🇸🇲 Road to Basel: San Marino

Road to Basel: San Marino

Road to Basel: San Marino! As the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel approaches, we continue our daily spotlight on this year’s contestants. Today, we focus on San Marino.

photo: SMRTV/Pier Costantini

Gabry Ponte

Gabriele “Gabry” Ponte is an Italian DJ, remixer, and record producer born on April 20, 1973, in Turin, Italy. He gained international fame in the late 1990s as a member of the Italian Eurodance group Eiffel 65, known for their hit “Blue (Da Ba Dee).” Over the years, Gabry Ponte has established a successful solo career, producing numerous dance hits and collaborating with various artists.

“Tutta l’Italia” (What does AI say?)

His Eurovision entry, “Tutta l’Italia,” is a dance track that combines electronic beats with elements of traditional Italian music, including instruments like the accordion and references to Italian pop culture. The song was co-written by Gabry Ponte, Andrea Bonomo, and Edwyn Roberts. Upon its release on January 31, 2025, “Tutta l’Italia” quickly gained popularity, reaching number fifteen on the Italian singles chart. The track was also used as the official theme song for the Sanremo Music Festival 2025.

San Marino Song Contest 2025

San Marino selected its Eurovision 2025 representative through the national competition San Marino Song Contest 2025. The final took place on March 8, 2025, at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana, hosted by Flora Canto and Francesco Facchinetti. Twenty songs competed, with the winner determined by a jury. Gabry Ponte’s performance of “Tutta l’Italia” captivated the jury, securing his victory and the opportunity to represent San Marino in Basel.

These are the results of the final:

  1. Gabry Ponte, “Tutta L’Italia
  2. The Rumpled, “You Get Me So High
  3. Teslenko, “Storm
  4. Elasi, “Lorella
  5. Boosta, “BTW
  6. Besa, “Tiki
  7. CRL, “Juliet
  8. Giacomo Voli, “Ave Maria
  9. Questo e Quello, “Bella Bella
  10. Paco, “Until the End
  11. Pierdavide Carone, “Mi vuoi sposare?
  12. Marco Carta, “Solo fantasia
  13. Angy Sciacqua, “I
  14. Haymara, “Tómame las manos
  15. Silvia Salemi, “Coralli
  16. Bianca Atzei, “Testacoda
  17. Vincenzo Capua, “Sei sempre tu
  18. King Foo, “The Edge Of The World
  19. Taoma, “NPC
  20. Luisa Corno, “Il giorno giusto
San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest

San Marino has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2008. Despite being one of the smallest countries in the competition, it has made notable contributions, with its best result in 2019 when Serhat‘s “Say Na Na Na” finished 19th in the Grand Final. But when we talk about San Marino, we must not forget Valentina Monetta. She participated for her country on no less than four occasions. She was, in 2014, the first one to bring San Marino to the final.

Serhat in 2019

A Random San Marino Entry

Reflecting on San Marino’s Eurovision history, random.org chose the 2018 entry: Maltese Jessika Muscat and German Jenifer Brening. The song was co-written by Zoë Straub, who represented Austria in 2016. In the performance, there is a main role for robots. During the rehearsals, there was an inside joke: the robot held a paper with the text “Justice for Valentina!”.

Betting Odds

As of now, Gabry Ponte’s “Tutta l’Italia” is 15th in the odds in order to win the Eurovision Song Contest. In the odds for winning semifinal 1, the country is 10th. It is seriously possible that San Marino will have it’s best score ever in the Eurovision Song Contest. If that is really gonna happen? We will wait and see.

We eagerly await the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel and look forward to witnessing Gabry Ponte’s performance on the grand stage.

