Italy: Lucio Corsi will represent the country in Basel after Olly’s decline!

After a week of anticipation, Olly announced through his Instagram account his decision not to participate in Eurovision 2025.

Specifically, this year’s Sanremo winner revealed that, despite considering it, he ultimately decided not to travel to Basel. While his scheduled concerts could be rescheduled, he does not feel it would be fair to his fans.

Below, you can see the artist’s lengthy post:

 

Δείτε αυτή τη δημοσίευση στο Instagram.

 

Η δημοσίευση κοινοποιήθηκε από το χρήστη OLLY (@olly_nclusive)

As expected, RAI announced who would take Olly’s place immediately after his decision and social media post.

That person is none other than Lucio Corsi, who finished second at the Sanremo Music Festival 2025 by a very small margin behind the winner, with his song “Volevo essere un duro”.

More specifically, the Italian public broadcaster made the following statement:

Lucio Corsi, the runner-up of the 75th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, will represent Italy in Basel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.

The international contest, featuring 37 nations, including the five Big Five countries—among them Italy—will include two semifinals, airing on Rai 2 on May 13 and 15, and the so-called Grand Final, where the Italian artist will perform his song “Volevo essere un duro”. The final will be broadcast on Rai 1, Raiplay, and Rai Radio2 on May 17.

Rai, while thanking the winner of the 75th edition of the Sanremo Festival and wishing Olly a long and successful music career, congratulates Lucio Corsi for accepting the honor of representing Italy at the 69th edition of ESC.

You can listen to the song “Volevo essere un duro” which we can now officially say is this year’s Italian entry for Eurovision HERE.

SOURCE:RAI 

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