The fifteenth artist in our Who Is series for Eurovision 2023 is Marco Mengoni from Italy.
Marco Mengoni was born on December 25 1988 in Ronciglione in central Italy. He started starting singing lessons when he was 14. After moving to Rome to study Languages, he started a music career.
In 2009, Marco participated in the third season of X Factor Italia. He won the show and won a recording contract and an automatic place in the Sanremo Festival the following year. He released his winner’s single “Dove si vola”, which reached number 1 on the Italian Singles Chart. At the same time, he released his debut EP of the same name.
In 2010, he participated for the first time in the Sanremo Festival and finished third with “Credimi ancora”. After the festival, he released his second EP “Re matto”. The EP stayed at the top of the Italian Albums Chart for four weeks. This was followed by a concert tour throughout Italy. Later that year, he won the Man of the Year award at the TRL Awards and the Best European Act award at the MTV Europe Music Awards, becoming the first ever Italian act to win the award.
In 2011, Marco released his first studio album “Solo 2.0”. The album was certified gold in Italy and was followed by a tour of Italy in 2011 and 2012.
In 2013, Marco competed in the 63rd Sanremo Festival with “L’essenziale” and “Bellissimo”. After “L’essenziale” was selected to compete in the contest, he ended up winning the festival and earning the right to represent Italy at Eurovision 2013. He finished seventh in the final.
After Eurovision, Marco released his second album “Pronto a correre”. Alongside his Sanremo entries, the album spawned two more successful singles “Pronto a correre” and “Non passerai”.
In 2015, Marco released his third album and the first in a two-album project “Parole in circolo”. He also recorded a Spanish version of the album called “Liberando palabras”. The second album in the project “Le cose che non ho” was released in December 2015. In the same year, he won Best Europe Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards for the second time.
In 2018, Marco released the singles “Voglio” and “Buona Vita” ahead of his fifth studio album “Atlantico”. A Spanish version of the album “Atlántico” was released in 2019.
In the summer of 2021, Marco released the single “Ma stasera”. The single preceded his sixth studio album and the first in a trilogy “Materia (Terra)”, which was released in December 2021. The second part of the trilogy “Materia (Pelle)” was released in October 2022.
Marco was selected to represent Italy at Eurovision 2023 after winning the 73rd Sanremo Festival. After winning, he received first refusal to represent Italy in Liverpool. He accepted the offer.
The song that Marco will perform in Liverpool is called “Due vite” (Two lives). It was written and composed by Davide Petrella and Davide Simonetta with Marco also co-writing the lyrics. As the current studio version is longer than three minutes, the song will have to be edited to comply with Eurovision rules.
Marco will perform in the Grand Final on May 13.
Image Source: La Repubblica
SOURCE: EUROVOIX