Douze points: Why did Italy give the UK top marks at Eurovision 2025?

When the Eurovision jury votes dropped and an Italian cartoon mouse handed the UK a dazzling douze points, jaws hit living room floors from Naples to Nottingham. It wasn’t just unexpected — it was practically an international incident in fan circles.

In a contest where voting blocs, industry leanings, and political subtexts are dissected like GCSE poetry, this felt like either an act of Eurovision anarchy or someone in Rome over-indulging on hospitality Chianti and ticking the wrong box. Let’s take a look at the contenders behind the chaos — and what might really explain the UK’s shock 12-pointer.

because it’s Friday and what else do you have planned today?

Was it just… a good song?

Let’s begin with the most boring — and yet possibly the most contentious — explanation: maybe the UK entry just slapped (look at me using words I have no right to use).

In a year heavy with glossy mid-tempo ballads and firework-heavy bangers, the UK’s offering stood out. A crisp, West End musical performance with no pyro, no dancers, no inflatable saxophones. Just three singers, a broken chandelier, and some seriously tight vocal work.

Italy’s juries have been both conventional and rogue at times. They often favour strong vocals and songwriting over staging gimmicks. If the UK served up something that ticked those boxes — think Sam Ryder in 2022 but with new tattoos and missing shoes — it might genuinely have been their favourite.

Boring? Maybe. But stranger things have happened. Ireland once picked up 22 points after sending Dustin the Turkey.

The Jury Room got confused (it’s happened before)

Now for a more Eurovision-y explanation: maybe it was a mistake.

It wouldn’t be the first time. In 2019, Belarus announced jury points on-air even though their jury had already been disqualified for breaking EBU rules. In 2022, the EBU threw out six juries’ votes — including Georgia’s and Romania’s — after detecting statistically suspicious similarities.

Eurovision juries don’t always consist of hardened professionals. Some are ex-reality stars, niche producers, or local radio hosts with an agenda and a spreadsheet. One wrong sort, one reversed list, and you get la confusione.

Did every Italian juror accidentally submit their rankings upside down? Highly unlikely. But again this has happened before. Could a scoring misinterpretation from even one juror push the UK over the edge in a tight field? Probably not, but you know, it’s a factor.

And until the full breakdown is published by the EBU (assuming it is, given all the complaints lodged by broadcasters), we’re left to speculate.

A Sanremo-style surprise

Italy doesn’t just do Eurovision. It lives Sanremo.

Their national music taste is shaped by a festival where songs stretch past four minutes, lyrics matter, and emotional breakdowns mid-performance are encouraged. If the UK act felt like it could’ve opened night three of Sanremo — think tight vocals, lush arrangements, maybe even a surprise change of tempo (there were many) — it might’ve resonated with an Italian jury weaned on melodrama and melody (or melodies in the case of Remember Monday’s song).

A strategic 12? Yes, really

Sometimes jury votes are about art. Sometimes they’re about sending a big old blunt message.

It’s no secret that juries occasionally game the system — not necessarily to cheat, but to rebalance. Televoters are notorious for loving spectacle and momentum; jurors sometimes try to even things out. Elevating a non-frontrunner like the UK can serve as a way to boost diversity in the scoreboard — or to stop another rival from running away with it.

Maybe Italy’s jury gave the UK 12 points not because they loved it the most, but because it didn’t threaten their own entry — and because they felt other frontrunners were already swimming in jury love.

This kind of tactical voting isn’t confirmed — but Eurovision fans have receipts, spreadsheets, and memories like elephants. Italy’s jury has form with left-field 12s, so it’s not wild to suggest a little scoreboard disruption was in play.

Because Italy loves le dramma

Finally, let’s be honest. Italians are connoisseurs of the dramatic arts. Opera. Cinema. Football. Reality TV. Sanremo. Eurovision is just another platform to make a statement.

Whether their twelve points went to a cry-for-help ballad or a pulsing electronic oddity, the Italian jury might simply have admired the audacity of three fantastic singers from the UK singing about an unfortunate night out.

And maybe, just maybe, the Italian jury watched it, blinked twice, and muttered: “That was art.”

So what’s the truth?

We won’t know until the EBU drops the detailed jury breakdown — and even then, we won’t know why. Only what.

But whatever the reason — genuine appreciation, tactical meddling, spreadsheet mayhem, or sheer pan-European whimsy — Italy’s 12 to the UK was the Eurovision equivalent of tossing a bouquet into a gale. Unexpected. A little reckless.

Gloriously memorable.

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