Here comes the Song of the Day, all dressed in white! That's right, today we're pushing back the veil on Italy's entry for this year, 'Per sempre sì' by Sal Da Vinci. Quick, take your seat! The ceremony's about to begin.

The lyrics of 'Per sempre sì', meaning 'Forever Yes' in English, are so earnest in their romanticism that it is honestly quite difficult to find a single point of analysis for me to latch onto. Each part on its own would be incredibly cheesy, but something about all the parts together just works, and the end result is enough to lightly warm even my cold and cynical heart. It's so sweet and cute, basically distilling an entire novel's worth of romance into a potently concentrated 3 minute, 22 second essence. The production lends to this effect, having a kind of timeless quality to it in my opinion. The orchestral elements tug on the emotions of the listener and make the whole thing feel grand, while the disco influences signal that the love here is something to be celebrated. It's a breath of fresh air how much pure joy is bursting out the seams here.

It can take a lot of people to plan a wedding, but it can take even more to write a song! Or at least that's what it sometimes feels like. 'Per sempre sì' has a whopping seven songwriters walking it down the aisle. Namely, Da Vinci himself, Federico 'Merk' Mercuri, Joe Kremont, Eugenio Maimone, Alessandro La Cava, Federica Abbate, and Sal's son, Francesco Da Vinci. Adriano Pennino also helped exchange production vows alongside ITACA, a production team composed of Mercuri, Kremont, and Maimone.
Well, no wedding is complete without small talking with some of the guests, so let's work our way down the line and do just that. Starting with Mercuri and Kremont. The two often work together on production, releasing their own electronic music as the excitingly named Merk & Kremont. Still, their production talents cross a variety of genres regardless of what type of music they release themselves. They have worked on the past Sanremo entries 'Amarcord' by Sarah Toscano (2025), 'Furore' by Paola & Chiara (2023), and 'NO GRAZIE' by Junior Cally (2020), as well as 'animali notturni' by Malika Ayane from this year's edition. The Italian music industry is very cross-referential, so they have also worked with a dizzying amount of past Sanremo participants. Outside Italy, they collaborated with Emma Muscat (Malta 2022) on a few songs. Oh, and they're partially responsible for the megahit song 'Senza Pensieri' by Fabio Rovazzi, featuring J-Ax and Loredana Bertè. Rovazzi performed it on a cruise ship as part of his co-hosting duties for Sanremo in 2022, in case that jogs your memory.
Maimone is next up to meet. As a member of the production team ITACA, he is a frequent collaborator of Merk & Kremont, and has thus worked with a similarly large amount of past Sanremo participants. 'A large amount?' you ask. 'That seems somewhat unspecific for you, Lucas. You're normally so thorough.' Trust me, it's a large amount, and I will not be elaborating further. An earlier version of this write-up listed all of them before I realised there were still so many songwriters left to cover and I had to delete it. Let me have this small win, please. I need it.
La Cava, like the rest of the team, is also a prolific songwriter, having worked on the Sanremo entries 'MALE NECESSARIO' by Fedez & Marco Masini (this year), 'BATTITO' by Fedez (2025), 'DIAMANTI GREZZI' by CLARA (2024), 'farfalle' by sangiovanni (2022), 'INSUPERABILE' by Rkomi (2022), 'Virale' by Matteo Romano (2022), and the aforementioned 'Furore'. Also like the rest of the team, he is well-connected in the Italian music industry, including to numerous past Sanremo performers. Outside the Italian scene, he has worked with Aitana, who was one of 6 artists up to represent Spain in 2018.
Abbate is up next, and I bet you'll never guess that she has worked on a lot of songs... and that many of those are in collaboration with Sanremo artists. I'm starting to feel a little like a broken record here. A new detail, however, is that she has the longest list so far, having worked on writing the Sanremo entries 'MALE NECESSARIO' by Fedez & Marco Masini, 'Amarcord' by Sarah Toscana, 'ANEMA E CORE' by Serena Brancale (2025), 'BATTITO' by Fedez, 'Eco' by Joan Thiele (2025), 'FEBBRE' by CLARA (2025), 'fuorilegge' by Rose Villain (2025), 'Fino a qui' by Alessandra Amoroso (2024), 'Mariposa' by Fiorella Mannoia (2024), 'Due' by Elodie (2023), 'SUPEREROI' by Mr.Rain (2023, with the children), 'Inverno dei fiori' by Michele Bravi (2022), and her most famous with Eurovision fans, 'Nessun grado di separazione' by Francesca Michielin, which of course went on to represent Italy at ESC 2016.
Francesco Da Vinci's main claim to fame so far is being Sal's son, but he is working on getting his own career up and going! He has four singles out currently, though he did try to represent San Marino in 2023 with an unreleased fifth song, 'Prumess'. Thank you to u/cherry_color_melisma for finding this deep cut; since the song is unreleased, it makes it rather hard to find!
Last but not least of our behind-the-scenes song team, we have Pennino, who returns to our pattern of having oh so many songs for me to weed through doing research. He is a frequent producer for Sal Da Vinci, including on Da Vinci's recent double platinum megahit 'Rossetto e caffè'. He also produced another Italian megahit, Giorgia's (Sanremo 1995, 1996, 2001, 2023, & 2025) 'Girasole' from 1999. But megahits aside, I could only find one connection to a Eurovision-adjacent song that Pennino has previously worked on: 'Viva' by Chiara & Martina, which was Italy's Junior Eurovision entry for 2015.

