Italy
The basics Full country name Italian Republic Capital Rome Facts First participation 1956 (Franca Raimondi) Victories 1964 (Gigliola Cinquetti) 1990 (Toto Cutugno) Hosts Naples 1965 Rome 1991
Not only was Italy one of the founding participants of the Eurovision Song Contest, taking part in the first ever edition in 1956, the country is responsible for the entire Eurovision format! The Eurovision Song Contest was modelled on the popular Festival di Sanremo which began in 1951.
Italy has won the Eurovision Song Contest twice. In 1964 Gigliola Cinquetti stormed the scoreboard for Italy, getting almost three times as many votes as the runner-up with Non Ho L'età. In 1965 the contest was held in Naples.
In 1990 Toto Cutugno won the Eurovision Song Contest with Insieme: 1992 and the contest headed to Rome the following year. The two Italian winners, Toto Cutugno and Gigliola Cinquetti took on the role of presenting.
In 1997 the country withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest but returned in 2011 finishing in second place. Italy's Sanremo Music Festival is often used to select the Italian Eurovision entry although it is a separate competition in its own right.
