1e repetitie, van de Eurovision live blog
Rehearsal 5: 🇮🇹 Italy - Lucio Corsi –Volevo Essere Un Duro
Time for Italy's first Eurovision rehearsal of 2025, and Lucio Corsi singing his glam rock ballad Volevo Essere Un Duro. He’s a 31-year-old singer-songwriter, originally from Tuscany but now based in Milan. He has a very distinctive and style, both visually and musically – it harks back to 70s glam rock and those timeless Bowie piano ballads.
‘Volevo essere un duro’ translates as ‘I wanted to be a tough guy’ - if you don’t understand Italian, take a look at the translation of the lyrics on Lucio’s profile on the Eurovision website, because this song is a beautiful anthem for those who feel different or struggle with their identity.
So this is very similar to the staging we saw at Sanremo - the song begins with Lucio at a very long piano, wearing a giant-shouldered bolero jacket that looks like the yellow one he wore in the official video, and his trademark white makeup. He performs the first third of the song here, accompanied by guitarist and co-writer Tommaso Ottomano, before taking his guitar to the centre of the stage. So far, so Sanremo.
But there are few striking differences – firstly there’s a giant prop, or actually two. We have two retro speakers at the back of the stage – one is square, maybe four metres high/wide, the second slightly smaller. Secondly, there’s a sepia filter applied to the version you see on TV, which gives the whole performance a 1970s vibe. The TV feed also has English subtitles, which is a lovely way to convey the sentiment of the song to the millions of viewers who don’t speak Italian. And finally, there’s a harmonica solo from Lucio before the final chorus, with both Lucio and Tommaso on the frame stage – a rare appearance of a live instrument at Eurovision.
Lucio delivers the whole thing with his usual effortless charisma – it’s entirely different from anything else we’ve seen at Eurovision this year, and it really has been a year with something for everyone. Bellissimo.
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