Now eleven songs deep into the Eurovision Top 100, we come upon “Due vite,” the first of ten Italian songs to make the list.
It is no secret around here that despite long stretches of non-participation, we think Italy has banged out some of the best songs in Eurovision history. Especially since their return to the contest in 2011, it seems like almost every year, they have not come to play, but to slay. When Marco Mengoni showed up in Liverpool in 2023, that was the objective.
Mengoni went to Eurovision singing a song about the duality of his life, and did quite well for himself.
Vital Information: “Due vite”
| Song | Due vite |
| English Translation | Two lives |
| Performed By | Marco Mengoni |
| Written By | Marco Mengoni, Davide Petrella, and Davide Simonetta |
| Country | Italy |
| Year | 2023 |
| Language(s) Performed In | Italian |
| How It Fared | 4th Place (350 Points) |
| Was It Fair? | More or less |
What I Liked
I will now take a moment to admit that through a four-digit number of Eurovision entries I have watched, this was one of the very few that actually brought a tear to my eye. Marco is a favorite of The Euro Yard: He sings with such passion and authority, and he makes music tangible.
While he was singing “Due vite,” you could grab and hold onto the emotion on stage. It was obvious that this subject matter is personal to him.
Other Facts
- Of course, as most (but not all) Italian Eurovision entries do, Mengoni won the Sanremo Music Festival with this song in 2023. He won every night in which he participated, and celebrated a blowout victory on the final night.
- This was Mengoni’s second Eurovision appearance. His first was a decade earlier in 2013, singing “L’essenziale.” We have that song ranked #133 on our all-time list.
- Italy came in third with the juries in 2023, but sixth with the televote, leading to a fourth-place finish.
- Mengoni got douze points from the juries of Austria, Croatia, Romania, San Marino, and Slovenia.
- He performed this song 11th in the running order.
Experience “Due vite”
It’s going to be a while before the Eurovision performance makes it to YouTube. In the meantime, you can watch the music video here, his Sanremo performance, or go to your country’s 2023 Eurovision archives.
