After the Italian victory at Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam with the Rome-based rock band Måneskin and their song “Zitti e Buoni”, Italy will now host the 2022 edition of the most followed musical event in the world.
On 10, 12 and 14 May, the city of Turin will host the semi-finals and the final of the European song competition, which has about 200 million viewers from all over the world. A great showcase for Turin but also for Italy, which is once again in the spotlight after a year full of successes.
Several Italian cities had applied to host the great event, including Milan, Rome, Bologna and Rimini, but Turin won over all of them and is now preparing to organize the 66th Eurovision Song Contest. Winning the competition with the other cities required a lot of work and preparation on the part of the local administration.
Chiara Appendino, mayor of Turin, commented the city’s selection with a post on Facebook: “We won. We brought the most popular musical event in the world to Turin! The excitement and joy for this last victory is great. I thank all the people, organizations and institutions who worked on the candidacy and contributed to obtaining this fantastic result “. Ms. Appendino, who was elected mayor in 2016, will soon be replaced by the winner of today’s local election run-off. She had decided not to run for a second mandate.
It has been 30 years since Italy hosted the European song contest, which was held in Naples in 1965 and in Rome in 1991. Today, thanks to Måneskin, Italy is back at the centre of the stage.
“Turin is the perfect host city for the 66th Eurovision Song Contest” said Eurovision executive supervisor Martin Österdahl in a statement. “As we saw during the 2006 Winter Olympics, PalaOlimpico exceeds all the requirements needed to stage a global event of this scale and we have been very impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment from the City of Turin who will welcome thousands of fans next May. This will be the first Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Italy in 30 years and, together with our Host broadcaster Rai, we are determined to make it a special one“.
PalaOlimpico, also known as PalaAlpitour, the indoor arena where the song contest will be held, is ready to host 40 delegations from all over Europe and their musical performances. Over a thousand international journalists are expected to attend the event. Fans will get a chance to gather at the Eurovision Village, which will be placed in the most important square of the city, Piazza San Carlo. The Village will host numerous events organized by sponsors and will represent the meeting point for fans and tourists, who will also be able to watch the Eurovision there on giant screens.
It is yet to be defined where the press rooms, the Euroclub and the Eurocafe will be placed. All three of these places will return to full capacity in this edition, after taking place virtually in Rotterdam due to the pandemic.
The hunt for hotel rooms has already started, since the very first hours after Turin was announced as the host city of Eurovision 2022. Alberto Sacco, Councilor for tourism of the city of Turin, said the influx of tourists will bring around 9 million euros to the city’s hospitality sector. This international event will certainly strengthen the image of the country and it will help reviving the flow of tourists to Italy after two difficult years.
