They won over legions of new fans during Italy’s Sanremo 2022 with their entry “Ciao Ciao”. And now — with their love of song contests top-of-mind — La Rappresentante di Lista have told their supporters that they may enter San Marino’s national selection for Eurovision 2022.
As EuroFestival news reports, the duo — that’s Veronica Lucchesi and Dario Mangiaracina — were chatting in their official Telegram group. Dario left the following voice message about Una voce per San Marino.
“We are seriously thinking of applying for the Eurovision Song Contest in San Marino. Come on, yes. I think we will.”
Que Darío de La Rappresentante di Lista ha dicho que quieren representar a San Marino!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/vOdUw9PDSA
— J??????? ?? (@JonyPeon17) February 6, 2022
La Rappresentante di Lista for Una voce per San Marino?
That selection — Una voce per San Marino — has cast its net wide, staging a series of castings in recent months that resulted in 66 emerging artists making it to the selection’s four semi-finals. Broadcaster SMRTV announced their names back in January.
Eventually nine Emerging Artists will compete against nine Established Artists in the grand final on February 19.
The Established Artists didn’t have to audition and were directly invited. They’ll be revealed at a press conference in Milan at noon on February 8 (so tomorrow).
Given that the acts were already internally picked, it seems highly unlikely that La Rappresentante di Lista will appear on the list tomorrow.
About La Rappresentante di Lista
The name of the duo (literally “the list representative”) refers to singer Veronica’s political history and activism. In 2011, she enrolled as a list representative of a political party in order to vote off-site in a referendum held in Italy on nuclear energy.
The two artists define themselves as queer.
“This word has a transversal meaning, without schemes, without classifications, free from gender identity, somehow fluid, not afraid to mix,” they say. “What we do might just be queer, yeah, queer music, even if we don’t deal with proper queer themes in our songs. Our queer pop is the child of our curiosity and the fun that we have in the studio and in the rehearsal room. We feel we are bearers of a fluid identity, because sexuality has no boundaries. We don’t want to be fixed in a gender scheme.”
Their song “Ciao ciao” is an over-the-top tale of the end of the world as seen through the eyes of the duo: a colourful apocalypse in which we must quickly come to terms with the general crisis underway, including climate change and social upheaval.
Suddenly every Italian is interested participating for San Marino, when there’s more publicity coming from Italy, since the contest will be held in Italy? My my..
Mello rejects -> San remo rejects. Beware Italians, Azerbaijan’s broadcaster might be taking you as the next victim!
San Marino just sending another SanRemo act to represent them every single year and effectively becoming an extension of Italy in ESC would be the absolute dream scenario for them, but I don’t know how realistic of a scenario that is. I would 100% have voted for them if they had LRdL performing in Turin tho.
That would have to be next year with a new song, as San Marino already picked their semifinalists.
I hope they do. I love them !
No they confirmed they won’t. WIWINBLOGGS should report it
Aww, no! I hope they return next year 🙂
I really dislike the idea of a country using songs from a national final in another country. It’s basically a form of cheating. I’m also quite surprised that everyone in the comment section likes the idea of San Marino taking songs from other countries. (Maybe because San Marino is a country that everyone in the fandom loves for whatever reason. If another country was doing this, it would be considered corrupt.)
San Marino has a population of 34.000, how do you expect them to send a good entry every year, also Sanremo isn’t a national selection so why not, you should be happy if another great song join eurovision
It was never considered currupt. Napoli participated in both Belarussian and Polish selections in 2017 with the exact same song, and nobody was complaining. Why would it be ”currupt”, unless someone was paid to favor that song above others in a selection? Sanremo picked Brividi, so it’s totally fine for LRDL to try again. Their song is worth a shot.
I’m with you in the sense that I’d rather have songs that actually come from the country they represent, but how exactly is it cheating? It’s an original song that was released within the timeline allowed by Eurovision, it doesn’t matter where this song was played before the contest. Also this is only visible when there are national finals, I’m pretty sure a ton of internally selected songs go through multiple countries behind closed doors and no one knows about it. I remember reading that Malta’s song for 2020 (“All of my love”) had also been offered to Bulgaria/Poli Genova… Read more »
I think what San Marino is doing sets a bad precedent because I can imagine more countries in the future might try to take national finals songs from other countries to use for themselves. For example, Bulgaria (who have a terrible song this year that definitely won’t qualify) could try to take one of the Sanremo songs and have that song represent Bulgaria instead knowing the bad reception that Intelligent Music Project got.
