“I think it concerns all 37 countries in the race. Anxiety? No, I’m enjoying the moment”
“Being here means sending a message to all of Europe. I think all countries agree, and if I can I shout this message: I am against any war going on in the world right now. I write songs for love” . Marco Mengoni is charged, centered, present to himself, while he speaks to journalists from Liverpool, where he is preparing to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest. Ten years after his first participation, there is war in Europe and things have changed: “Music is a messenger of peace and love, and I think this thought concerns all 37 countries that are competing – says the singer by Ronciglione – We have the opportunity to use music as a means to shout even more that we want peace. Of course I would have liked to go to Kiev, it would have meant that the war is over and there are no more people suffering like that “.
Ten years later, Marco has clearer ideas about the value and meaning of the contest: “I’m older, I was able to understand what Eurovision meant and the importance of that stage. Ten years ago I was very young, I got take from the emotionality of the moment and I didn’t enjoy that moment, this time I’m starting with the tools I’ve developed in these ten years of career”. There in Liverpool the pace is frenetic: “Here I’m doing a lot of rehearsals, a lot of interviews which inevitably tire but it’s a beautiful moment, I’m older, more mature”.
Liverpool is the home of the Beatles, the band that has always inspired Mengoni more than any other. “The energy that Liverpool gives, the home of the Beatles which is one of the groups that has always inspired me, makes me enjoy this ‘turquoise carpet'”, he explains. Anxiety is manageable: “I have one of the most beautiful jobs in the world, so why do I have to have anxiety? Of course I can make mistakes, mistakes have to be there and they are part of life, but I don’t feel anxiety. I hope to keep it away as much as possible” , explains Marco. Many colleagues are rooting for him: “Laura Pausini and other colleagues wrote to me to wish me good luck”, he reveals.
In the end Mengoni held firm the choice to bring the winning song of Sanremo, ‘Due Vite’, to the European event (the news of the Platinum disk certification of the piece arrives during the press conference), after some reflection: “I thought about it a bit, because I really care about this next album – admits Mengoni – and I had left a door open to see if there could be more right pieces. But in the end, reflecting, ‘Due vite’ is a beautiful journey, and describes very well the last two years of my personal life and the work on me”.
Being in Liverpool will prevent the winner of Sanremo from attending the David di Donatello awards, where he is nominated with ‘Caro amore distant’, written by Sergio Endrigo and Riccardo Sinigallia, the soundtrack of the film ‘Il colibrì’. “I feel sorry, I’m nominated for the first time in my life and I’m mortally sorry I can’t be there for obvious reasons. To have such an important piece and film nominated is nice.”
And while ‘Materia (Prisma)’, the third album that concludes the multi-platinum ‘Materia’ trilogy, is released on May 26, Mengoni announces his first tour in the great European spaces, starting from the Sant Jordi Club in Barcelona on October 18. “It will be in bigger places, which I had never done before. I am very happy to be able to see how many people have joined my music – says the artist excitedly – The Zenith in Paris scares me, I have listened to very great artists and being there at October will be a crazy emotion”. The emotion is palpable. There is another message that Mengoni hopes to bring to the Eurovision stage: “Don’t waste time. Because there’s very little of it, and we can’t decide it.” (by Ilaria Floris)
Source-www.adnkronos.com