Italian Rock Band Maneskin Wins Eurovision 2021

Maneskin of Italy pose with the trophy following a news conference after winning the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Reuters)
Maneskin of Italy pose with the trophy following a news conference after winning the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Reuters)
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Italian Rock Band Maneskin Wins Eurovision 2021

Maneskin of Italy pose with the trophy following a news conference after winning the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Reuters)
Maneskin of Italy pose with the trophy following a news conference after winning the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Reuters)

Rock band Maneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with Zitti E Buoni, in Amsterdam, on Saturday, thanks to a major boost of votes from the public, ending a 31-year drought for Italy.

The band overtook Gjon's Tears of Switzerland, France's Barbara Pravi and Malta's Destiny, who were ahead in the standings after all jury votes were counted, thanks to 380 points from the public.

"We just want to say, to the whole of Europe, to the whole world, rock 'n' roll never dies," Maneskin's frontman Damiano David said after the win.

Gigliola Cinquetti was the first Italian contestant to win in 1964, followed by Toto Cutugno in 1990.

The 2021 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), held in Rotterdam, saw 26 performers compete in the sparkling finale. The complex voting system combined with some great discrepancies in votes between the Eurovision juries and viewers set up a nail-biting end to the competition.

Among the more shocking results were the mere 47 points handed to Destiny from the public, dropping the Malta act from third after the jury vote to a final seventh place.

Icelandic band Dadi og Gagnamagnid, who had to perform their entry remotely after a member tested positive for coronavirus, ended in fourth place.

The event saw many of the participants who were due to compete in 2020 in the running, after last year's event was cancelled due to the pandemic, the first time in the competition's history.

The Rotterdam event was designed to avoid infection as much as possible. Everyone participating in this year's song contest underwent intensive testing. Delegations were restricted to their hotels unless they were rehearsing or performing. No one with an active infection was allowed to perform.

But despite all efforts, the reigning ESC champion Duncan Laurence from the Netherlands tested positive for the virus.

Some 3,500 people were allowed to attend this year's event in person, as long as they tested negative. A further 150 million viewers were expected to watch from around the world.

Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Ireland, Croatia and Australia were all knocked out in the semifinals.



Tom Cruise Pays Tribute to Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Tom Cruise Pays Tribute to Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Tom Cruise paid tribute to late "Top Gun" co-star Val Kilmer on Thursday, leading movie theater owners in a moment's silence at the CinemaCon event before unveiling new footage from his latest "Mission: Impossible" movie.

"I'd like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer," said Cruise, at the start of his hotly anticipated appearance at the annual industry summit in Las Vegas.

"I really can't tell you how much I admired his work, how much I thought of him as a human being, and how grateful and honored I was when he joined 'Top Gun' and then came back for 'Top Gun: Maverick," said Cruise.

Kilmer, one of the biggest Hollywood actors of the 1990s, who shot to fame playing Iceman in the original 1986 "Top Gun", died aged 65, his family announced this week.

The cause of death was pneumonia. Kilmer had battled throat cancer after being diagnosed in 2014, and made his final appearance in the "Top Gun" 2022 sequel "Maverick," physically diminished and with a raspy voice.

Cruise on Thursday led the audience at Caesars Palace casino in a lengthy silence, asking attendees to "take a moment and just think about all the wonderful times that we had" watching Kilmer on the big screen.

"I wish you well on your next journey," said Cruise, to Kilmer.

He added to the attendees: "Thank you all for doing that. I know he appreciates it."

"Top Gun" was Kilmer's breakout role. Starring opposite Cruise, he played the cocky, square-jawed and mostly silent fighter pilot in training Tom "Iceman" Kazansky.

When he reprised his role as "Iceman" in the long-awaited sequel "Top Gun: Maverick," Kilmer's real-life health issues were written into the character.

Cruise on Thursday also introduced a new trailer for "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning," out May 23.

Footage shows Cruise's ageless hero Ethan Hunt clinging to the wheels of a small biplane as it soars down a narrow canyon and barrel rolls through the skies.

The trailer contained extensive flashbacks to famous scenes from earlier in the eight-film blockbuster franchise, such as Cruise dangling between lasers and climbing the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai.

"I need you to trust me one last time," says Cruise's character, in what Paramount is marketing as supposedly the final movie of the franchise.