From the moment they won Sanremo, Mahmood and Blanco have been firm favourites to take home the Eurovision 2022 trophy. But for now, Mahmood will be flying solo as he gets his on-stage bearings. According to local media, Blanco will not attend Italy’s first rehearsal on Thursday.
Italian news outlet La Stampa reported Blanco will miss his first rehearsal in Turin while he finishes up tour commitments elsewhere in Italy.
Blanco will not attend Italy’s first rehearsal at Eurovision 2022
Mahmood and Blanco were set to rehearse “Brividi” on the PalaOlimpico stage for the first time on Thursday 5 May, ahead of the live Eurovision shows next week.
While Blanco is still on tour, Mahmood will take to the stage without his singing partner. Although, it is unlikely Mahmood will have to sing alone.
Further details about a temporary replacement act are yet to be confirmed. However, it is likely the Italian delegation will use a stand-in performer to rehearse in place of Blanco, for the sake of confirming camera movements and stage spots.
Stand-in performers are a vital part of the Eurovision rehearsal package, and are frequently used in scenarios such as these. In 2017, “Amar Pelos Dois” songwriter Luisa Sobral stood in for Salvador Sobral due to health issues.
Additionally, in 2021, San Marino’s Senhit performed alongside rapper Don Jiggy while awaiting Flo Rida’s arrival. Meanwhile, a stand-in singer performed with Ukraine’s Go_A while lead singer Kateryna Pavlenko remained in isolation over a COVID-19 scare.
Mahmood and Blanco will reunite in time for their second rehearsal on Saturday 7 May, where they’ll perform “Brividi” together once again.
What do you think? Will Blanco missing out on the first Eurovision 2022 rehearsal hinder the Italian act’s performance? Let us know in the comments below.
It seems the rappers desease. Last year FloRida this year Blanco . As if this scheme of reherasals wasnt known before and hé couldnt.
people are using this just as an excuse to throw more hate on Italy, is it because they are second in the odds? is it because your country will be a nq? i smell jealousy from some people
No need to throw shade at innocent Eurovision fans!
Why do people overreact so much about everything. I honestly lost any desire to read any article here, especially comment section (yeah, I am waiting for responses like “don’t read then”). People erupt so much hatred, so much dissatisfaction. OMG, this is just the first rehearsal. They’ve sang this song million times together. The song doesn’t expect any special and extraordinary staging. They just need to come out and sing well, what they actually do brillantly. The person has commitments planned a year beforehand. It is not easy to change everything quickly, and especially cancel a concert (+ he’s probably… Read more »
Hm. Watch him get Covid.
Ok hypochondriac
Does Italy even care about Eurovision? Italians seem to be more excited about Sanremo 2023 than Eurovision next week, if you care this little about the show, why even participate?
Actually it was EBU that asked Italy to return. Being one of the big 5, it increases the budget. First year return, audience was just 8 % in Italy for Eurovision. Slowly increasing over 20% audience in the last years. The same audience, before Italy left. The aim is to increase the Italian Eurovision fandom. But with the nastiness and hate of the other Eurovision fans, I have my doubts that this will happen. After all the attacks received this last year, starting with the drug taking allegations.
There’s no hate to see other than your own hate for us.
Pathetic. And from someone that always trash Italy.
Well: italians do care about Sanremo much more. The biggest majority of the people I know won’t even watch Eurovision final on Sat 15/05; they’ll simply go out.
It is a matter of numbers: the audience of Sanremo in Italy is huge, while Eurovision is still trying to increase its popularity.
I love Brividi, but seeing the organisation of this festival and that one of their contender does not take it seriously… really I don’t want them to win again.
Lorena, do you REALLY think that any of the artists in ESC only rehearse the time they have assigned on these days? do you REALLY think that they have not rehearsed in other stages many many many times before this?
And other than the sun, please tell me what you are seeing wrong with the organization, sitting from your house?
