Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest

none

San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest
Summary

none

FieldValue
NameSan Marino
ContestESC
BroadcasterSan Marino RTV (SMRTV)
Apps15 (4 finals)
First
Highest19th ()
Current2025

San Marino has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 15 times, debuting in the , followed by participation from onward. The Sammarinese participating broadcaster in the contest is San Marino RTV (SMRTV). San Marino did not participate in 2009 or 2010, with SMRTV citing financial difficulties as the reason for its withdrawal. Having failed to qualify in their first four attempts, the nation qualified for the contest's final for the first time in . Valentina Monetta represented San Marino in , , and 2014, making her the first entrant to participate in three consecutive contests since the 1960s. She also represented San Marino in . In , Serhat managed to qualify to the final, marking the second appearance of the country in a Eurovision final and achieving their best result to date of 19th place. Following the cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, their 2020 candidate Senhit was again selected to represent San Marino in the . She qualified to the final, making it the first time that San Marino made it to two consecutive finals. In , Gabry Ponte qualified San Marino for its fourth final.

SMRTV has largely chosen to select its entrant internally, though on six occasions it used national finals: 1in360 for 2018, Digital Battle for 2020, Una voce per San Marino from 2022 to 2025, and San Marino Song Contest since 2025. Unlike other participating countries, San Marino does not organise a televote due to its use of Italy's phone network, and because the small number of potential televoters would not meet the minimum voting threshold set by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Contest history

Participation in the Eurovision Song Contest is open to members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), of which San Marino RTV (SMRTV) is a member since 1995. On 11 November 2007, an email from an SMRTV representative to the OGAE Italy stated that they were considering entering the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in , pending approval by their board members. A decision would have to be made by 15 November, the deadline for interested broadcasters to submit an application for participation in the . At the time, half of the financing of SMRTV was by Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), the broadcaster of , which had last participated in ; the two entities also shared board members. Despite this, SMRTV received approval to take part and officially announced their participation on 21 November 2007. SMRTV Head of Delegation Alessandro Capicchioni stated that San Marino's motivation for entering the contest was to promote tourism and to bring attention to the nation, as "[a] lot of the world knows neither where San Marino is or if it even exists".

2008 contest}}.

For their first Eurovision appearance, SMRTV sought to host an internal selection process, choosing Miodio with the Italian language song "Complice". The nation's first entry did not fare well, placing last in the first semi-final, receiving just five points in total and not qualifying to the final. In June 2008, the Sammarinese Minister of Culture announced that they had good hopes to return to the next year's edition. After initially applying to take part in the in Moscow, Russia, SMRTV ultimately opted to not return, citing financial difficulties. San Marino did not return for the either, again stating financial reasons as preventing participation. Had they obtained state or private funding for an entry, SMRTV had agreed to send the Italian duo Paola e Chiara to the contest, held in Oslo, Norway that year.

After a two-year absence from the contest, San Marino returned in with Italian singer Senit performing "Stand By", which failed to take the nation to the final. From 2012 to 2014, the nation sent Valentina Monetta to the contest on three consecutive occasions, which made her the first singer to participate in three consecutive contests since Udo Jürgens, who competed in , and for . Monetta's entries in ("The Social Network Song") and ("Crisalide (Vola)") respectively failed to qualify San Marino for the final. However, in , Monetta managed to bring the nation to the final for the first time, where she placed 24th with the song "Maybe".

2013 contest}} in [[Malmö]].

San Marino's subsequent three entries: "Chain of Lights" performed by Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola (), "I Didn't Know" by Turkish performer Serhat () and "" by Jimmie Wilson and Monetta (), all failed to qualify to the final. The 2017 entry marked Monetta's fourth appearance at the contest as well as the nation's second last place finish in the semi-final. This was only slightly improved upon in with Jessika and Jenifer Brening's second to last place finish with "Who We Are". In , San Marino sent Serhat for a second time, with the song "Say Na Na Na", finishing in 19th place with 77 points, giving them their best result to this point. The nation planned to take part in the with Senhit and her song "Freaky!", however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the contest was cancelled on 18 March 2020. The EBU announced soon after that entries intended for 2020 would not be eligible for the following year, though each broadcaster would be able to send either their 2020 representative or a new one. Senhit later revealed that she would return to represent San Marino for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Her 2021 entry "Adrenalina" featuring Flo Rida managed to qualify the nation to the final the third time in its history, eventually placing 22nd of the 26 finalists with 50 points.