Wake up. Senhit competing last year is an Italian citizen! You should complain when people from Sweden, Malta and other different countries apply for Una voce per San Marino.
San Marino should have lobbied for the San Remo’\s entry to represent them. Ana Mena anyone???
I think the problem with San Marino is that they want the acts to cover their own expenses. That’s why we saw rich foreigners represent the state (Serhat, Senhit)
I’m not sure how this would give San Marino anything to be proud of. I would prefer they sent the local milkman or schoolteacher every year, even if it meant them finishing last in every semi-final. That would be the little state actually represented, showing respect for themselves and their own identity. Results aren’t everything.
what is your point?
They want to find someone themself. Not get someone that Italy didn’t want.
Italy liked the song a lot. Do you udnerstand that San Remo is NOT a national final for Eurovision but a song festival for Italy? They competed against 25 songs and they came like 6th? The song is getting big number of streams so it’s hardly ‘Italy didn;t want them;’
Oh god. San Marino is literally a city within the Italian country where people speak Italian, go shopping to the next Italian city, watch Italian tv, their culture is Italian. And you talk about identity, when in the previous weeks Wiwi has reported that for Una voce per San Marino many people (from foreign countries) have applied for the competition!
Oh, God. San Marino has been hearing this for decades, but still retain their independence. If they wanted to be just another part of Italy, that would have happened a long time ago. They value their identity.
Yes, they are independent. If they will win Eurovision, they will need an Italian city to host the competition. They will need RAI to cover the event. They will need the Italian transport system to organise the logistic movement. And more… Yes, they are independent and able to retain their culture. The Italian culture!
so is san marino’s national selection basically mgp second chance for the whole of europe?
Ngl I’m happy for San Marinese selection this year for the majority of their international applies coming from Italy, and even participants of a festival as big as Sanremo thinking about applying for them. It has always seemed more logical to me. I’m not saying it in a “only locals must represent a country”-way: in fact, letting international artists to apply makes sense as well for microstates like San Marino. However, I have always wondered why and how come the most of those international entries they were getting in the previous years, were coming from people who had literally 0… Read more »
That would be so fun!
It’s a pity they would have to go through the San Marino selection to get to Eurovision, but that would be the best ESC entry San Marino has ever had for sure.
OMG, this would be great! Please apply for una voce guys!
I love LRDL and Ciao Ciao! I can’t believe they were not into San Remo’s Top 3! Here in Spain we have had a rumour the whole day about Varry Brava also as a candidate to represent San Marino, but they kind of denied it this evening… We will see tomorrow!
Varry Brava from BF have also been throwing hints but IDK if they’re joking
Really? That would be great if it’s true.
YES PLEAAAAAASEEEEEE
I would absolutely love this! It’s indeed unlikely, because we assume by now San Marino already has their established acts defined, but… what if La Rappresentante di Lista was invited before and gave their OK in case they didn’t win Sanremo? What if San Marino was doing that thing I always thought they should and sent someone to Sanremo to fish for an entry there?
I like this idea. I think San Marino should go fishing for entries in San Remo. Every year!
Honestly, Ciao ciao, Ovunque sarai, O forse sei tu, Ti amo non lo so dire, Inverno dei fiori, ect. could likely all score top ten in Eurovision, whether for San Marino or Italy. It’s a great idea. The only thing left to be seen is whether juries worldwide would be biased voting for a bigger / smaller country or not. If not, San Marino could go very far with Ciao ciao! I just hope that both Sanremo and Una voce per San Marino contracts both allow this to happen. It would be so cool!
Agree, san marino should select internally one of the sanremo songs, it would be a double win, san marino would win a high position at eurovision and italy would have one more opportunity to spread Italian music
“The only thing left to be seen is whether juries worldwide would be biased voting for a bigger / smaller country or not.”
Very good comment, Colin.
Even Tananai could be quite a cool fit for San Marino uwu
By the way, he joked about this too. Right after tweeting he was waiting for the other 24 Sanremo acts to reject Eurovision so he could go instead. 😀
I really don’t like this idea. To me, it just means that Italy would have two entries every year. San Marino in name only. I know they’re only a tiny state, but I still see it as a little demeaning to only be seen as somebody’s second choice, a last resort. I would love for Ciao Ciao to be in the contest, but not this way.
