The final night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2017 gave us plenty of drama. The bookies’ and critics’ favourite Fiorella Mannoia failed to slay her competitors, reaching second place, whilst outsider Francesco Gabbani went on to win this year’s festival.
Unlike last year, the confirmation that he will represent Italy at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest came early and immediately. During the press conference held straight after his victory, Gabbani gave a big YES to a journalist who asked him if he was going to fly the Italian flag in Kiev.
RAI’s official Eurovision account spread the news, announcing that the songwriter will take his gorilla to the Ukrainian stage, since the confirmed entry is no other than “Occidentali’s karma”!
????????Francesco Gabbani con «Occidentali’s Karma» rappresenterà l’Italia all’Eurovision Song Contest 2017! https://t.co/nIzh1W30X0
— Eurovision Rai (@EurovisionRai) 12 febbraio 2017
You can read more about his victory here. You can also check out his off-kilter lyrics below.
“OCCIDENTALI’S KARMA” LYRICS / TEXT — FRANCESCO GABBANI
Il dubbio amletico
Contemporaneo come l’uomo del neolitico
Nella tua gabbia 2×3 mettiti comodo
Intellettuali nei caffè
Internettologi
Soci onorari al gruppo dei selfisti anonimi
L’intelligenza è démodé
Risposte facili
Dilemmi inutili
AAA cercasi (cerca sì)
Storie dal gran finale
Sperasi (spera sì)
Comunque vada panta rei
And singing in the rain.
Lezioni di Nirvana
C’è il Buddha in fila indiana
Per tutti un’ora d’aria, di gloria.
La folla grida un mantra
L’evoluzione inciampa
La scimmia nuda balla
Occidentali’s Karma.
Occidentali’s Karma
La scimmia nuda balla
Occidentali’s Karma.
Piovono gocce di Chanel
Su corpi asettici
Mettiti in salvo dall’odore dei tuoi simili.
Tutti tuttologi col web
Coca dei popoli
Oppio dei poveri.
AAA cercasi (cerca sì)
Umanità virtuale
Sex appeal (sex appeal)
Comunque vada panta rei
And singing in the rain.
Lezioni di Nirvana
C’è il Buddha in fila indiana
Per tutti un’ora d’aria, di gloria.
La folla grida un mantra
L’evoluzione inciampa
La scimmia nuda balla
Occidentali’s Karma.
Occidentali’s Karma
La scimmia nuda balla
Occidentali’s Karma.
Quando la vita si distrae cadono gli uomini.
Occidentali’s Karma
Occidentali’s Karma
La scimmia si rialza.
Namasté Alé
Lezioni di Nirvana
C’è il Buddha in fila indiana
Per tutti un’ora d’aria, di gloria.
La folla grida un mantra
L’evoluzione inciampa
La scimmia nuda balla
Occidentali’s Karma.
Occidentali’s Karma
La scimmia nuda balla
Occidentali’s Karma
Are you happy with Italy’s decision? Could this choice lead to a third victory for the country? Let us know below!
Nothing special from Italy but this is standing out as strong compared to the mediocre number of songs we have heard so far. Francesco is charismatic which will help this songs chances
Mario’s Eurovision 2017
https://eurovision2017blog.wordpress.com/
Now he is first in the odds! How fast Italy has moved to the first place! It’s incredible.
this guy is ugly… but I love his smile and style yeeeaaaaaahhhh!!!! Italy I love you so much, finally a song that I like!!!!!
What are the references to Buddha all about? Some of these lyrics are major head-scratchers.
Is this the Italian version of France’s Amir?
@nn: Honey honey … work on your English please first and foremost and before using politics as an excuse for your fairy-tale story … learn some hindsight stories about Eurovision instead of acting like a 1991 Toto Cotugno … 🙂 RAI has a brain of its own … no politics are necessary for RAI to say NO or YES to Eurovision. RAI has Sanremo … a music legendary show that birthed Eurovision … without expecting it to become everything that Sanremo is not … Music first, bs never … that is until this gorilla came along …
@Ohi You would still be on any bandwagon had it been your grandma or your pittbull performing on stage … anything goes … cause nobody wants music to win this.
@MTD: Fingers crossed … I don’t want a gorilla to win a song contest … even if he was dancing about Russia invading Ukraine … I don’t care about gorillas … desperate fans are seeking fun and uptempo vibes to replace “listening meaningful” songs uncovered of distractions and bs … but I cross my fingers for music credibility. Oh Loreen they haven’t learned s**** from you.
