Italy

Italy was one of the seven countries at the first contest in 1956, which took its inspiration from the Sanremo Music Festival; its broadcaster is RAI. Italy has won three times and has 16 further top-five finishes, and it has hosted in Naples, Rome and Turin. Its first win was "Non ho l'eta" by Gigliola Cinquetti; earlier, Domenico Modugno's "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" ("Volare") placed third and became an international hit. Italy left the contest for 13 years before returning.