I personally think it’s much better than sell the country’s spot to a foreigner simply because they can pay for the expenses. In an ideal world, yes, we would have a local representing San Marino, but if we got too attached to this idea, they would quickly leave the contest, because they would rarely be competitive. They could even do it in a way it represents the wish of their citizens. Ask for their opinions, which artist/entry they think better embodies the spirit of San Marino. They could even limit it to those who are originally from neighbour areas. But… Read more »
I never liked Serhat or Senhit buying their way into the contest. They just used San Marino to serve their own personal ambitions. I’d be sad to see Dario and Veronica do the same thing, but yes, not paying for it gives them a little more dignity. Your suggestions are good, but I’d be more convinced if they just tried again next year with a different song. Written especially for San Marino. Sifting through another country’s leftovers is the part I find demeaning.
In case it happens (I still think they were just joking, especially since on Twitter they also mentioned… the Vatican!), I would say depends on how and when it happened. Let’s say San Marino approached them a few months ago and they answered that they couldn’t participate, because they would do Sanremo again. I don’t think it would be a problem if San Marino responded that they could participate anyway, even with the same song. Not even mentioning that in case they get announced tomorrow, there’s a chance they would go with a new one. But you have a point… Read more »
Your point makes perfect sense. I think it would be cool if San Marino uses Sanremo Giovani. But from the first, I’ve had my doubts about rich foreigners representing San Marino. Can’t they find a Sanmarinese singer like Valentina Monetta? Atleast, I hope someone with Sanmarinese heritage would win Una Voce. I was so confused when Elis Mraz was announced as one of the participants, it never made sense to me.
huge if true
Off topic: But will Deban be going to this years Eurovision, since he missed last one, the only one in a long long time. I feel like he is the one that gives most resonable and best reviews, interviews, comments etc. So it would be nice to see him back.
And he’s passionate about it, I hope he’s able to go this year 🙂
YES PLEASE ! (but is that fair for all the other contestants in “una voce per San Marino”?) La Rappresentante di Lista would be one of the favorites there …..but to be honest, I love the idea. Good for San Marino!
The long sigh before saying “San Marino” cracked me up ngl lol. But honestly that would be so amazing to see! If San Marino starts to go after fan favorite entries and artists from other NF’s, they might eventually consolidate a really really strong NF of their own
That could even inspire their local artists to up their game by taking ideas from places they wouldn’t expect otherwise, which would be great!
Oh, that’s absolutely bound to happen. Media outlets would 100% milk the narrative and that’s possibly the only way for televoting to commit to voting for San Marino, without counting on Serbian housewives to know who Flo Rida is lmao
We’ve seen a variation of that at least twice with Sweden and Denmark. Two Melfest rejects, one of which got top-five (In a Moment Like This) while the actual Melfest winner didn’t make it to the final, the other (Higher Ground) technically finishing lower than Sweden overall but absolutely kicking its butt in the televote.
I also remember hearing about at least one song that didn’t get picked for one country’s selection and wound up winning the whole thing for another country, but for the life of me I can’t remember the song or the country. Which was it? I know some songs got rejected a few times before winning (A-Ba-Ni-Bi, Hallelujah, Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids, Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley) but those were all for the same country they won for, so I don’t know what I’m thinking of.
It was Only Teardrops
Oh damn! And that won IN Sweden!
I’m not sure that’s true. Lise Cabble has been a writer on four of Denmark’s songs, starting in 1995.
I strongly recall reading about it being rejected in more than one country.
P.S.: Just googled to double-check, several Eurovision sites wrote about it.
Wasn’t Je me casse also a Melfest reject?
Might’ve been, except in that case Sweden did better with the televote (at least in the final – Malta took a huge tumble with the televote after the semi)
I’m strangely happy for San Marinese selection this year for having the Italian acts as the majority, and even the participants of a festival as big as Sanremo seriously thinking of applying to them. It has always seemed the most logical way to me. I’m not saying it in a nationalistic way, and, in fact, having let international artists enter your NF for a small country like San Marino seems logical as well, however, I have always wondered why and how in reality the most of those international entries have been ending up being from people who had literally zero… Read more »
If that’s an available option, sure – do it! Most of Sanremo songs, and similar songs by those artists, would assure San Marino a long awaited top 10 postion. Italian scene is full of quality, and LRDL is definitely up there.
Also, I’ve heard rumors that Diodato and Elodie are among the ”vetaran candidates” for San Marino. Is it true? Hope so.
