Italy celebrated the 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival, the most well-known music festival and television event of the year in the country, which has the power to bring everything to a standstill. The Ariston Theatre in Sanremo once again hosted the contest, from which, although not directly (the winner decides whether they want to go to Eurovision or not), emerges once again the artist who represents Italy in Eurovision.
Angelina Mango was crowned the winner of Sanremo 2024 after garnering support throughout the 5 nights of the contest from both the audience and the Sala Stampa and Giuria della Radio. Angelina Mango is one of the female pop singers with the best prospects in Italian pop music, who participated with “La Noia,” the song with which, after the final of the contest, she has already confirmed that she will try to conquer Europe next May at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö.
Who is Angelina Mango?
Angelina was born in the city of Maratea in 2001. Her father was the singer-songwriter Giuseppe Mango, who began his artistic career in Sanremo, participated seven times in the competition, and had great successes during the 1980s. Her mother, singer Laura Valente, participated in Eurovision twice as a vocalist for the legendary group Matia Bazar. Both instilled a passion for music in both her and her brother. Artists like Aretha Franklin, Nirvana, or the Rolling Stones were her main inspirations to pursue a career in music.
After the tragic death of her father during a concert in 2014, Angelina and her family decided to move to Milan, where the young woman continued her studies and began singing in a band with her own brother as the drummer.
It wasn’t until 2020 when Angelina released her first single, “Va tutto bene,” to the market. The following year, after performing as an opening act in various concerts, she tried her luck in Sanremo and reached the audition stage of the Giovani category, but did not make it among the chosen ones. At the end of 2022, she was chosen as one of the finalists of the talent show Amici, which gave her great popularity among the audience and led her to open concerts as an opening act for Elisa.
During her journey on Amici, Angelina released singles like “Voglia di vivere” and “Mani vuote,” which had good commercial results. After this television experience, she released “Ci pensiamo domani,” her most successful single to date. With a fresh and carefree sound, the young artist had her first summer hit.
“La noia” the Italian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
As highlighted by Angelina Mango herself, when the lyrics of the songs for Sanremo 2024 were presented, the song arose from a conversation between the singer herself, Madame, who co-wrote the song with her, and Dardust, the producer, while discussing boredom as something typically considered negative but could be seen as time dedicated to oneself and self-discovery.
The song was written by Angelina Mango alongside Madame and produced by Dardust. Its rhythms are inspired by cumbia, a musical genre also mentioned in the song’s lyrics (“È la cumbia de la noia”).
Lyrics of «La noia»
Quanti disegni ho fatto
Rimango qui e li guardo
Nessuno prende vita
Questa pagina è pigra
Vado di fretta
E mi hanno detto che la vita è preziosa
Lo la indosso a testa alta sul collo
La mia collana non ha perle di saggezza
A me hanno dato le perline colorate
Per le bimbe incasinate con i traumi
Da snodare piano piano con l’età
Eppure sto una Pasqua guarda zero drammi
Quasi quasi cambio di nuovo città
Che a stare ferma a me mi viene
A me mi viene
La noia
La noia
La noia
La noia
Muoio senza morire
In questi giorni usati
Vivo senza soffrire
Non c’è croce più grande
Non ci resta che ridere in queste notti bruciate
Una corona di spine sarà il dress-code per la mia festa
È la cumbia della noia
È la cumbia della noia
Total
Ah, è la cumbia della noia
La cumbia della noia
Total
Quanta gente nelle cose vede il male
Viene voglia di scappare come iniziano a parlare
E vorrei dirgli che sto bene ma poi mi guardano male
Allora dico che è difficile campare
Business parli di business
Intanto chiudo gli occhi per firmare i contratti
Princess ti chiama princess
Allora adesso smettila di lavare i piatti
Muoio senza morire
In questi giorni usati
Vivo senza soffrire
Non c’è croce più grande
Non ci resta che ridere in queste notti bruciate
Una corona di spine sarà il dress-code per la mia festa
È la cumbia della noia
È la cumbia della noia
Total
Allora scrivi canzoni?
Si, le canzoni d’amore
E non ti voglio annoiare
Ma qualcuno le deve cantare
Cumbia, ballo la cumbia
Se rischio di inciampare almeno fermo la noia
Quindi faccio una festa, faccio una festa
Perché è l’unico modo per fermare
Per fermare
Per fermare, ah
La noia
La noia
La noia
La noia
Muoio perché morire
Rende i giorni più umani
Vivo perché soffrire
Fa le gioie più grandi
Non ci resta che ridere in queste notti bruciate
Una corona di spine
Sarà il dress-code per la mia festa
È la cumbia della noia
È la cumbia della noia
Total
Ah, è la cumbia della noia
La cumbia della noia
Total
Total
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
Italy is one of the 7 founding countries of Eurovision and arguably the country responsible for the entire Eurovision format. The original contest was modeled after the popular Sanremo Festival, which began in 1951 and continues to this day.
Italy has won Eurovision three times. In 1964, Gigliola Cinquetti swept the scoreboard in Copenhagen with “Non Ho L’età,” receiving almost three times more votes than the second-place contestant. Subsequently, the 1965 event was held in Naples.
In 1990, Toto Cutugno won the contest with the anthem of European unity “Insieme: 1992,” leading us to Rome the following year, where both Italian winners, Toto and Gigliola, took on hosting duties.
In 1997, the country withdrew from the contest, but returned with renewed vigor in 2011, securing 7 positions among the top ten since then until their third victory. Italians clinched gold in 2021 with the alternative rock band Måneskin. Their self-written song “Zitti E Buoni” won the festival and became a global streaming hit.
In 2023, Marco Mengoni competed in Eurovision for the second time, defending the song “Due Vite,” which earned him fourth place in the final, improving upon his position in 2013, where he finished seventh with the song “L’Essenziale.“