🇮🇹Italy 2019 / “Soldi” (English: Money)

Photograph by Attilio Cusani

Grand Final | 2nd Place | 472 points | 🥈| Prequalified

Alessandro Mahmood, known professionally just as Mahmood, will represent Italy at Tel Aviv 2019 after winning the newcomer-only Sanremo Giovani which then led him to compete in and win the prestigious Sanremo Music Festival, which also serves as Italy’s national selection process, with the song “Soldi”. His victory at Sanremo angered conservatives in Italy due to his multicultural-influences background and his half-Egyptian heritage. Mahmood’s first foray into the public eye when he competed on the Italian edition of the X Factor in 2012, though he was eliminated early on.

“Soldi” harkens back to his childhood trauma over his father’s abandonment of his mother and him, and that his father only came back to take advantage of his son’s success. The song uses a diverse, ethnic instrumentation and utilizes an Arabic phrase Mahmood recalls from his childhood. “Soldi” broadly is meant to highlight how money can change and impact people’s relationships.

Despite his rough childhood, Mahmood worked hard, studying music while working at a bar until he began entering the newcomer’s section of Sanremo, where began to see success. Though his early elimination on the X factor came as a shock, he pushed through that setback and began building up his discography. His popularity began to skyrocket in the mid-tens, releasing several singles, up to Sanremo 2019 where in addition to revealing “Soldi” he also released his debut album, Gioventu Bruciata.

Though Mahmood originally won Sanremo with great help by the press vote, he came in third with the televising audiences at Eurovision and in fourth with the juries, which ultimately gave him a close second finish to Duncan Laurence. Following Eurovision, Mahmood has released one single, “Barrio“.

Watch “Soldi” below, and follow Mahmood on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Listen to Gioventu Bruciata and the rest of his discography on Spotify.