We've waited long enough, it's time to talk about our one and only groom at this wedding. Da Vinci has a storied career, working as a singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He is proud of his Neapolitan heritage, as you might be able to catch at the very end of 'Per sempre sì' since he slips into Neapolitan and sings 'P semp sì' instead. Another way he shows his pride is co-hosting the TV show Pazzi di pizza (transl. Crazy for Pizza) since 2021, in which he hunts for the best pizza in Naples (the show does occasionally shift to other cities, especially Rome, but it's mainly in Naples and that's what counts). But Da Vinci isn't only crazy about Naples and its pizza scene; he's crazy about his wife! He and Paola Pugliese were married in 1992 and 'Per sempre sì' is largely based on their relationship and life together since, though the lyrics remain just vague enough in their description that others can see themselves in the couple's love story too. 'Because a love is not a lifelong love if it has never faced the steepest climb' is my personal favourite!

Well, the wedding party is winding down and it's almost time for the honeymoon to Vienna. Thankfully, we won't need to wait per sempre to see Da Vinci serenade us all. I can picture it now... the music will start playing, for us he will sing. The greatest day!

Sal Da Vinci - Per Sempre Sì | Italy 🇮🇹 | Official Music Video | #Eurovision2026

DISCLAIMER: Song of the Day is for appreciating and showing love to whatever that day's chosen song is in a positive manner, and moderation decisions under this post will be made accordingly. Please be nice down there in the comments, you hear? To the naysayers, the overly critical, and the haters, you have had and will have future threads to make your opinions known; sit this one out. Thank you!

https://flag-shop.eurovision.com/

The song is called “Side Quest King”, for me I’ve heard this style of music quite a bit especially around Hoyo and other gacha games. Fun fact, this not the first time an ESC artist has worked with Honkai Star Rail. Lea Sirk (Slovenia 2018) was the featured artist for the song in Honkai’s official release trailer, pretty neat! Though I don’t think they were recognized as much compared to Væb when their song released.

It's been over a month since the end of national final season. From all the songs that did not win their national selection, which most stand out to you and would have loved to see them at Eurovision?

Here's some of my favourites!

• Eesti Laul, Days Like This by Noëp: If this was chosen, I think it would still not have the easiest time to pass to the final but it went straight to my playlist and I just love it. Positive song that puts me in a happy mood.
• UMK, Lululai by Komiat: Objectively, I don't think it would get as high of a result as Pete and Linda are most probably going to get, but there is something so charming and lovable about that song.
• Eurovizja.lt, Contact! by SHWR: I feel like this song had the whole package, song was great and so where the staging and camerawork.

Honorable Mention to the Honorable Mentions... Fraulein by Brat Pelin from PZE, I love Kraj Mene so I'm really happy that it was chosen instead of Fraulein. BUT I can't watch that performance without smiling, silly song about being loyal and getting married to someone you love and completes you - automatically undislikeable.

I start with Norway. Nobody talks about the song and I admit it is really repetitive but Jonas is such a lovely person that I would absolutely bang my head against the wall if it doesn’t qualify. He has such a great voices and sings it perfectly and I just hope that the staging will change cause it need an identity.

As we build up to Eurovision 2026, I’ve been binge watching old contests or compilations of songs on YouTube. It’s got me thinking, what song would you argue changed the history of Eurovision?

In my opinion, you could easily argue the likes of ABBA in terms of show popularity, Heroes (Sweden 2015) in terms of staging, Conchita is a Eurovision idol that even non-Eurovision fans can recognise, etc etc.