Seriously people: you can have all the opinions you want but before expressing them, think a bit. The level of nonsensery is way too much.
“Italy is not committed enough to Eurovision”, and yet in the last 10 years their representatives hit the top ten 8 times (1 third place, 2 second places and a victory). Maybe sending songs which are actually good is their sign of commitment? Go figure.
If it wasn’t for San Marino they would flop, see 2014
Damn San Remo*
What do you want to prove with that? Italy is strong thanks to Sanremo, of course. Maybe the problem are other sending delegations that doesn’t find a right way to choose their representatives?
So because they send good songs, that means they are free of sin and criticism? Okay, got it. Truth is Italians care more about Sanremo 2023 next year than Eurovision in Turin next week, so why even participate? It feels like Italy is treating Eurovision like a side thing, something they’re “forced to do.” They are not commited at all, not even to fix their stage
Not commited at all? It seems that the ESC is being planned in the middle of a square with two people clapping and a torch. C’mon now, seriously?
What in the flo rida ?
I have stopped supporting Italy since they proved how little they care about Eurovision with all these drama. Blanco just makes it easier.
Greeks love Eurovision! You are more than welcome to Athens or Thessaloniki!!! WE love to host it and we would love to give Amanda the hug that she deserves. She is passionate about Eurovision and she is so adorable! Her song is very sweet and we are looking forward to say Kalispera Eurovision to sunny Greece 😛 hohohoh
It’s been very interesting how a lot of people is trying to bully this year italian contestants. Afraid much of a second winning? It’s known for a fact that a lot of this year contestants don”t have an important, or any, discography career at all.
Actually some of them do have their own discography and touring.
Who defines what is an important discography or not and most importantly, who are you to judge
Shouldn’t they be at Eurovision, the BIGGEST stage in the world, promoting their song? It feels counter-intuative to go live anywhere else.
you all need to chill.. seriously. Wiwibloggs is covering this now, but it is not as this was not set from the very beginning, and as if Mahmood and Blanco haven’t rehearsed plenty before hand with this situation. Gosh, you are the worse fans in the world, just full of toxic energy, talking as if you know everything is going on and respecting no one. Shame on all of you. It is the same with the sun situation. Wiwibloggs shared something was said through the danish delegation, and not a real statement from the EBU. Reading other medias, it is… Read more »
Completely agree with you. Well said
This is what Some other media are reporting: ”La Stampa reports that there are technical issues with a key element of the stage for Eurovision 2022, the kinetic sun. The arches that form the kinetic sun element of the stage for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 is experiencing technical issues according to La Stampa. Citing sources within the technical team, they report that the motorisation of the arches and circles has been discovered in the past day. The issue with the motors that are meant to enable the movement of the arches and circles, means that the kinetic sun is… Read more »
but you see, we are not having the EBU statement. this is the problem, we can discuss about what some sources say here, others there. anyway, there is no need for so much hate and toxicity.
I’m sorry, but you try to make excuses to hosting lapses that happened this year pretending everything goes on as normal.
It is not about making excuses, it is about people hating without all the facts.
professional haters like you should be banned
This Eurovision should become a Netflix movie. The amount of mishaps and messiness is just is just too good.
Money money money. Eurovision is just a hobby activity.
y’all making a huge fuss because of a rehearsal
Some people can be petty.
Am I the only one who thinks the less these two rehearse, the better the final performance will be?
I agree. They will do just fine in the final regardless. Professionals, those two…
The effortless vibe they have can only be helped by Blanco’s tour committments I reckon 😀
No, I haven’t been asked to stand in for Blanco. Best of luck to the person who does get the opportunity. You have both my admiration and my jealousy. 🙂
Didnt he know hes going to Eurovision? Lol
After all this mess this year Im praying Italy wont do a double, lets get this year over and move away from Italy asap. And hopefully Italy will go back to sending great entries and coming close to win but not win hah
He knows but it’s not that easy to simply clear off any scheduled commitments that have been booked by your management months in advance.
