Everything about this pleases me no end. The song is catchy pop, with a lightly Arabic feel. The singer being Italian but of Egyptian descent, and this having got right up the noses of some of Italy’s populist politicians is really just too delicious for words. The fact that this will bring the Arabic language to the stage when the show’s being hosted in Israel adds an intriguing cultural twist, with just the right amount of politics it inevitably brings.
And of course, there’s the dreamy Mahmood himself. Excuse me momentarily whilst I indulge in my own base shallowness.
Italy’s been flirting with the top end of the scoreboard fairly consistently since coming back in 2011, with 6 of 8 entries finishing in the top 10. I’d love it if this was finally the song that got them over the line. It’s so difficult to call but who’d have thought Meta and Moro last year would have finished higher than Francesco Gabbani, the song so many of us had as almost a dead cert?
Telling the story of the song, Mahmood’s troubled relationship with his father, might be the key: pull this off and we could all be scoffing pizza next May, but struggle to tell it and most of your audience just won’t get the song at all. Much as I love it, with neither the language nor the connection to sell it, there’s probably not enough musically to have the wide appeal that’s needed. But my, do I live in hope.
My marks: Douze Points!