San Marino's three subsequent entries failed to qualify for the final. The 2022 entry "Stripper" by Italian singer Achille Lauro finished 14th in the semi-final, the 2023 entry "Like an Animal" by Italian band Piqued Jacks finished last in its semi-final with no points, making it the first entry from San Marino to finish with nul points, and the 2024 entry "11:11" by Spanish alternative rock band Megara finished 14th in the semi-final. This streak was broken in 2025, when Italian producer Gabry Ponte with "Tutta l'Italia" qualified San Marino to the final for the fourth time, where it eventually finished 26th (last) with 27 points.

Selection process

''Una voce per San Marino'' logo

Prior to the 2018 contest, SMRTV had selected their Eurovision Song Contest entry internally for all of their appearances in the contest. Their first experience with a national final type process came in where SMRTV opted to organise the online talent show 1in360 to select the entry. After a brief return to an internal selection for , the 2020 contest saw the nation's entry selected through Digital Battle. As part of that process, 2011 entrant Senhit was selected internally, while her song was selected through an online poll. For 2021, SMRTV continued their cooperation with Senhit, returning to an internal selection for the year's contest. The 2022 contest saw SMRTV opting to organise a singing competition entitled Una voce per San Marino to select their entry, returning a public process for a third time. Following the success of the first edition, the Sammarinese Secretary of State for Tourism, Postal Services, Economic Cooperation and the World Expo Federico Pedini Amati announced that the format had been confirmed for 2023. In August 2023, Amati confirmed that a third edition was planned to select the nation's 2024 entry, and the following October, the selection was confirmed until 2025.

Voting

Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest typically consists of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent jury deliberation. From 2009 to 2015, the jury and public votes were combined and presented as one. San Marino does not organise a televote, however, due to their use of Italy's phone network, and because the small number of potential televoters would not meet the minimum voting threshold set by the EBU. As such, the Sammarinese vote was based solely on their jury during these contests. For the 2016 contest, the EBU introduced a new voting system where the jury and televoting points would be presented separately. If no televote was available, they would instead simulate a composite score using average televoting results from an undisclosed pre-selected group of countries. SMRTV objected to this format, particularly because the EBU would not divulge which countries they would use to create the result and because half of San Marino's points would be determined by others. For the 2017 contest, SMRTV proposed to enable televoting by Sammarinese residents through the use of a statistically representative panel of viewers, similar to the process used at the time in Italy's Sanremo Music Festival. The panel would watch the shows of the contest live and vote during the normal televoting period; their vote would then be used as the country's televote. If any issues arose, the old format could be used as a backup. However, the EBU denied this request in March 2017, and the rules had since remained unchanged in this regard.

At the 2022 contest, San Marino's jury vote was found to have irregular voting patterns during the second semi-final, along with five other nations. Consequently, these countries were given substitute aggregated jury scores for both the second semi-final and the final, calculated from the corresponding jury scores of countries with historically similar voting patterns as determined by the pots for the semi-final allocation draw for that contest. Their televoting scores were unaffected. The Flemish broadcaster VRT later reported that the juries involved had made agreements to vote for each other's entries to secure qualification to the final.

For the 2023 contest, the voting system underwent several changes, including a return of full televoting to determine the qualifiers from the semi-finals. In the event that a country cannot deliver a televoting result in a semi-final, a backup jury result would be used. This change allowed for the Sammarinese vote in the semi-finals to be based solely on its jury, however, the procedure of using calculated scores would still be used in the event that the Sammarinese jury is disqualified.

Participation overview

†Upcoming event--
YearArtistSongLanguageFinalPointsSemiPoints
Miodio"Complice"ItalianFailed to qualify}}19 ◁5
Senhit"Stand By"last=Lombardinifirst=Emanueledate=4 February 2011title=Esclusivo, parla Senit: Disco e tour internazionale per l'Eurofestival. Voglio portare San Marino in finaleurl=https://www.eurofestivalnews.com/2011/02/04/esclusivo-parla-senit-disco-e-tour-internazionale-per-leurofestival-voglio-portare-san-marino-in-finale/access-date=28 January 2021publisher=Eurofestival Newslanguage=it}}1634
Valentina Monetta"The Social Network Song (Oh Oh – Uh – Oh Oh)"English1431
Valentina Monetta"Crisalide (Vola)"Italian1147
Valentina Monetta"Maybe"English24141040
Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola"Chain of Lights"EnglishFailed to qualify}}1611
Serhat"I Didn't Know"English1268
Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson"Spirit of the Night"English18 ◁1
Jessika Jenifer Brening"Who We Are"English1728
Serhat"Say Na Na Na"English19778150
Senhit"Freaky!"EnglishContest cancelled}} X
Senhit"Adrenalina"English22509118
Achille Lauro"Stripper"Italian, EnglishFailed to qualify}}1450
Piqued Jacks"Like an Animal"English16 ◁0
Megara"11:11"Spanish1416
Gabry Ponte"Tutta l'Italia"Italian26 ◁271046