@Edre: I’ll promise to give you a XXL size gorilla for your birthday all covered with quotes from all the biggest names in History so that your gorilla can have mature credibility and provide you with so much cultural knowledge, a type of knowledge that everybody at home will be voting for … of course they will listen and feel so passionate about the content of the song … as if the gorilla wasn’t even there. Oh honey … you know what … you’re like a black bird … you try … you try … but you know what …… Read more »
@Jonas: I rather be wrong than having a gorilla jumping by my side .. there are far more credible ways to send a serious urgent message in song than the desperation to have a song that tries to make fans forget all the serious slow songs in the competition … it’s like asking a Junior ESC singer to come and save everybody from the ballad-syndrome.
Best song so far except for Belarus. Gorilla or no gorilla, it’s just a damn good tune
Totally love the song. But doesn’t it have to be shortened by half a minute? I hope it doesn’t ruin it 🙁
I just discovered sth that happened last night at “Dopofestival”, the show after the Sanremo. The italian presenter actually said to Francesco: “Don’t win, because we’ll have to host the contest and we don’t want that because it will have an impact on the economy”. And he answered “I’ll do everything not to win”. At first, it seemed to me like they were joking, because of their general behavoiur. But I’m afraid there is some truth in it. Seriously? This is the reaction to a song which represents the country to a contest? I understand they have financial issues or… Read more »
@MTD The jury in the end went for the more noted songwriter. Earlier in the night they went for the legendary artist, but then placed her behind Gabbani in the re-vote. Maybe they thought by placing Ermal first he would give him the win. But, Ermal did poorly in the televote, and I think he would do poorly in the ESC televote. Il Volo did poorly with the SR 2015 jury because they were using a twelve year old un-released song, and the jury knew it. At ESC, Il Volo got penalized for the hack job done in shortening the… Read more »
According to the statistics, the jury put Francesco second, but way second (29.17%), while the first Ermal Meta had 43.75%. #3 had 27.08%. On the televote, Francesco won with 43.69% to the #2 of 33.21%. So, I don’t think that the juries will love Italy this year. Yes, I know blah, blah about being a pan-European jury in May, but on Sanremo, even Il Volo didn’t won the jury vote. So…I am not sure whether he will end up high. If Ermal Meta was to represent Italy, he would have scored high with the juries (like Australia in 2016), but… Read more »
@William Lee Adams I just saw the reaction video to Francesco Gabbani’s victory! I want to say I saw Christian so excited, “he’s so excited and he just can’t hide it”! I am totally feeling it too!
Charles is so wrong. This song can appeal to everybody. It has the fun side, it has the quality side. It tickes all boxes, and I think some people are never happy unless they have something to whine about.
Charles is just hilarious at this point. Great comedian 😛
Anyway, this has a huge chance to stand out amongst a load of boring female ballads. Top 10, Top 5, maybe even the win?
Well done Italy, best song chosen so far and definite contender for the crown. Rome 2018? Possible.
If there is ever going to be another Big Five winner, it will be Italy. Forza Italia!! 😀
Yes, this will definitely do very well in Kyiv.
And I agree that Francesco should perform in a suit, not in the costume himself.
The only video of Gabbani’s song I saw with ENGLISH SUBTITLES was this one: http://dai.ly/x5bezko.
Clever, brilliant and current lyrics, with references to philosophy and to ethnologist Desmond Morris’ “Naked Ape”.
@Edre
B E S T C O M M E N T E V E R !
Can anyone translate the lyrics with explanation of the reference the song used?
Italy is now on bettingd odds first with same quotas with juries favorites Sweden
and Italy didn t compete from 1994 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2011, and that man was prime minister 3 times in period firsti time fer monts period from 1994 to 1995, second time period from 2001 to 2006 and third time from 2008 to 2011.
You know Charles, the song is written also for people like you. “Everybody is a web know-it-all”, as the song states. It seems like you didn’t even bother to understand the meaning of the song, because otherwise you probably would have understood that the gorilla joke is actually a really fitting gimmick in the song. It talks about westerners’ cultural appropriations as the metaphor for the superficial world where we live in, the same superficiality that you showed writing things like “but hey whatever pizza and pasta float their boats”. And the whole “gorilla thing” refers to some lines in… Read more »
Charles
Maybe Italy didn t compete Eurovision from 1998 to 2010 , becuase RAI is state brodadcaster and we all know who was many time in that years was prime minister in that years when Italy was absent from participation in Eurovision, and tha man have many tv chanelles concurente of RAI.
