RAI, the national Italian broadcaster has confirmed that Italy will participate at the forthcoming 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine.
The Italian broadcaster is yet to determine the mechanism it will use to select its Eurovision entry and act for Kyiv. It is more than likely that Italy will yet again opt to use the Sanremo Song Festival as the platform to deliberate their Eurovision act.
In 2016 Italy selected its Eurovision act and entry via the Sanremo Song Festival. Francesca Michielin flew the Italian flag at the 2017 ESC in Stockholm with her entry Nessun grado di separazione (No degree of separation).
With Italy in the house, 26 countries have so far confirmed their intention to participate at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.
The period for countries to apply for participation at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest concluded on 15 September. Hereafter applicant countries have a grace period until 10 October to decide if they are to stay or not in the competition without facing a financial penalty.
The final and confirmed list of the ESC 2017 participating countries is expected to be released by the EBU by late December/early January.
Italy debuted at the Eurovision in 1956 and has won the competition twice; in 1964 with Gigliola Cinquetti and in 1990 with Toto Cotugno. The country returned to the competition in 2011 after a 13 year break.
The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 9, 11 and 13 May at the IEC in Kyiv, Ukraine.
