Despite the fact that Italy does not participate in Eurovision since 1997, the public broadcaster RAI is inviting Eurovision 2008 entrants to appear on the show Carramba! Che fortuna, on RAI Uno. The hostess of the programme, Raffaella Carrà, already presented the Spanish national final back in March. Dima Bilan, winner of Eurovision 2008, opened the series of weekly Eurovision appearances.

"Raffaella Carrà also hosted the national final in Spain, last year, and was very impressed by some of the singers and their songs. That is what she would like to show the Italian audience", said Alberto Maeso, Raffaella Carrà's assistant.

It seems that Raffaella wants to bring some Eurovision back to Italy. Dima Bilan, Russian winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2008, was the one to open this series of Eurovision appearances on RAI Uno last Wednesday, performing his winning song Believe. There are negotiations with other Eurovision 2008 entrants to visit RAI studios in Rome, such as Greece's Kalomira, Latvia's Pirates of the Sea and Israel's Boaz Mauda.

Everytime an Eurovision-related event happens in Italy, speculations about the country's very awaited comeback to the European competition arise. Could this be the one to definitely encourage the Italian broadcaster to make their return to Eurovision after 11 years of absence?

Below you can watch Dima Bilan's performance at Carramba! Che fortuna.

Special thanks to Claudio Sartorelli for his contribution to this article.