References

  1. "Which countries can take part?". [[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU).
  2. "Discover RTV San Marino and all of its programmes on Sat.tv". [[Eutelsat]].
  3. Viniker, Barry. (11 November 2007). "San Marino planning 2008 entry". ESCToday.
  4. (12 September 2016). "Eurovision Song Contest 2008". Eurofestival News.
  5. Hondal, Víctor. (2007-11-21). "Exclusive: San Marino in Belgrade confirmed". ESCToday.
  6. Osborn, Michael. (19 May 2008). "San Marino's big musical moment". [[BBC News]].
  7. Floras, Stella. (2008-02-25). "San Marino calls for songs – ends today!". ESCToday.
  8. (11 March 2008). "Eurofestival, saranno i Miodio a rappresentare San Marino a Belgrado". [[San Marino RTV]] (SMRTV).
  9. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  10. Floras, Stella. (2008-06-10). "San Marino: 'We have good hopes to return'". ESCToday.
  11. Viniker, Barry. (2008-12-08). "San Marino not quitting after poor start". ESCToday.
  12. Viniker, Barry. (2008-12-18). "San Marino leaves Eurovision Song Contest". ESCToday.
  13. Floras, Stella. (2009-12-15). "No San Marino either for Eurovision 2010". ESCToday.
  14. "San Marino – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  15. (14 March 2014). "Tonight San Marino present their entry". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  16. (18 March 2020). "Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam is cancelled". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  17. (20 March 2020). "Intention to honour Eurovision 2020 songs and artists". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  18. Nava, Pablo. (16 May 2020). "'See you next year!' – Senhit announces she will represent San Marino at Eurovision 2021". [[Wiwibloggs]].
  19. Carter, William. (2022-02-19). "'Sanremo' Superstar Achille Lauro Selected for San Marino, Singer will Perform "Stripper" in Turin".
  20. Santos, Pedro. (2023-02-26). "Piqued Jacks to Eurovision 2023 for San Marino".
  21. Weaver, Jessica. (17 October 2017). "San Marino: Introducing the new selection concept with 1 in 360". ESCToday.
  22. (21 January 2019). "Serhat is back for San Marino!". Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  23. (6 March 2020). "Senhit to represent San Marino again!". Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  24. (2 April 2021). "Turismo: presentato il calendario eventi 2021". San Marino RTV (SMRTV).
  25. Farren, Neil. (20 February 2022). "San Marino: Una Voce per San Marino to Remain as Eurovision Selection".
  26. Salvatori, Luca. (2023-08-08). "Pedini Amati sul turismo d'Agosto: 'Camere d'albergo piene al 90%, verso il tutto esaurito'". SMRTV.
  27. Lombardini, Emanuele. (2023-10-10). "Eurovision 2024: scattano le iscrizioni a 'Una voce per San Marino'". Eurofestival News.
  28. Bakker, Sietse. (1 May 2015). "Exclusive: Here are this year's national juries!". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  29. Egan, John. (13 May 2014). "Split Views Between The Jury And The Public Votes At Eurovision 2014". ESC Insight.
  30. Robyn, Gallagher. (23 February 2016). "San Marino: SMRTV claims new voting system is 'unacceptable'". Wiwibloggs.
  31. Jensen, Charlotte. (25 May 2016). "How did EBU make up the San Marino televote points?". Eurovisionary.
  32. (23 February 2016). "EBU, nuove regole e vecchi comportamenti inaccettabili. Carlo Romeo, Smrtv". Libertas.
  33. (16 November 2016). "Eurovision: televoto a San Marino, la proposta di RTV". San Marino RTV (SMRTV).
  34. Ko, Anthony. (18 November 2016). "Power to the people! SMRTV proposes web televote for Eurovision 2017". Wiwibloggs.
  35. (8 March 2017). "RTV: EBU risponde su televoto sammarinese all'Eurovision". San Marino RTV (SMRTV).
  36. Chalkley, Ellie. (28 May 2019). "The Continuing Mystery of San Marino's Complicated Televote". ESC Insight.
  37. Robertson, Ben. (22 May 2021). "How Tonight's Eurovision Voting Works?". ESC Insight.
  38. (2022-05-14). "EBU statement regarding voting patterns during 2022 shows". [[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU).
  39. Cobb, Ryan. (2022-05-15). "EBU reveals six national juries were removed from Eurovision 2022".
