A great surprise awaited the members of OGAE Italy, when during a meeting organised by former president Matteo Aldrovand, they were unexpectedly joined by four out of the five members of MiOdio, the Sammarinese band who represented the microstate in its first participation in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest.

Nicola Della Valle, Francesco Sancisi, Polly and Paolo Macina turned up at the OGAE Italy meeting in March, unexpected by almost everyone, but to everyone's delight. Alessandro Gobbi, the drummer, could not be present due to a previously scheduled appointment.

MiOdio took part in the SanremoFestival.59 web contest, where they made the top ten, thus acheiving the right to get on stage during the 2009 Sanremo Festival. Their song Evoluzione genetica will be featured in the compilation Sanremo 59 web, which was released on April 10th and will contain 21 songs by 21 out of 90 participants in the contest.

OGAE Italy fans gave MiOdio a warm welcome and were eager to ask them about their Eurovision and Sanremo experiences as well as their career and projects. MiOdio were happy to satisfy the fans' curiosity and they started a long, nice and interesting conversation in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

In the end, president Cristina Giuntini, on behalf of the whole club, presented MiOdio with the OGAE Italy Europrize, as a thank you from OGAE Italy to the first Sammarinese participants ever, and a good luck wish for their future career.

MiOdio are currently planning a summer tour around Italy, and their debut album will be released shortly so stay tuned.

A report by Cristina Giuntini.