Sanremo 2019 winner Mahmood has confirmed that he WILL represent Italy at Eurovision 2019. This clears up a few tense days where it seemed the “Soldi” singer was unsure if he would be Italy’s act for Tel Aviv.
Mahmood made the announcement on social media, where he wrote, “Ok, I can tell you, I will represent Italy at @eurovision with “SOLDI”. I can’t wait.”
The confirmation comes as a huge relief to fans, who were worried that Mahmood would decline the offer to participate at Eurovision. After initially giving an emphatic yes at the Sanremo winner’s conference, Mahmood later backtracked and said he’d need to look at the proposal in more detail before deciding.
This inspired a fan-led campaign to get Mahmood to say “sì” to Eurovision. The hashtag #Mahmood4Eurovision was the number one trending topic in Italy, and an online petition was launched.
The success of “Soldi”
Despite not winning the Sanremo televote, Mahmood’s song “Soldi” is slowly earning favour with the public, both in Italy and abroad.
The lyrics of “Soldi”, which discuss Mahmood’s troubled relationship with his father, appear to be resonating with audiences beyond Italy.
The song has clocked up 4.6 million listens on Spotify. “Soldi” is also the No.1 song in Spotify’s Italy Top 50 chart, and has even reached No.41 in Spotify’s global Top 50, facing stiff competition from Ariana Grande’s new album tracks.
The single has also appeared in the iTunes charts of 12 different countries. Eurofestival News reports that “Soldi” charted not just in Italy, Malta and Switzerland, but also Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Norway. The song has also reached No.71 in the iTunes global chart.
The music video for “Soldi” now has over 7 million views, many of which were clocked up in the past few days.
The song — which currently runs to 3:15 — will need to be edited down to be under the three-minute Eurovision time limit.
What do you think? Are you pleased that Mahmood will be going to Eurovision? Tell us your thoughts below!
OMG I really like this! Music & lyrics amazing. Mahmood & Duncan Laurence from The Netherlands my favorite so far.
And this le the first time I really like a song from Italy since 2012! I recognize the quality of all the songs they sent between 2013 and 2018 but none of them were in my top 5. This one is actually really good. Far away from Italian cliché.
Best of luck to Italy from Belgium 😉
Amazing! Iconic. Contemporary. Excellent styling,. Winner 2019
Good song, im sure Kobi from israel is gonna give him a very big fight because Kobi is one of a kind, no kidding…waiting for his song
There is an Italian curse. Good looking men overhyped in the bubble, esc fans accusing the rest of the world that their mortal brain can’t understand meaningful lyrics, and in the end Europe is super annoyed and Italians fail to win.
Mahmood is not Michael Schulte. Last year everybody was afraid to overhype Germany because the recent results (except Suzanne Adams) and people were not annoyed by the act. And it was in English. Is not the case for Italy. Again the bubble will kill it, like it did with Gabbani. Clap Clap Namaste Ale!
Just say you hate the song. You don’t have to complicate it any further.
Winning the competition is just an extra bonus that of course everybody aims at.
But I guess we Italians are proud to send good quality acts and very flattered that they are appreciated a lot.
If I have to tell you the truth this isn’t a curse, but a blissful state. There are so many good acts at ESC that if other countries win we don’t feel diminished but happy to have contributed to making a great show.
I agree, but ESC gay fans are crazy about his looks and the fact that he’s gay, so we will see and hear from him till the real winner will be proclaimed. To me the song is bland and after listening to it many times in tv during the week, it gets boring…the same with La Venda. Happy song, liked it immediately when I heard it, had it download on my phone, but after so many listening…I’m off with it.
Soldi is streamed so much in Italy that it’s currently in the top-50 most listened-to songs worldwide on Spotify. It’s very current, I wasn’t sold on his performance at San Remo, but with a few tweaks and a studio recording rather than an orchestra it could do very well indeed.
this is the first ever contemporary r&b song in the history of the competition…. i’m so proud my country is sendin this. i suppose it’ll help the songs’ quality next year, lately most ‘mainstream’ entries have been dated on arrival.