I’m on the bandwagon! I want this song to win the whole thing
This gorilla thing … because let’s be honest … it’s all about the gorilla … seems like an attempt for fans to get revenge for the 2015 fiasco that was seeing Italy winning televoting and not the juries … you can see their senses heightening and they being eager to see the circus in town winning this just to give a slap in the juries’ faces and laugh at all those serious slow songs that clash with their hyperactive mood and love for kitsch and bad taste … while music credibility goes down the drain because nobody cares. It’s all… Read more »
@Milla: Finally someone spoke some truth and wisdom into the bubble of non-wanting-to-grow-kids who wanna relieve their zoo days during childhood just to run away from a mature grown blackbird. Again like in the 2000s it’s the entertaining that matters and not the quality of what’s being offered. Nobody even cares if the gorilla is supposed to be a hit or not … for as long as it allows one to run away from all the traumatizing slow songs (also know as a boring ballads) that seem to disturb some people’s senses. EBU … you have a problem in hands… Read more »
Here is my top 10 so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAdNNL5ISqA
@mawnck: How about you being a very well behaved blackbird and tell the gorilla to just don’t dance? We’d appreciate that it’s way too distracting to even allow us to feel the true message of the song. Ironic isn’t it? At least SNL know how to be funny when throwing shade on the true menaces.
@marc: that’s good news! i wish france’s odds will narrow too but alas it’s too polarising for some people.
@Adam: You wanna send a serious and deep message, have the balls to do it respectfully instead of trying to make a fool of yourself to do it … you’re not Britney Spears … unless of course you wanna be a twat like her but hey whatever floats your boat. And if you truly bother to read my comment instead of being so numb about the gorilla prop … you would have realized my shade about the uptempo music in Eurovision. Again the key word is desperation … but you are so “uptempo” right now that you can’t even stop… Read more »
Agree with blondboybc: an enjoyable, uplifting, clever artist and song. This is a definitely a potential winner and my new favourite.
After all the ballads, this sounds so fresh and uplifting. Good luck Italy in Kiev!
Italy is second in the odds! And It’s getting low and low.
7/2 Italy and Sweden 3. Really close
Big 5 top:
1.Italy
2.UK
3.France
4.Spain
5.Germany
Italy always with unique songs <3
this couldnt be a winner.
“There are one hundred and ninety-three living species of monkeys and apes. One hundred and ninety-two of them are covered with hair. The exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens. This unusual and highly successful species spends a great deal of time examining his higher motives and an equal amount of time studiously ignoring his fundamental ones.”
~Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal (1967)
This is AMAZING news! I saw the whole show and I was so excited Francesco won! From that time, I prayed he’ll accept to go to Eurovision with this song. Thank God he did! First of all, this song is delightful, up-lifting and you enjoy listening to it. . The gorilla doesn’t bother me much now, as it fits the context. It’s also a song with a message, he didn’t just throw lyrics so as to make a song. For me it’s an oasis among the ballads so far. He’ll stand out for sure. Definitely people watching from home will… Read more »
I’m liking what the big 5 are serving up this year. Spain and Germany not as much, but definitely the other three! 2017 may be the first year since 2013 where a big 5 entry doesn’t come last in the final.
Don’t get the hype but at least it’s not another dull slow song.
We’ve got our first 10 entries now we can all compose our Top 10s
Who would have thought the first 10 would include all of the Big 5
THIS IS AMAZING
I have to say this is probably the first time I’ve seen anyone perform in a gorilla suit! That aside, it’s quite a catchy tune and he has a nice huskiness to his voice. I can’t actually decide whether I like it or not…
I doubt this will be ‘Italy’s year’. Will be lucky to scrape a few points and will finish middle of the right hand side. I just don’t think people will ‘get it’.
I’m so proud of my country. We could come last, and I’d still be proud (but we won’t hihi).
I really like this song, it’s the first one this year I’m excited about (fingers crossed for a great UK revamp). In the context of translation I completely get the gorilla suit, but my worry is it loses all context at ESC where the vast majority of viewers will not know about the ‘dancing monkey’ reference in the song. It needs to be scrapped for Kyiv otherwise it will cheapen a strong performance.
I do not get the hype about this song… It’s nothing original and quite annoying… For me this is the last place out of the songs we have now.
For those who say the gorilla is just a prop, please WATCH the video with ENGLISH SUBTITLES first: http://dai.ly/x5bezko.
It’s a very well-written song, very current. As Giuseppe M. Lestingi says it means that people and society are destroying themselves being slaves to technology and consumerism, that the “scimmia nuda” (naked ape) wins over humanity, that nature throws back karma to humanity.
There are many references to philosophy (Panta Rhei), to ethologist Desmond Morris (The Naked Ape) and to our contemporary culture (internet addiction)…
Brilliant lyrics, in fact.
I’m overjoyed and very pleased that he’s accepted and is taking the gorilla with him to Kyiv! Grazie, Italia, for sending this enjoyable, uplifting, clever artist and song! Italy’s moved into the top 4 in betting odds thanks to him! He’s now my numero uno! 😀