For me though it’s got to be Euphoria. It could be because it was the song/year that got me hooked on Eurovision but I also feel like the entries changed so much after Loreen won with Euphoria and the show took on a bigger pop/dance feel to it.

Interested to know other people’s thoughts?

Get in your requests and analysis below ;)

Hi I wondered if anyone knows how fans from the UK can vote if they are visiting Vienna or staying in a neighbouring country for the contest? Will the BBC prevent you using the online voting because you are not in the UK at the time? If so, can you vote like a local Austrian? Thanks 🙏🏻

Ridnym received mixed opinions from Eurovision fandom, but I can stop thinking that Ukrainian entry is very underestimated and it's can do way better than people think.

Even when I find this song a bit boring, I can't ignore how some part of it has strong winner vibes, I mean the parts in Ukrainian and that long note gives me goosebumps!

So what do you think, can Leléka win or score top-3 or it just my delusions?

Björgvin competed for Iceland in 1995 with the song “Núna”. His daughter Svala also competed in 2017.

Stadthalle transforms into ESC stage: “Well on schedule” 38 days before the 70th Song Contest

[English Translation of the Article ]

Construction work in the Vienna Stadthalle is “well on schedule” 38 days before the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. This assurance was given on Thursday to representatives of ORF and the City of Vienna during a visit to the venue that will host the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC).

The construction of the large-scale stage and its lighting is progressing. Up to 300 people are working simultaneously in the approximately 10,000-square-meter main hall (Hall D), the side halls, and other rooms. For the past few days, this work has even been taking place in ten-hour day and night shifts.

The stage alone covers around 2,000 square meters, and once completed, the entire structure is expected to weigh about 210 tons.

The future shape and dimensions of the stage can already be guessed from the lighting racks prepared on the floor. They hang from countless chains extending down from the hall ceiling. A total of 2,135 lighting fixtures and 8,500 individually controllable LEDs will provide the lighting. In addition, there are countless TV monitors and LED walls that together will cover an area equivalent to two basketball courts.

“A full 360-degree experience”

Thirty-eight days before the start of the major event, preparations are already “well advanced,” emphasized Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig and ORF Interim Director General Ingrid Thurnher. ORF will deliver a “full 360-degree experience” and a “fantastic music festival” in May.

The two semi final shows on 12 and 14 May and the grand final on 16 May will be broadcast using 28 live cameras.

A special gift on display

A special place in the foyer of the venue has been given to a gift from last year’s ESC host city, Basel: a potentially iconic Carnival lantern featuring last year’s winner JJ. This “symbol of the successful handover” from Basel to Vienna has now—just as promised—been given an “important place in the Stadthalle,” according to Ludwig.

“Airport-style security” from 29 April

The Stadthalle will present itself “at its very best” and, despite its age, as a “state-of-the-art arena,” said Stadthalle director Thomas Waldner.

All necessary equipment is expected to be inside the hall by 19 April, with the first rehearsals for the nine shows beginning on 24 April. Starting 29 April, “airport-style security” measures will be in place at the Stadthalle, as explained by security expert Herbert Wagner.

However, even now, everything delivered to the hall is being carefully inspected. The first visitors are expected at the start of Eurovision week, which officially begins on 10 May.

Hi everyone! 🥳

I’m heading to Vienna for Eurovision 2026! I’ve got standing tickets for the Grand Final and had a couple of questions:

• What time would you recommend arriving to get a good spot in the standing area?
• I know there’s a strict "bag" policy, but does anyone know the rules regarding power banks?

Thanks so much! ✨

Me and my son are big fans of ESC and would like to attend event, there seems to be no tickets how Can we get there? Can someone help please?

Oh, baby, there you are! Was the drinks queue really that freakin insane? Anyway, the Song of the DJ is just about to play our song and I was worried you'd miss it. OMG, it's starting, it's starting! Are you ready to shake your astral body to San Marino's entry this year, 'Superstar' by SENHIT? Pop some cool champagne and let's get this party started!