Thank God! Some Italians don’t even know he has a chance to win Eurovision. Stop bashing him social media!
Guys you should watch it, Alessandro Mahmood singing during BOLOGNA PRIDE 2013
he looks so adorable and i love how he moves, he was such cutie pie 😀
here the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsRJ0S4gsyk
Thanks for sharing that Mikolas, nice to see an earlier performance, and especially that it was to celebrate Pride 🙂
Also, interesting and slightly ironic song choice (to be singing about money again).
Speaking of which, I bet he’d do a great cover of Christine and the Queens – “5 Dollars” https://youtu.be/v8eulIH7tU0
Indeed, he singing about money, haha, how adorable :)))
i wasn’t paying attention what about the song… probably was distracted by his sexy dance lol
he was sexy cutie back then and now he is even hotter 😛
He’s a perfect uke!!!!!!!! (Anyone interested in BL knows what I’m saying.)
This is contemporary, fresh, radio friendly, catchy, has a message… what else could you ask for? The fact that he received MASSIVE jury support in Sanremo shows this is going to be loved by both televoters and jurors alike… Italy has been in the mix to win a few times since they’ve returned but I genuinely think they have a really good shot to win this year, they tick all the boxes
From the great reaction in our community, Mahmood certainly does tick a lot of boxes!
He’s definitely up there but Norway is a solid selection. He was my 3rd place on initial listening but there’s like six good songs there.
I can’t wait for Milan 2020 to finally happen, WIG
if francesco gabbani won, they wanted to do it in turin…..i suppose it’ll be there since the arena is better and it’s just an hour and a half away from malpensa airport anyway
Bilal just posted an IG story where he was listening to SOLDI!!!!! I ship them
Omg the insanity of shipping contestants is started and i love it …lol
So how we gonna call them? Bilassandro or MahBil? Lmao!
Hahahahah!!
Bilood
Bilood is Magic!!! Ahah
Cool! Bilood sounds good :))
Bilood is my mood lol
When the ‘i’ is gone, it’s never gonna be my mood again.
loool, can y’all please not?
y’all a mess….. they look like they could be best friends if anything skkssjsk
“I soldi fanno girare il mondo” —Mahmood
“I soldi fanno girare il mondo” —Hatari
that’s……not the concept mahmood is trying to express but k
The meaning of art is to be interpreted not necessarily prescribed.
But k.
I’m so glad he accepted and didn’t get discouraged from all the irrational bad mouths! Well done Mahmood! You’ll do great!
YEEEEZZZ!!!!!!
First winner alert of the season!
It’s the only eurovision song that I actually listen too
Sure! Whatever you say. He’s a peach. Oh, and it’s Melanie you’re talking to, not Melania. Read carefully, there may be subtle satire there you’re missing.
There may be a not so subtle joke Mr. Vanilla Bean made, that you’re missing too.
Sadly I fear not, though I would be happy to be wrong.
Oh damn, that escalated quickly. Pls don’t fight.
Oh, so it actually was a (failed) attempt at humor? My apologies. I still don’t know why you would respond with sarcasm to somebody praising Soldi when you too have praised it, but sure. Also your previous Hillary-bashing confused me. My bad. Sad!
I read their ‘fighting’ as comedy anyway. It’s just handbags at dawn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xea7EMFMCDw
I read Melani(a)’s joke above to mean that ‘soldi’ is the only thing she listens to.
i.e., gusto per soldi, l’unica musica che le piace
You’re so right. I can’t compete with that level of humor! You have some hilarious opinions.
Oh. My.
The sole reason, huh? Russian hacking. Never happened. Data Analytica. Never happened. Misogyny. Doesn’t exist. Voter suppression. What voter suppression? Gerrymandering. Never!
Be Best
I love my khusband dunal
Lol. Like a cross between a dad joke and a catty drag queen one liner!
“Head over to Ikea, bitch!”