Yes, it is. It is called priorities.
The guy is only missing out the first run-through. There’s nothing to be so hanged up on, especially when they have more rehearsal days ahead of the final.
Blanco’s tour was scheduled months before he won Sanremo, there was several concerts scheduled in the days of Eurovision which, of course, his team managed to postpone. Probably this one was way too difficult to do, and considered that first-rehearsal is useful only for the shots, it is okay to be professionals with his fans and do the concert instead to cancel it definitely.
there were*
I mean, if Blanco didn’t want to represent his country at Eurovision he could’ve declined the offer. This is utterly disrespectful for both Mahmood and the rest of the Sanremo lineup that was eager to represent Italy this year
Blanco will still be representing Italy this year. Jeff Bezos has not flown him to Mars, Blanco is just missing half an hour’s work. Work that can easily be done by somebody else.
Shoot! I look like I took it too personally but the truth is I didn’t consider a lot of stuff that came out later :s
There being potential conflicts with his tour and Eurovision has been known about for months. He rescheduled his Bologna and Brescia dates just after winning Sanremo for that very reason. I don’t know why he didn’t think to move more.
Rehearsals are important not only to perfect the last touches after months of planning, but to spot any issues that can’t be foreseen until on the stage itself. We’re seeing this with a number of entries already. It’s a gamble not to take advantage of every minute on stage.
Its the posh attitude by many Italians towards eurovision, they do San Remo and Eurovision comes after and they clearly dont care. Nina Zilli is the perfect example of that, she trash talked eurovision the day after the final because she didnt like her 9th place
Can you really blame her for doing that in a year when the Russian grannies almost won the televote tho?
ok but the Russian grannies were adorable
Obviously, I’m just glad we don’t have to suffer through the Russian delegation’s constant cynical BS anymore.
I think Mahmood çares about Eurovision but the other singer -Blanco- doesnt.
I don’t think it’s fair to say this is an Italian issue. It’s an individual one. Last year, Måneskin submitted an 88 page document covering every detail of their eventual winning performance. And judging by Achille Lauro’s staging this year, you cannot say a lot of thought and effort wasn’t put in. We get performers from every country who are more or less enthusiastic (and prepared) than others each year.
Some performers might be more like Salvador Sobral, completely allergic to over-rehearsal. He could barely stick the half he was there for.
Sobral had health issues, Blanco has attitude issues
ah yeah, that obnoxious, conceited a**hole.
Considering the guy was sick and due for life-saving surgery later that year, makes sense to lighten his workload.
Yes, I know, but that was not at all what I was talking about. Even in good health, he finds it hard to do the same thing over and over again in exactly the same way. Even for the half he was there for, he sang the song differently every time. Full rehearsals would have been twice as hard for him. He only sang the song just as it was written for the final because his sister told him to.
Because not all artists are the same.
That I also know. I am in no way complaining about Salvador Sobral.
No, she did not. She said she loved the experience and that it was worth it.
Yeah it was her hologram saying she was “zilli the 9th”, not her
Doesn’t an artist’s label or management who handles booking any shows? If anything though, it’s difficult to just outright cancel gigs that have been booked in advance. What’s important is that the week of Eurovision itself is cleared for him, and Blanco would have plenty of time to rehearse for the final.
He will have hundreds and hundreds of concerts in his career, but he might do Eurovision once in his lifetime. That’s the thing. I wish Elisa won Sanremo this year.
Or Irama.
Yep, Elisa actually really wants to do Eurovision too. I doubt she would skip rehearsals.
Of course it made no sense to cancel his concert for a first rehearsal, cmon now. Artists live off their concerts, I’m sure they can find a stand-in artist like they did in 2017, 2021 etc
I am curious about the staging of Brividi. I absolutely think Italy will not be in top 3 despite what fans and bookies think but it should do fine in the top 10.
Will Mahmood interact with any ESC artists?? I’m wondering..