Oh my lord, if they got Diodato I would die of happiness. What a get that would be! And Elodie has talked a lot about going to Eurovision, including for San Marino (with the caveat being that she’d have difficulty financing their participation, which she’d have to do for sure), so that would be great.
Of course the San Marino tourism board funding all this means she wouldn’t have to pay anything herself (and hopefully that support will continue next year – I’ve really been enjoying following this!)
I’ve read that it’s also rumoured that Arisa was invited
Arisa and Elodie were at least a couple of the names I was surprised not to see on the final Sanremo lineup, so maybe that would explain why. I also know that Jalisse suggested representing San Marino waaayyy back in the day before Italy came back and that was the only real way for Italians to compete at Eurovision, and I know they at least submitted a song to Sanremo, so I would be DELIGHTED if they wound up trying for San Marino. Obviously, I hope there’s some local talent to do our favorite microstate proud, but the end goal… Read more »
I mean, having local artists representing the microstate worthily would be ideal and possible in a near future. But for the moment they can take this outside competition as a means to learn new stuff about making music (like production, different ways to write, types of and topics for lyrics they didn’t know for example), so they can up their game 🙂
It’s all for the greater good. A great song would hopefully lead to a great result, and a great result would hopefully lead to a strong turnout of potential acts for 2023 (and we already saw a ton throw their hats in the ring for this year!)
Do you think that they managed to get such big names? if they really invited elodie or diodato why do a NS, just select him / her internally, unless they make money with all that coming and going of people
That’s a good question, but if true, perhaps Diodato and Elodie applied *after* the knowledge of the format became public (which was already somewhere during the summer, if I’m not mistaken), and many ”newcomers” have already auditioned. In that case, I see how scrapping it afterwards would come across as unfair. I do see a possibility of both Diodato and Elodie wanting to do Eurovision, and seeing Una voce per San Marino as an opportunity to get there without so many hoops Sanremo usually brings (being invited by Amadeus, then going through 3 groups of votes over 5 nights, alongside… Read more »
I mean…I think if they floated it to the San Marino organizers, they wouldn’t say no…
San Marino really should become a Sanremo Second Chance country. I was hoping for Elisa or Matteo though. Is San Marino still the same deal as Moldova, meaning whoever pays the bill wins?
Who is behind the NF?
Yeah, always thought about that 😀 Sanremo is too good for only sending one song of it to the ESC. And Italy is lucky to have another country included… so why not? I wouldn’t mind.
I agree that has always seemed the most logical way for me as well.
San Marino already has the strongest ties with Italy in many other spheres, so why on Eurovision they end up having artists from random countries applying and sometimes even representing them, and not Italian artists? At least Senhit was Italian.
Isn’t it too late to apply for the San Marino national final?
It is, and I don’t think they’re hinting they were invited beforehand or something. It’d be great if that ends up being the case, though.
omg yes do it!!! I want this at eurovision so badly
My thoughts? Yes pleeeeaaase! 😀
Though it seems highly unlikely, unless they were invited beforehand, it’d be very cool if they took part of Una Voce per San Marino!
I thought you can’t enter a song that’s been entered in one national selection to represent another country?
Elis Mraz already did it. She was in the Czech republic’s selection and is now in San Marino’s selection with the same song.
lol, really? Nice 😀
If San Marino allows all the runner ups or 3rd places from other coutries …they would have such an outstanding strong selection with only “high class acts”.
Sanremo is not a national selection though.
Says who? It all depends on a country, some don’t mind, some do
Can someone start a petition ASAP
Yes!!!!
Omg . Please !!!!! Amazing . Currently listening to ciao ciao on repeat . Love it . Excellent singers live . Improve stage production and it could do very well
Can’t wait for San Marino to finish higher than Italy!!
Haha lol u need to listen Israeli song in National selection – Blinded dreamers
That would be EVERYTHING. Ciao Ciao is just amazing.
Oh I’m beggin’, beggin’ youuuuuuuuu
Please apply, PLEASE!
This could be a chance for San Marino to beat the 19th position of Uncle Serhat.
Oh wow!! Ciao Ciao was my favorite so if it’s possible with this song I would yessss do it!!
Imagine two songs in Italian in top 10 this year. 🙂 If they enter that is quite possible, of course if they get selected. Brividi will for sure be in the top.
And maybe a third one, because I am suspecting/hoping that als Switzerland will sing in Italian. Who knows?
Also I meant to type.
It happened in 2018 already