  40. (2022-05-15). "Verdachte jurystemmen in 6 landen op Songfestival: organisator EBU moest uitslag laten herberekenen". [[VRT (broadcaster).
  41. (2022-11-22). "Voting changes announced for Eurovision Song Contest 2023". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  42. (22 November 2022). "Voting changes (2023) FAQ". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  43. Lombardini, Emanuele. (2022-11-22). "Eurovision 2023, San Marino: "Fate votare anche noi online"".
  44. Manfrin, Edoardo. (2023-02-25). "Una Voce per San Marino: dove seguire la finalissima che porta all'Eurovision 2023".
  45. Lombardini, Emanuele. (4 February 2011). "Esclusivo, parla Senit: Disco e tour internazionale per l'Eurofestival. Voglio portare San Marino in finale". Eurofestival News.
  46. Adams, William Lee. (22 March 2012). "San Marino: Valentina Monetta Unveils 'The Social Network'". Wiwibloggs }}{{Dead link.
  47. Jiandani, Sanjay. (30 January 2013). "Valentina Monetta to represent San Marino in Malmö".
  48. Jiandani, Sanjay. (14 March 2014). "San Marino: Valentina's Eurovision entry premiered". ESCToday.
  49. Granger, Anthony. (15 March 2015). "San Marino: 'Chain of Light' Snippet Revealed". Eurovoix.
  50. Gallagher, Robyn. (11 March 2016). "'I Didn't Know' lyrics – Serhat (San Marino 2016)". Wiwibloggs.
  51. Scarpone, Christian. (14 March 2017). "'Spirit of the Night' lyrics – Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson (San Marino, Eurovision 2017)". Wiwibloggs.
  52. "Lisbon 2018/Participants: Jessika featuring Jenifer Brening". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  53. Barnabas, Mike. (18 March 2019). "Life is beautiful and fine! Serhat's 'Say Na Na Na' lyrics remind us to look toward the light". Wiwibloggs.
  54. Barnabas, Mike. (15 March 2020). "Senhit's 'Freaky!' lyrics encourage listeners to do their thing – regardless of what others say". Wiwibloggs.
  55. Adams, Oliver. (7 March 2021). "San Marino: Senhit releases Eurovision 2021 song "Adrenalina" featuring Flo Rida". Wiwibloggs.
  56. Pigliavento, Alex. (8 May 2022). "Eurovision 2022: il testo di 'Stripper' di Achille Lauro (San Marino)". Eurofestival News.
  57. "Gabry Ponte – Tutta L'Italia".
  58. "Heads of Delegation". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  59. (2 May 2011). "San Marino: Spotlights on for Senit!". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  60. Granger, Anthony. (13 October 2014). "San Marino: The Peppermints Presented to Public". Eurovoix.
  61. Granger, Anthony. (26 May 2016). "San Marino: Does Not Know Which Countries Decided Their Televote". Eurovoix.
  62. Granger, Anthony. (11 November 2017). "San Marino:Over 600 Applications, But None from San Marino". Eurovoix.
  63. (30 December 2018). "San Marino: International Artist to Represent San Marino at Eurovision 2019". Eurovoix.
  64. Manfrin, Edoardo. (15 January 2022). "Eurovision 2022, Lettonia: si aggiunge una wildcard, 17 i nomi in lizza". Eurofestival News.
  65. (2025-09-08). "Eurovision 2026, San Marino cambia: Montesi nuovo capodelegazione, la selezione raddoppia".
  66. (30 April 2019). "Exclusive: These are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  67. Viniker, Barry. (8 December 2008). "EBU confirms 50/50 vote for Eurovision Song Contest". ESCToday.
  68. Lombardini, Emanuele. (25 May 2011). "Eurovision 2011: le giurie italiana e sammarinese a confronto". Eurofestival News.
  69. . (26 May 2012). ["Ecco le giurie di Rai e SM TV San Marino"](https://www.eurofestivalnews.com/2012/05/26/ecco-le-giurie-di-rai-e-sm-tv-san-marino/). *Eurofestival News*.
  70. Lombardini, Emanuele. (19 May 2013). "Ecco la giuria di SMtv San Marino per l'Eurovision 2013". Eurofestival News.
  71. (7 May 2014). "Eurovision Song Contest Copenhagen 2014 Jury Members". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  72. "San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  73. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Stockholm 2016". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  74. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Kyiv 2017". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  75. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018 {{!}} Jury". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  76. "First Semi-Final of Tel Aviv 2019 {{!}} Jury". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  77. "Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021 {{!}} Jury". European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