Italians and the production doesn’t even try to hide their disinterest for the contest. The sun doesn’t work? whatever. Blanco has a concert in the middle of rehearsals? Whatever. Reminds me of a toxic ex who made zero effort and when I called him out he was like whatever that’s all I can do, if you don’t like it leave.
P.S I left immediately
Can we just let Sweden or Spain win? These two countries actually want to host
Yes please
Or even the UK it’s about time they had a win and this year they deserve it. Or even Greece, I’ll happily pack my bags for a few weeks in Thessaloniki. Not so sure on Sweden or Spain but, still happy to see either Gothenburg or Barcelona take the reigns of the contest for a year.
exactly!
Yeees, that would be cool
These people have jobs. Playing concerts and going on tour is what they do for a living. Don’t get triggered and stop bullying them.
oh so the other artists who flew from their countries and dedicate two weeks of their lives on location and months of preparation are rich. Tell us more, we listen
Blanco did not need to fly from another country, which makes it easier not to disappoint the people who paid money to see him. Blanco would only have been a small part of the first rehearsal, it is not all about the performers. Everything that needs to be done will still be done.
The one half of the duet is a small part of the first rehearsal? Who is gonna sing his parts, the cameraman? Are you serious???
Vocal rehearsals don’t need to be done on camera.
This is not a vocal rehearsal but a stage rehearsal that is also filmed and reviewed in the green room, come up with better excuses these are very cheap
thats the kind of cheap excuses I said when I didnt study for an exam lmao
And also have fans that won’t be disappointed
Treating eurovision as the side gig because they wanted to promote their career in San Remo is just sad, yeah we get it you dont wanna win, you dont even reschedule a concert, you dont even build a stage that works, sorry for bothering you lol
I just hope Italy won’t win again this year. And if Ukraine wins, I would love to see UK as a host
UK as host I am here for but, the UK can still win this outright you know, it’s not that unfeasible.
I think Mahmood cares about eurovision song contest as he also participated in 2019. But the other Italian singer isn’t interested.
sorry but this is disrespectful to the all of the other sanremo artists who wanted so badly to represent italy on home soil. showing up for rehearsals are a part of representing your country, obviously if you have health problems it is an exception but blanco is actively making the choice to not show up. he could’ve canceled those concerts because representing your country is one thing, but doing so on home soil makes this an even bigger insult
I think the schedule of rehearsals were announced last week. If these concerts were already scheduled; that’s why they couldnt postpone it. But you are right; this is disrespectful
Ehrm.. announced last week maybe, but scheduled months ago and participating artists were aware of that, so that’s no excuse. Just another lame example of how the contest is treated by our hosts this year.
I don’t know why they even accepted the offer. Elisa or Irama would have appreciated it much more.
I think the problem here’s Blanco, I see Mahmood fully committed. But yeah, Elisa and Irama would’ve appreciated the experience way more than Blanco does
It’s only first rehearsals. They’d have a stand-in to accomodate Blanco’s absence. What matters is he shows up on the rehearsals where he and Mahmood are most needed.
I wonder if the juries will put these two in 11th spot because of the stage issues for their delegations.
they better, there shouldnt be even the slightest possibility of Italy hosting next year
it’s not a contest about the best host but the best song in case you forgot..
Songs need a stage to be performed. Should we be thankful that Italy is not hosting it on a parking lot?
A parking lot sounds great compared to this year’s stage
If it was a contest about who would be the best host, Sweden would regularly win and place high. Oh, wait…
His stans trying to excuse this is pathetic, rules apply for everyone, he could reschedule but again, RAI could have also fix the sun and leave the led side in front. Hope the duo give some of their precious time for us european peasants and show up in the final
If they don’t show up, even better
The most random news we could have gotten this night, haha.
priorities
I would like to volunteer as stand-in, no charge.
I would like to volunteer as stand-in for Mahmood in case he wants to stay in the hotel (with you) and skip the second rehearsal. No charge!