There comes a time when you have to stand and applaud an entry for being authentic and just plain brilliant.
Step forward Måneskin who, despite being shown half way through their first televised run through, absolutely blew my socks off. This is rock in it’s purest form, not Blind Channel kids rock with their middle fingers, this is a piece of music which is true to the bands core values, if toned down slightly from what they usually provide.
It’s got a big concert feeling which is what this is – a concert in a big arena that happens to be on television – Damiano has taken his top off, naturally, and bare-chested his way through the performance in (seemingly) PVC Dungarees. The rest of the band are in the obligatory black and just do what they need to do. On the second run, I noticed that the line they had to change (which talking about touching your balls) Damiano accidently rubbed his balls. Not deliberately so, but enough for me to notice – one senses that this lot are going to sail close to the wind – and I like it.
When the chorus comes in for the final time, there are all sorts of fireworks from the back of the stage: a curtain of fire and plumes of fire all over the god damn place. It looks like RAI have found Euros down the back of a sofa for “Waiter, the pyro menu”.
Damiano, after killing everyone with the song, drops dead himself at the end. This is far and away the best thing I’ve seen today and still very much a contender.