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.