Head over to Ikea and assemble your own joke! 😛
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi8tGeq1RIc
gusto per soldi, l’unica musica che le piace
honestly rooting for this, miles ahead of the rest
So many miles! 🙂
To do that well on the charts is really hard, congratulations
Ultimo is no 1 in spotify, itunes, radios…so he’s doing better than Mahmood! Facts!
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssahddfakkssjamsllamscyrhgetuwjer5tfg
oh Jo…. lmao!
yeah i’m happy too :))
lmao I love you
Everyone should give this link a go.. Tamta performing live a couple of days ago – albeit a cover but really really impressive!
https://youtu.be/TrxsgluvmNk
Far the best entry until now, touching, vibes, charismatic singer. Glad, Mahmood has confirmed. Also loved last year’s entry from Italy. Had goosebumps. Hope, there will B other strong entries, still 34 left.
Excellent! But our pantheon of Egyptian gods will not be complete without the god of the underworld…
For now, this is my Number one, but not because it is really outstanding, no its because all others are wesker.
In my opinion, this is not as good as Francesco or Ermal & Fabrizio were. But as for all other songs already chosen, I have to say it depends on what the others are choosing, it‘s to early to say if he can finish on top or elsewhere.
YAS! Glad he confirmed. He has a killer song and I’m happy he’s getting all that success and positive feedback from Italy and abroad (even if douchey Salvini wants to minimize it xd). Right now, with only eight songs, Italy is the one that screams “winner”.
So, congratulations to Mahmood and waiting to see him perform in Tel Aviv in May.
Random question: without the privilege of having a fancy classical orchestra behind him, who will the camera zoom on to for all the synchronized clapping?
Maybe there’ll be 5 random clapping guys on the stage lmao
A collage of multiple videos of people/fans all across Europe clapping to Soldi’s song could fill the lcd screens behind/ around him on the stage.
Wow! this is such a cool idea !
i already can see it on a big stage, i’m sure Mahmood’ team will come up with outstanding staging for him:)
The orchestra will be holographic. I’m joking. 😀
Either backing singers or the audience will do it.
I feel like that’s the only thing that’s holding him back for a win. As with Italy 2017 when it came to Kiev it was a bit messy without the dedicated orchestra. Hope I’m wrong and all goes well, I’ve had this on repeat in the last couple of days
Just curious, are we going to see Wiwibloggs’ reaction video to Montenegro? 😀
Well there was a Wiwi Jury video last year for every country’s entry, so yes it is eventually possible. 🙂
Ah-ha, the Montenegro reaction video just posted: https://youtu.be/_WBkk_gqIX0
No point for such a rubbish song
Save your time and just google search, “facepalm”.
We’re only at the beginning of all of this and there are some big acts like Russia and Cyprus that will reveal their songs and have all the potential of capturing our collective attention. Nonetheless, for now, Soldi is my favorite song for ESC 2019 and I really want Mahmood to do well. It will mean so much to so many marginalized groups and people in Europe if he wins with that specific song and what it stands for!
Worst entry from Italy since they came back and so overhyped as well..
You don’t even know yet if it’s overhyped , we’ll talk again after the actual contest. 🙂
Get her Jade!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4v0kmguT994
WHAT A RELIEF! This has quickly become one of my favorite ESC songs ever… Mahmood and his song are so cool, this would be an excellent winner. 12 points and the best of luck from Finland <3
Winner vibes all over, indeed.
As italian i’m so proud of him; he has a big heart and positive personality, with a strong, deeply song!
Alessandro, good luck!
The top song, so far, but by very far.
Damn sexy in that leather !
Italy did it. They might just win it all with this song. I don’t care what that bigoted leader of Italy thinks, you are AMAZING Mahmood. Good luck in Tel Aviv!
It would be so delicious for Mahmood to give the third Italian win and bring the contest back to Italy, currently governed by the anti-inmigrant Salvini-M5S coalition. And as of now, “Soldi” is the song which has the most winner vibes all over.
