Is Il Volo's "Grande Amore" Italy's big chance to win the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest?
Italy's done pretty well for themselves since returning to the Eurovision Song Contest a few years ago. Their entries have consistently been quality (possibly a side effect of using the Sanremo Music Festival as their selection mechanism), and it's shown in the results. I may have said that last year's "La Mia Citta" sounded like a DSW commercial, but it certainly deserved better than finishing in the bottom half of the finals. Does this year's entry from Il Volo, "Grande Amore", do any better?
Every time I've listened to this song, I've felt bored for the first verse, but then the chorus kicks in and I'm entirely on board. Il Volo definitely have the vocal talents to do this song justice live, and it also seems like they have the stage presence to capture the audience both in the arena and on the screen, so it may all be down to the taste of the audience this year.
That said, I hope that in whittling((and I do mean whittling - this song is 44 seconds too long for usual Eurovision songs)) down this entry and polishing it up, Italy finds a way to capture the energy the song has after the chorus hits and keep it up through the entire performance. As for performance, this is a place where Italy's tendency to keep it simple((most of their recent performances have featured the performer alone or with a single instrument rather than flashy spectacles)) may do them well - a good performance with a charismatic group of performers can easily steal the show.