Italy: Lucio Corsi to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025 with "Volevo essere un duro"

After winning Sanremo 2025 with the song "Balorda nostalgia," Olly was presented with the opportunity to represent Italy at Eurovision this May. Olly was unsure about accepting at first, so Italian broadcaster RAI gave him one week to make his decision.

Today it was revealed that Olly will not accept the invitation to represent the country at Eurovision 2025. Given the news, the runner up of Sanremo 2025, Lucio Corsi, was presented with the opportunity to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025.

Lucio Corsi announced that he'll accept, and he's now set to represent Italy at Eurovision with his song "Volevo essere un duro."

"Volevo essere un duro" was written by Lucio Corsi and Tommaso Ottomano.

Since Italy is part of the Big-5 they're automatically qualified for the Grand Final on 17 May, which is when Lucio Corsi will take the Eurovision stage.

Lucio Corsi

Lucio Corsi (15 October 1993) is an Italian singer and songwriter who grew up in the Maremma region of Tuscany. He's known for incorporating aspects of glam rock, surreal lyrics and fairy-tale-like themes in his music. Corsi has been active in the industry since 2011.

After high school Corsi moved to Milan to start pursuing his music career. In 2014 Corsi released his debut EP, Vetulonia Dakar. The five tracks on Vetulonia Dakar were later combined with the tracks from his second EP, Altalena Boy, to make his first album, which was distributed by Sony Music.

While growing up with a passion for music, Corsi was raised in a farmhouse in Val di Campo, which is near Vetulonia. This played a role in his first studio album, Bestiario musicale, released in 2017. The album showcased the fairytale-like theme his music is known for with each of the eight tracks dedicated to an animal from his homeland, Maremma.

Corsi has seen much success since then, releasing two more albums, and with another album set to drop in March 2025. In 2018 Corsi was selected as one of the models to walk in Gucci's Cruise 2018 campaign. That same year he was one of eight finalists in the Musicultura competition, and was also awarded the MEI Best Emerging Artist prize at the MEI Special Millennials Event.

The past few years Corsi has built up a name for himself even more. He's become a regular guest on L'assedio, become one of the youngest participants to compete at Premio Tenco, and even opened for The Who at their Firenze Rocks show. In 2023 Corsi received the MEI Award for Best Independent Artist of the Year.

While Lucio Corsi placed second at Sanremo 2025, he was awarded the Critics Prize on the final night.

Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest

Italy has participated in 49 Eurovision contests. They have won three times:

• 1964: Gigliola Cinquetti – Non Ho L'étà
• 1990: Toto Cutugno – Insieme: 1992
• 2021: Måneskin – Zitti e buoni

Their worst result came in 1966, when they finished last.

Italy's most well-known song is "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu," better known as "Volare" from 1958. It is also the most covered Eurovision Song Contest song ever. The song has been covered by famous stars such as Dean Martin, Cliff Richard, David Bowie and many more.

Italy took a long pause from the Eurovision Song Contest between 1998 and 2010. Since then, Italy has been a "Big-5" country, which means they don't have to go through the Semi-final round and are automatically qualified for the Grand Final.