Italy would be an awesome Eurovision host…provided they don’t host like they did in 1991. (If you see Toto waiting in line for host auditions, RUN)
I know that 1991’s Eurovision was the worst in all history, but time has passed and we’re ready to celebrate music in our country, if only we would have the possibility. I’m dreaming about Virginia Raffaele hosting the show, she’s one of the most successfull show-girl right now.
I want Rome as host city, the day Italy wins, but I woulfn’t mind Milano either.
There were strong rumours RAI wanted to host it in Turin in case il volo had won in 2015. But who knows what they’ll actually do if they end up winning. All the big 5 countries have a lot of good city options to choose from.
Waiting for what Cyprys is cooking (i’ve been a fan of TAMTA for a while), but Soldi is my current Top 1 and I don’t see it dropping below Top 5.
There’s no doubt that Mørland is a great songwriter and artist. However, I get an “off” vibe from this song and the video. It’s just not to my taste this time. But best of luck to him at MGP.
Can’t wait to vote for this in May
Italy keeps SLAYING SLAYING *clap clap*
Haters gonna stay SALTY SALTY *clap clap*
It really was the best choice for ESC in the end, far better than Ultimo, which would crash at Tel Aviv. Soldi is modern, hip and definitely what the ESC needs. With a dark and mysterious staging it could work really well. I hope that Belgium gives us something like this as well and that Portugal sends Conan Osiris and Slovenia gives us Zala & Gasper or Raiven.
Best news today!
Exactly!!! I can’t believe Morland isn’t the favourite in MGP. I really feel that song. 🙁
Welcome to bottom 5 Italy.
This is the year Italy deserves to win
Well, we dont know most of songs yet, but truly saying i wouldn’t mind if Italy won in Tel Aviv with this song and this artist, that would be really cool:)
Everything about this screams winner, also, Italy would be amazing hosts as we can see from the production of Sanremo. So far some songs aren’t bad, but this is the first song I can confidently say should win
Agree, Italy is amazing country and would be a great host, though i still sad seeing how much hate Mahmood reciving from many Italians, now local bigots on social media spread that nonsense about how ‘gay mafia’ in Sanremo choose Mahmood only to piss off Salvini… well im glad Salvini is pissed lol, but i belive he was chosen becouse of his amazing song and pure talent not becouse of politics game
I didn’t really click he was gay until someone pointed it out to me, so I’m not really sure where people get that one from – he certainly doesn’t try and market himself that way and the song is meaningful and passionate.
Would Italy be a great host, though? They could present it in the style of San Remo again, like they did in 1991…their much looser presenting style did not end well then….what if they ask Toto back as host…?
It was 28 years ago, a lot of things are changed; everybody needs a second chance!
If Il Volo and Francesco Gabbani did not win, then Mahmood will not win obviously.
I think he will be in the top 10, maybe in top 5, but he won’t win this Eurovision.
I still don’t get what exactly led you all to believe, that Francesco Gabbani was gonna win, to be honest…
I thought he had an excellent chance to win, until I saw the staging at rehearsal and how the stage just swallowed him up. Lost all the magic the performance had at Sanremo.
The “revamp” or rather, the abrupt abbreviation of “Occidentali’s Karma” was part of the reason too. While sixth place is commendable, it could have been a contender for the win.
And apparently, with Francesco’s album out a few weeks prior, I think he was itching to move on from the song to promote the rest of his tracks. He couldn’t sustain the hype all the way to the end.
The one thing they both have in common is that they’re exceptionally polarising, Mahmood’s song isn’t, it’s jury friendly AND televote friendly.
It’s a very very very pleasant song, which means votes
2013 was also the year Italy deserved to win, but alas, fate had other ideas.
Since 2015, a solid argument could be made for Italy winning each year.
YES! I’m so ready to spend all my money on this man in May. Soldi, Soldi *clap clap*
Spendin’ all yo soldi
Grazie, Mahmood. 🙂
Enjoy Eurovision.
Yay! So happy to hear it! Forza Alessandro 🙂