Sal da Vinci, the recent winner of the Sanremo Music Festival, has confirmed that he will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest final scheduled for May 16 in Vienna. The decision, however, creates a logistical challenge for the singer, because his North American tour had originally been set to begin on the same day in Atlantic City.
In order to take part in Eurovision, several concert dates will need to be moved. According to his management team, adjustments to the tour schedule are already being arranged so the artist can perform in Vienna.
Da Vinci’s participation in the international competition also stands out for a notable statistic. Born on April 7, 1969, the singer will be 57 years old when he takes the Eurovision stage, making him the oldest performer ever chosen to represent Italy at the contest. The previous record belonged to fellow Neapolitan artist Peppino Di Capri, who competed in Eurovision in 1991 at the age of 51.
His selection also highlights Naples’ long musical tradition in the competition. Sal da Vinci becomes the fifth singer from the city to represent Italy at Eurovision. The earlier Neapolitan representatives were Nunzio Gallo in 1958, Massimo Ranieri in both 1971 and 1973, Alan Sorrenti in 1980, and Peppino Di Capri. This connection places Da Vinci within a lineage of artists from Naples who have carried Italian music onto the European stage over nearly seven decades.
Another interesting detail about the singer involves his international background. Although he is widely associated with Naples, Sal da Vinci was actually born in New York City. At the time, his father Mario da Vinci, also a well-known singer, was touring in the United States. Because of this circumstance, Sal da Vinci holds U.S. citizenship in addition to his Italian nationality. He will therefore become only the third Eurovision representative for Italy who was born in the United States, following Romina Power and Wess.
The song he will perform in Vienna, titled “Per sempre si,” also has a distinctive feature. The track runs for 2 minutes and 55 seconds, comfortably under Eurovision’s maximum allowed length of 3 minutes. Because of this, the song requires no editing or shortening before the competition. In fact, its 2:55 runtime makes it one of the shortest songs Italy has ever entered in Eurovision, a contest where many tracks approach the full time limit.
