywhere yet (particularly the rest of the dross I've had to review these last days) but the traditionally stronger countries are still to come. It looks statistically improbable however that many will overtake this, at least to the extent this falls out the reckoning altogether. The double is possible and I don't even think Rai would mind…

Personal Rating: 9/10

Competitive Rating: 10/10

Early Prediction: 1st-5th