San Marino
Gabry Ponte – Tutta L’Italia
Every year, Eurovision’s tiniest and most stubborn microstate pulls on its rhinestoned boots and gives it another go. San Marino may be geographically minute, but its commitment to the contest is heroic—bordering on delusional, yes, but we love them for it. And this year, they’ve raided the Italian charts (again) and returned with Tutta L’Italia, an Italo-banger from DJ/producer titan Gabry Ponte—yes, that Gabry Ponte of Eiffel 65 and Blue (Da Ba Dee) infamy.
The premise? A celebration of being loudly, proudly Italian—from a country that is not, technically, Italy. Still, it works better than the Estonian cosplay, and in Ponte’s hands, it has a degree of authenticity—even if it’s the kind best experienced under UV light with a plastic cup of Limoncello in hand.
Musically, it’s pure Euro-stadium fodder: bouncy, hooky, and with more than a whiff of football chant about it. Picture yourself stumbling into a Mediterranean bar where they’re handing out free sambuca and someone’s uncle is on the decks. That’s Tutta L’Italia—cheap, cheerful, and vaguely hypnotic after three spritzes. There are gimmicky flourishes (naturally), and while it doesn’t reinvent anything, it at least sounds like it knows what it’s doing.
The challenge, as ever with DJ-led entries, will be staging. Unless they’ve come up with a way for Gabry to rise from a glitter volcano or spin flaming decks midair, there’s a real risk he ends up standing awkwardly behind some hired dancers, looking like the support act at his own show. Eurovision rarely knows what to do with a laptop on stage.
Will this turn the tide for San Marino? Almost certainly not. The curse of being competent but ignored is a familiar one for them. But they’ve delivered a song that’s listenable, lively, and mercifully not trying to make us cry or confront geopolitical trauma—and that, in 2025, might be enough for a mid-table miracle.
5 points
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