{"id":500876,"date":"2022-06-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/numero.com\/non-classifiee-2\/who-are-mahmood-and-blanco-italian-music-duo-who-defended-the-power-of-love-at-2022s-eurovision-song-contest-2\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T14:58:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:58:51","slug":"who-are-mahmood-and-blanco-italian-music-duo-who-defended-the-power-of-love-at-2022s-eurovision-song-contest-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/numero.com\/en\/culture-en\/music\/who-are-mahmood-and-blanco-italian-music-duo-who-defended-the-power-of-love-at-2022s-eurovision-song-contest-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahmood and Blanco, the Italian music duo who proclaimed the power of love at the 2022 Eurovision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mahmood and Blanco. \u00a9 Bogdan \u201cChilldays\u201d Plakov.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eurovision<\/strong>, the annual camp family favourite, went through a rather depressing period a few years back, its reassuring rear-guard kitsch appearing as corny and irrelevant as Miss France. But, in 2014, there came a first glimmer of hope when the Austrian contestant, bearded drag-queen Conchita Wurst, won the competition and went on to walk the podiums for Jean Paul Gaultier. Five years later, in 2019, it was France\u2019s turn to be represented at the Tel-Aviv final by Bilal Hassani, a young queer artist and teenage idol who was selected via social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The self-promotion of music on apps and streaming represents a paradigm shift that has given voice to a whole new generation of performers who communicate directly with their audience, expressing aesthetic codes, identities and gender concerns that in turn find themselves reflected in the venerable old Eurovision Song Contest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it is that among the lineup for the Turin edition in May 2022 we find the duo made up of Mahmood<\/strong> and Blanco<\/strong>. At the San Remo Song Festival in early February, which is where Italy\u2019s Eurovision contestants are traditionally selected, their rendering of the song Brividi <\/em>(\u201cshivers\u201d in English) offered a moment of pure grace and beauty. Up on stage, 29-year-old Mahmood, dressed in Prada, and 19-year-old Blanco, in Valentino, brought raw intensity and nuanced sensitivity to a story of toxic love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe song is about experiences, our feelings and our fears,\u201d <\/em>say the two singers. \u201cIt was the result of a pure accident. Last summer, we met up at the producer Michelangelo\u2019s studio. He was playing the piano and the chorus of <\/em>Brividi came thanks to a false note. Afterward, we composed the verses ourselves over the rest of the summer. Then, when each of us played the song to our parents, they all of them said, \u2018You must sing it at San Remo.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mahmood and Blanco. \u00a9 Bogdan \u201cChilldays\u201d Plakov.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was also at San Remo, in 2019, that Alessandro Mahmood<\/strong>, the son of a Sardinian mother and an Egyptian father, first triumphed on a national stage. His song Soldi<\/em>, a total UFO in the tacky world of Italian pop, was definitely not the bookies\u2019 favourite, but would end up taking the rather staid old festival by storm. Since then, Mahmood has continued to shape his discreet elegance and subtle vocals, sometimes borrowing from his father\u2019s Arabic roots, which he mixes with a more contemporary urban genre that he twists towards a sophisticated pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although, in both his songs and his public persona, he possesses a vulnerability that contrasts radically with the traditional stereotypes of Italian virility, he takes great care to avoid established labels and classifications of sexual identity, pointing out that the simple fact of asking him about his sexuality is discriminatory and homophobic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m passionate about fashion.\u00a0It\u2019s an art that goes perfectly with my music. I see in it another way of expressing myself and of promoting freedom.\u201d <\/em>\u2013\u00a0Mahmood<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Blanco<\/strong>, whose real name is Riccardo Fabbriconi<\/strong>, first came to attention on Soundcloud in 2020. After just two years in the music business, he already has platinum discs to his name and has collabo- rated with some of the most prominent Italian rappers, including the ubiquitous Sfera Ebbasta, who also co-authored a track with Mahmood. Both Mahmood and Blanco sing in Italian, which hasn\u2019t stopped Mahmood\u2019s hits from enjoying international success in a world that is clearly far more open to cultural authenticity and diversity than it used to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Mahmood<\/strong> and Blanco<\/strong> represent a very contemporary fluidity and subtlety in both their music and their masculinity, and the passionate, destructive romance of Brividi finds its emotional truth in their mutual understanding. \u201cDespite the age difference, we have a very strong friendship, we\u2019re always there for each other, ready to listen or to offer advice, and the experience of doing this song together has taught us a lot, encouraging us to stray yet further from the beaten track. Everything you saw on stage at San Remo was the result of instinct and spontaneity. We didn\u2019t seek to take a political stance. For us, for today\u2019s generations, it\u2019s natural to express ourselves more freely, and this move toward liberty is the underlying message of our song.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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