Laura Pausini was one of the main protagonists of the latest edition of Eurovision. The singer, who is one of the great figures of Italian music, joined Mike and Alessandro Cattelan to host the European Song Festival held in Turin after the victory of glam-rockers Maneskin in 2021.
Spain’s Chanel achieved third place in the Grand Final with her song Slowmo, which was a genuine achievement and Spain’s best position in the last 27 years. Blanca Paloma takes over this year with an avant-garde flamenco lullaby with which she hopes to make Europe dance to bulerías.
Eurovision 2022 went off without incident until the voting began. Mika and Alessandro Cattelan were responsible for distributing points since Laura Pausini had to be absent from the scene for about 20 minutes. Her absence at such an important moment caused public concern, and the Italian singer took it upon herself to clarify the situation a few days later.
“I want to reassure you and tell you that I’m fine. During this final, I had a drop in blood pressure, and that’s why I had to stop for about twenty minutes on the advice of the doctors who helped me, and I thank them very much for their immediate help,” wrote the singer on her Instagram account.
The stress from the event and intense work routine to which she had been subjected took its toll, but the singer was able to pull herself together to conclude the ceremony and celebrate Ukraine’s victory. “The last six months have been full of work, and I have given in to stress… But I am happy to have closed the evening with my dear fellow travelers and to have been able to announce the winners, the marvelous Ukraine,” she said.
Laura Pausini is a fan of Chanel. However, the organization of Eurovision expressly prohibits anyone in the organization from taking a position for the music competition. Thus, Pausini could not confess her admiration for Chanel, but videos of her attitude behind the cameras revealed that the Italian was a “chanelista.”
The entertainer was caught multiple times – both in the final and both semi-finals – giving it her all to the beat of Slowmo. Social networks testified to Pausini’s admiration for the Spanish representative, to whom she dedicated a few words before revealing the name of the festival winner.
“Spain played something valuable. A very strong, energetic song, it’s incredible. Congratulations, Spain! Alright, Spain!” she said.
Why Laura Pausini did not represent Italy the year they won San Remo
Last February, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Laura Pausini’s victory in Sanremo with the song “La Solitudine” (“The Solitude”).
It was the year 1993, and her career had just taken off. However, winning the Italian song festival did not give her the ticket to participate in Eurovision, since in Italy, it is not compulsory for the winner to represent their country in Europe. It is not a pre-selection of Eurovision, although many winners of this musical event found themselves as Italian candidates.
That year, Enrico Rogeri was the one chosen by internal vote to represent Italy at the Festival. He sang “Sole d’Europa” in County Cork (Ireland), and it was ranked number 12. The following year, in 1994, Italy declined the invitation to participate in Eurovision and was absent from the festival for the next 13 years.