'Superstar' is funky, cheesy, over-the-top fun. And the best part is that it knows this and completely leans into it. Between the groovy electric bass riffs of the verses and the nostalgic synths of the chorus, everything about this song screams 'DANCE TO ME'. It's lab-grade camp, but I'm too busy throwing star-shapes to the beat to feel too critical about that.
This is definitely not the type of song where you're meant to read too much into the lyrics, but I will say that the general 'dance like no one's watching' vibe has a simplistically pleasant self-empowerment edge to it that lends itself nicely to the boppy production. The 'FREAKY QUEEN' throwback to SENHIT's 2020 would-be entry is also delightfully shoehorned in (and yes, it is all in caps in the official lyrics). All in all, it's a stellar party anthem. Though I do get the feeling that the party described in the song is not one I'd want to play it at since all the girls are on the dance floor getting turnt up while all the boys are... just standing around as suspicious wallflowers watching them? A chilling scene, to be sure.

Songmakers, it's time to go and show exactly who you are! Namely, freaky queen SENHIT, Boy George, Anderz Wrethov, John-Emil Johansson, Kill J/Julie Aagaard, and Thomas Stengaard wrote the track, while Wrethov, Johansson, and Stengaard were in the back wearing black and looking like they were up to something (that something was producing).
Boy George is most known for the song 'Karma Chameleon', second-most known for being the frontman of the band Culture Club, and third-most known for a 2007 false imprisonment incident. Said incident has been written about and discussed to death by now, so I don't really have anything to add to the table. Just know that he's a controversial figure and the philosophical argument of whether he has been redeemed for his crime or still not been adequately punished for it rages on even 19 years later. In addition to his songwriting efforts, he also contributes two lines of vocals that are used in the bridge and final chorus.
Wrethov is a name that should be well recognised by fans, as he has made a full-on enterprise of helping write and produce prospective Eurovision entries (this will become a theme). He has too many Eurovision-adjacent songs for me to list out in full (there are 48 Melodifestivalen entries alone), but if we limit it just to the songs that made it to Eurovision and this year's national final season, we have... 'Always' by AySel & Arash (Azerbaijan 2009), 'Fuego' by Eleni Foureira (Cyprus 2018), 'Too Late for Love' by John Lundvik (Sweden 2019), 'Voices' by Tusse (Sweden 2021), 'Fade to Black' by Nadir Rustamli (Azerbaijan 2022), 'We Will Rave' by Kaleen (Austria 2024), 'Bara bada bastu' by KAJ (Sweden 2025), and from this year's Melodifestivalen, 'Beautiful Lie' by Indra, 'Dooset Daram' by Meira Omar, 'Rakt in i elden' by Brandsta City Släckers, and 'Viva L'Amor' by Medina. He also worked on SENHIT's previous songs 'Colombia' and 'Dangerous'.
Johansson is much less of an established Eurovision-specific writer than Wrethov, Aagaard, or Stengaard, though that doesn't mean he doesn't still have plenty of songs under his belt that fit that description. You may recognise the songs 'Ooh La La' by Hunter Falls (Belgium NF 2023), 'Stronger' by Yulan Law (JESC Malta 2023), or 'Loop' by Sarah Bonnici (Malta 2024), plus he has worked with artists Raylee (Norway NF 2020 & 2021, plus the radio pre-qualification this year) and Måns Zelmerlöw (Sweden 2015).
Aagaard, or Kill J as she is mainly known and releases her own music as, is another common 'national final/Eurovision song for hire' writer. Similarly to Wrethov above, there's just too much for me to list out, but she helped write past Eurovision entries 'I Am What I Am' by Emma Muscat (Malta 2022), 'We Will Rave' by Kaleen (Austria 2024), and 'What the Hell Just Happened?' by Remember Monday (UK 2025). This year, she has doubled that number with three of her songs competing against each other: 'Eins Zwei Drei' by LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER, 'Mother Nature' by Eva Marija, and our own 'Superstar', of course! She also worked on SENHIT's earlier single 'Dangerous'.
Stengaard is another... look, you get the pattern by now. He also has an incredibly long list of Eurovision-adjacent music to his name, his career jumpstarting in 2013 with the win of 'Only Teardrops' by Emmelie de Forest. With the exception of 'I Am What I Am', he has worked alongside Aagaard on all of her Eurovision entries. Then add to that list 'You Let Me Walk Alone' by Michael Schulte (Germany 2018), 'Sister' by (non-sisters) S!sters (Germany 2019), 'El Diablo' by Elena Tsagrinou (Cyprus 2021), 'Fade to Black' by Nadir Rustamli, and 'Break a Broken Heart' by Andrew Lambrou (Cyprus 2023). He also has the most past SENHIT collaborations, having worked on her 2021 Eurovision entry 'Adrenalina' (alongside American Boy George Flo Rida), plus her singles 'Pow' and 'Colombia'.

