RAI, the Italian national broadcaster has confirmed to ESCToday that Italy will compete at the forthcoming 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, next May. 

The method and mechanism that Italy will use in order to select its Eurovision representative is yet to be determined. Italy is the 28th country to confirm its participation for next year’s Eurovision extravaganza.

Italy  is the 28th  country to confirm its participation at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Italy  joins  Romania, United Kingdom, Georgia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Belarus, Latvia, France, Greece,  FYR Macedonia, Austria, Cyprus, Malta, Switzerland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Lithuania, Belgium, Portugal, Azerbaijan and Estonia  in the list of countries which will join the 2015 Eurovision party in Austria next year.

The official list of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest participants is expected to be released by the EBU by early January. The deadline for countries to submit their application in order to compete at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest has been set on 15 September.

The story so far

Since its return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011, Italy has selected its Eurovision representatives via the Sanremo Song Festival: Raphael Gualazzi (2011), Nina Zilli (2012) and Marco Mengoni (2013). But this changed in 2014 when RAI opted for an internal selection and Emma Marrone was given the grand honour of representing Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with her entry La mia citta.

Emma achieved a 21st placing at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest grand final.

Italy debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest  in 1956 and was one of the founder members of the contest. The country has won the event 2 times in 1964 with Gigliola Cinquetti and 1990 with Toto Cotugno. Italy withdrew from the event in 1998 and returned back in 2011.

The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 19, 21, 23 May at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.

Stay tuned to Esctoday.com for the latest information on Italy and the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.