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It’s time for another weekly Eurovision update. This week brings news on the 2026 host city race, national final announcements, small-country concerns, leadership changes, and possible voting rule changes. Here’s everything you need to know. 🇦🇹 1. Oberwart and Ebreichsdorf out of the race Two Austrian towns have dropped out of the 2026 Eurovision host city competition. Oberwart confirmed it won’t submit a bid. The local exhibition hall can hold about 4,000 people, which doesn’t meet Eurovision’s requirements. Source Ebreichsdorf has also ended its plans. The proposed venue, Comer City, faced timing issues. City officials didn’t give it the green light. Source Graz is still in the race. The city council will make a decision this Friday. Source Other cities still preparing their bids include Vienna, Linz/Wels, Innsbruck, and St. Pölten. ORF will reveal the host city on August 8. 📷 placesofjuma.com 🇳🇴 🇫🇮 2. Norway and Finland kick off national final season Norway and Finland have started preparing for their Eurovision 2026 entries. In Norway, broadcaster NRK opened submissions for Melodi Grand Prix 2026. Source NRK’s music manager says they want unique songs. Entries should have something special—something people want to hear again and again. Let’s see who follows in the footsteps of Kyle Alessandro. Finland is also moving forward. UMK 2026 opens for submissions on August 18. Source The submission window will close on August 24. The national final takes place on February 28 in Tampere’s Nokia Arena. At that day, we know who will be the Finnish contestant after Erika Vikman. Winners of MGP and UMK will represent their countries in Austria next year. 🇸🇲 3. San Marino talks to the EBU San Marino wants changes before joining Eurovision 2026. RTV director Roberto Sergio says the country will meet with the EBU and other small states. Source He hopes San Marino stays in the contest but only under fairer conditions. Small countries like his often feel overlooked. They usually don’t get a real televote and depend on algorithms. San Marino wants equal chances. Talks with the EBU and possibly with Andorra or Monaco may change things. If not, San Marino could stay out in 2026. 4. Ana María Bordas leads Reference Group Spain’s Ana María Bordas now chairs the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group. Source She began her two-year term in June. Bordas replaces Switzerland’s Bakel Walden. As RTVE’s Head of Delegation, she helped shape Spain’s Benidorm Fest. Bordas says she wants teamwork and unity. Her goal is to support all broadcasters and make Eurovision even stronger. She will help lead the 2026 planning process. 📷 RTVE 5. Voting changes on the table More broadcasters are speaking out about the current voting system. Norway, Spain, Belgium, and Iceland want change. Source NRK says, according to newspaper VG, that the EBU is open to discussion. The Reference Group will address the issue this summer. One major concern is how televoting works. Viewers can vote up to 20 times per device. Some fans use multiple SIM cards to vote more than allowed. Critics say that’s unfair. In 2025, Israel won the public vote despite having low streaming numbers. Many suspect a large, government-funded voting push helped them win. The public and jury votes don’t always align. Broadcasters want more balance and trust in the system. The EBU is expected to review the rules before next year’s contest.   Share

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Martijn

Weekly Update

It’s time for another weekly Eurovision update. This week brings news on the 2026 host city race, national final announcements, small-country concerns, leadership changes, and possible voting rule changes. Here’s everything you need to know. 🇦🇹 1. Oberwart and Ebreichsdorf out of the race Two Austrian towns have dropped out of the 2026 Eurovision host city competition. Oberwart confirmed it won’t submit a bid. The local exhibition hall can hold about 4,000 people, which doesn’t meet Eurovision’s requirements. Source Ebreichsdorf has also ended its plans. The proposed venue, Comer City, faced timing issues. City officials didn’t give it the green light. Source Graz is still in the race. The city council will make a decision this Friday. Source Other cities still preparing their bids include Vienna, Linz/Wels, Innsbruck, and St. Pölten. ORF will reveal the host city on August 8. 📷 placesofjuma.com 🇳🇴 🇫🇮 2. Norway and Finland kick off national final season Norway and Finland have started preparing for their Eurovision 2026 entries. In Norway, broadcaster NRK opened submissions for Melodi Grand Prix 2026. Source NRK’s music manager says they want unique songs. Entries should have something special—something people want to hear again and again. Let’s see who follows in the footsteps of Kyle Alessandro. Finland is also moving forward. UMK 2026 opens for submissions on August 18. Source The submission window will close on August 24. The national final takes place on February 28 in Tampere’s Nokia Arena. At that day, we know who will be the Finnish contestant after Erika Vikman. Winners of MGP and UMK will represent their countries in Austria next year. 🇸🇲 3. San Marino talks to the EBU San Marino wants changes before joining Eurovision 2026. RTV director Roberto Sergio says the country will meet with the EBU and other small states. Source He hopes San Marino stays in the contest but only under fairer conditions. Small countries like his often feel overlooked. They usually don’t get a real televote and depend on algorithms. San Marino wants equal chances. Talks with the EBU and possibly with Andorra or Monaco may change things. If not, San Marino could stay out in 2026. 4. Ana María Bordas leads Reference Group Spain’s Ana María Bordas now chairs the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group. Source She began her two-year term in June. Bordas replaces Switzerland’s Bakel Walden. As RTVE’s Head of Delegation, she helped shape Spain’s Benidorm Fest. Bordas says she wants teamwork and unity. Her goal is to support all broadcasters and make Eurovision even stronger. She will help lead the 2026 planning process. 📷 RTVE 5. Voting changes on the table More broadcasters are speaking out about the current voting system. Norway, Spain, Belgium, and Iceland want change. Source NRK says, according to newspaper VG, that the EBU is open to discussion. The Reference Group will address the issue this summer. One major concern is how televoting works. Viewers can vote up to 20 times per device. Some fans use multiple SIM cards to vote more than allowed. Critics say that’s unfair. In 2025, Israel won the public vote despite having low streaming numbers. Many suspect a large, government-funded voting push helped them win. The public and jury votes don’t always align. Broadcasters want more balance and trust in the system. The EBU is expected to review the rules before next year’s contest.   Share

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