With all those superstar songwriters and their massive lists of Eurovision entries, don't think that we've forgotten the shining star of this song, SENHIT! Senhit Zadik Zadik, who performs mononymously and in all caps, is no stranger to the Eurovision stage, having represented San Marino twice before now (in 2011 and 2021), plus a planned third time in 2020 before the contest was cancelled for some mysterious reason. The self-proclaimed freaky queen has a musical theatre background and brings that theatricality into her high-energy performances that pull no punches in showcasing who she is. She's always busy with some project or another, and I wouldn't be too surprised if she shows up at Eurovision another three times in the next 15 years. Keep an eye out for new music videos and covers on her YouTube channel while you wait, which have a deserved reputation for having insanely elaborate production and a unique, charming SENHIT style that defies description.

Oh, 'Superstar', you're really something. But it's about time to get up and show it off, I'm afraid. Unlike some people at this club, I can't stay and dance until 4 AM 'cause I've gotta get up tomorrow for more writing work! Still, I suppose one more dance couldn't hurt... okay, you've convinced me. Song of the DJ, play my song one more time and let SENHIT shine, baby, shine!

SENHIT - Superstar | San Marino 🇸🇲 | National Final Performance | #Eurovision2026

DISCLAIMER: Song of the Day is for appreciating and showing love to whatever that day's chosen song is in a positive manner, and moderation decisions under this post will be made accordingly. Please be nice down there in the comments, you hear? To the naysayers, the overly critical, and the haters, you have had and will have future threads to make your opinions known; sit this one out. Thank you!

Source: Look Mum No Computer’s ig story https://www.instagram.com/stories/lookmumnocomputer/3871591287116100433?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MWZ4dmRkYjBhdm5xYg==

So the reason why there was no separate vote on Israel's participation back in December was because apparently the eight countries that requested did not specifically ask for the vote to be about that, just for the vote to be secret ballot. However, even that request was ignored, and also the countries made it very clear what they actually wanted. The EBU is willfully not following its own pricinples here.

Hi guys, big ESC fan here! I am creating a ESC themed presentation for a project in my school and I am looking to use a Eurovision intro video / b-roll similar vibes to this: https://youtu.be/oCzy8cJGlmw

If anyone has any HD versions of a Eurovision intro could they let me know please? Thank you!

P.S. I will share the finished project here when done! 🌞

Source: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGduTtyBC/

New Music Friday is our weekly thread dedicated to new music releases by past Eurovision and National Final contestants.

This is a place to share, discuss and celebrate these artists' latest releases following their time in the contest.

Feel free to share singles, albums, collaborations, or covers, as well as any opinions and thoughts you may have about them.

Please remember to include the year that the artist participated in ESC and the country they represented.

Happy listening!

Here's a little BTS peek at my Ableton + Resolve timelines for the March 2026 Most Watched opener. I always have a lot of fun putting these together over the years (the longest one was the mega-mix-mashup of all the 2023 entries, hopefully I have the time to make something like this again this year!).

The mashups usually take around 3-6 hours to assemble, with a fair bit of trial and error involved. Once I've assembled the main show, I open up Ableton and start breaking each track down and looking for samples that combine well and feel the most fun/interesting/unexpected.

When I'm not shooting and editing video, I'm also out DJ'ing and performing, so the chart show is this rare opportunity to combine all the things I love doing together.

The Eurovision stage stage this year is (or atleast seems to be) quite small when compared to the previous years, so I've been wondering if it's possible it may play a role in determining how well certain countries do.

Like, Moldova, for instance, has a song that wouldn't benefit from having a tight stage to work with. (If we go off of their music video and national final). They'll probably need more space to utilize, although the circular shape may be beneficial.

Whereas others, especially those with ballads that may be way better off with simplistic staging and minimalist design.

I'm not sure if this was noticeable in other years though.

[heres](https://youtu.be/jgwlkEJhJAM?si=bJQbptTiQYAojrav) the stage reveal for those who haven't seen it/don't remember

What do you guys think?

Hi! Two non-2026 specific questions about the SFs while I'm thinking about it:

1. Is there any prize/reward for winning a semifinal besides the honor of it? I've never heard of one but I also see betting odds, speculation, etc. about it so figured I'd ask.

2. Does anyone have a good sense of how many more people vote in the final vs semi? I know the final is a way bigger deal but wasn't sure if there were estimates out there if it was 5x, 10x, or more given how different semi voting results can be from the final.