Rome band brings Eurovision back where song contests began

Italy woke up Sunday to news that a glam rock band who got their start busking on Rome’s main shopping drag had won the Eurovision Song Contest and was bringing next year’s competition back to the place where Europe s song contests began.

From the premier’s office on down, congratulations poured in Sunday from the Italian establishment for the rather anti-establishment group Maneskin. The band was the bookmakers’ favorite going into the Eurovision finale and sealed the win early Sunday with the highest popular vote in the enormously entertaining, and incredibly kitsch, annual song festival.

“We are out of our minds!” Florence’s Uffizi Galleries tweeted along with an image of a Caravaggio Medusa and the hashtag #Uffizirock.

Maneskin, Danish for “moonlight" and a tribute to bass player Victoria De Angelis' Danish ancestry, won with a total of 529 points. France was second while Switzerland which led after national juries had voted, finished third.

“Rock’n’roll never dies, tonight we made history. We love u,” the band tweeted before heading back home from Rotterdam Netherlands, where this year's contest was held.

The band got its start performing on Via del Corso, the main commercial thoroughfare in downtown Rome Their scrappy performances in front of a Geox store were a far cry from the over-the-top, flame-throwing extravaganza Saturday night that literally split lead singer Damiano David's pants.

David told a news conference this week that starting out on the street was embarrassing, since the group had to contend with other musicians vying for the same prized piece of sidewalk while neighbors complained about the noise.

“They were always calling the police," De Angelis said, laughing.

Maneskin’s win was only Italy’s third victory in the contest and the first since Toto Cutugno took the honor in 1990. The victory means Italy will host next year’s competition, with cities bidding for the honor.

Launched in 1956 to foster unity after World War II, Eurovision evolved over the years from a bland ballad-fest to a campy, feel-good extravaganza. It has grown from seven countries to include more than 40, including non-European nations such as Israel and far-away Australia.

Legend has it that Eurovision got its inspiration from Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival, which began in 1951 as a post-World War II effort to boost Italian culture and the economy of the Ligurian coastal city that has housed it ever since.

Perhaps best known for having launched the likes of Andrea Boccelli and one of Italy’s most famous songs “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” — popularly known as “Volare” — the Sanremo festival usually picks Italy’s official selection for the Eurovision contest.

Maneskin won Sanremo this year with the same song, “Zitti e Buoni” (“Quiet and good”) that it performed Saturday night in Rotterdam.