  78. "Grand Final of Liverpool 2023 - Jurors". [[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU).
  79. "Grand Final of Malmö 2024 - Jurors". [[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU).
  80. "Grand Final of Basel 2025 - Jurors". [[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU).
  81. (18 May 2019). "Eurovision Song Contest 2019".
  82. (11 April 2014). "San Marino RTV: doppio commento in inglese e speciali sull'ESC 2014". Eurofestival News.
  83. Lombardini, Emanuele. (28 April 2018). "Eurovision 2018, San Marino: commento a Lia Fiorio-Gigi Restivo, per i voti John Kennedy O'Connor". Eurofestival News.
  84. . (28 March 2013). ["SM TV San Marino: confermati i conduttori per l'Eurovision 2013"](https://www.eurofestivalnews.com/2013/03/27/sm-tv-san-marino-confermati-i-conduttori-per-leurovision-2013/). *Eurofestival News*.
  85. (7 May 2012). "Ecco il video ufficiale de "L'amore è femmina". E San Marino...". eurofestival.ws.
  86. . (28 March 2013). ["SM Tv San Marino: confermati i conduttori per l'Eurovision 2013"](http://www.eurofestival.ws/2013/03/27/sm-tv-san-marino-confermati-i-conduttori-per-leurovision-2013/). *eurofestival.ws*.
  87. (3 April 2014). "San Marino, confermati Lia Fiorio e Gigi Restivo al commento dell'ESC: è record". Eurofestival News.
  88. (11 April 2014). "San Marino RTV: doppio commento in inglese e speciali sull'ESC 2014". Eurofestival News.
  89. (13 April 2015). "San Marino RTV, al commento ancora Lia Fiorio e Gigi Restivo". Eurofestival News.
  90. (23 May 2015). ""Good evening Vienna" – Voting order revealed". European Broadcasting Union.
  91. (13 January 2016). "Eurovision 2016: San Marino RTV conferma al commento il duo Fiorio-Restivo". Eurofestival News.
  92. (22 March 2017). "Eurovision 2017, San Marino: Lia Fiorio e Gigi Restivo annunceranno anche i voti". Eurofestival News.
  93. (13 May 2017). "Voting order and spokespeople for Grand Final 2017". Eurovisionary.
  94. (28 April 2018). "Eurovision 2018, San Marino: commento a Lia Fiorio-Gigi Restivo, per i voti John Kennedy O'Connor".
  95. Rossini, Federico. (21 January 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Serhat torna in gara per San Marino (che spiazza tutti)".
  96. (18 May 2019). "Eurovision 2019 Spokespersons – Who will announce the points?".
  97. (10 May 2021). "Eurovision 2021: scarica la Guida completa all'evento (anche in versione eBook!)".
  98. Pigliavento, Alessandro. (29 October 2021). "San Marino RTV: da oggi diffusione nazionale sul canale 831 del Digitale Terrestre (e trasmetterà anche l'Eurovision)". Eurofestival News.
  99. Lombardini, Emanuele. (25 April 2022). "Eurovision 2022, Emma Muscat: "Vi farò cantare tutti. Mahmood e Blanco emozionano"". Eurofestival News.
  100. Washak, James. (27 April 2022). "San Marino: Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo to Return as Eurovision Commentators for RTV San Marino". Eurovoix.
  101. "Guida programmi tv San Marino RTV". [[San Marino RTV]].
  102. (6 May 2023). "Eurovision 2023: scarica la più completa guida all'evento (anche in eBook)".
  103. (2023). "Dove vedere l'Eurovision Song Contest 2023".
  104. (27 April 2023). "Eurovision 2023: John Kennnedy O'Connor spokesperson per San Marino". San Marino RTV (SMRTV).
  105. Lombardini, Emanuele. (11 May 2024). "Spokesperson Eurovision 2024: Italia in posizione 26, Alessandra Mele rinuncia".
  106. "Guida programmi tv San Marino RTV". [[San Marino RTV.
  107. (7 May 2024). "Parte l'Eurovision, la prima semifinale su San Marino RTV con Lia & Gigi". SMRTV.
  108. De-re, Julien. (2025-04-30). "San Marino: Commentators for Eurovision 2025 Announced".
  109. Lombardini, Emanuele. (2025-03-31). "Eurovision 2025, Senhit sarà spokesperson per San Marino. Pedini Amati: "A Basilea per vincere"".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

san-marino-in-the-eurovision-song-contest countries-in-the-eurovision-song-contest
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report