“Saint John? I was lucky, if I had exploded at 19 I don’t know how I would have managed success.”

«Sing Tuta Gold», the children of the many Italian families living in Amsterdam shout in chorus at Mahmood, who as soon as the Milanese singer-songwriter announced a concert at Paradiso, the temple of live music in the Dutch capital, where Soldi’s voice performed on Monday night, they bought tickets en masse. «And to think that Sanremo wasn’t even in the plans. I convinced myself to send the song to Amadeus when he was about to close the list”, says Mahmood backstage at the end of the concert. He didn’t win: he finished sixth. However, the real rankings tell a different story.

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THE NUMBERS

Tuta Gold is the most listened to song on Spotify among those competing at the last Festival: with 73 million streams it surpassed the 66 million of I p’ me, tu p’ te by the Geolier phenomenon and the 51 million of La noia by the winner Angelina Mango. And for the tour of small European clubs, which started last April 4th from Luxembourg, Mahmood has already sold 35 thousand tickets: the tour, which after London, Paris and Amsterdam itself will see him stop – among other cities – in Berlin, Madrid and Barcelona, ​​will close on 17 and 18 May at the Fabrique in Milan.

Mahmood has been flirting with Europe for a few years already, thanks to his participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019 with Soldi and in 2022 with Brividi: «But this time Europe seems warmer to me. I had the feeling that they were waiting for me,” he reflects. After all, it is a special moment for Italian music abroad. That beacon that Maneskin lit in 2021 by winning the Eurovision with Zitti e Buoni, and after the exploits of Zucchero, Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti, Tiziano Ferro and Il Volo, seems not to have gone out. Italian pop seems to be experiencing a golden age in terms of visibility and international attention, so much so that it pushes artists to be increasingly ambitious. Or at least try. Or at least they try. Take Annalisa. After the Italian-French version of Sincerely with the Belgian Olivia Stone and the remix by Bob Sinclar (half a million streams on Spotify since March 29), the Spanish version is also about to be released. The text was adapted by Chris Zadley, author of the hits of the Latin superstars J Balvin and Aitana, the singer who sang the Spanish version of Farfalle, Mariposas (5 platinum records in Spain) with Sangiovanni.

THE RANSOM

«Sangio? I was lucky: if I had exploded at 19, I don’t know how I would have managed success. I remember that after the repeated “no”, my musicians no longer wanted to write with me, before the redemption. The apprenticeship made the difference”, says Mahmood, commenting on his colleague’s recent announcement that he has stopped to take care of his mental health. Mr. Rain is also a hit in Madrid: Superhéroes, the Spanish version of Superheroes with 12.4 million streams on Spotify, has become the anthem of Atletico Madrid on TikTok. Colapesce and Dimartino are also trying to dive into the Iberian market. In 2021 they entrusted Light Music to Ana Mena, who exceeded 50 million streams on Spotify and won Best Song at the Los 40 Music Awards. This time they sing Splash with the Spanish Rigoberta Bandini: the song was released last Friday. The duet between Mahmood himself and the Belgian Angèle on Semper/Jamais exceeded 4 million streams on Spotify in one month: «Two years ago I wrote a mini album with some American authors: I threw everything away. It didn’t convince me. You have to work well and make right choices”, he says. Maneskin surpass one billion streams on Spotify with I Wanna Be Your Slave (they had already reached the milestone in 2022 with the cover of Beggin’), the Milanese Meduza mark them closely with Piece Of Your Heart (982 million clicks).

THE CHOREOGRAPHIES

Meanwhile, the wait is growing to see Angelina Mango in action on the Eurovision stage. For the performance of La noia she asked for help from the German choreographer Mecnun Giasar, already at the service of Madonna and Rosalía: the bettors consider her among their very favorites. Mahmood’s shows will also be international in the sports halls (after the Summer Tour starting on 5 July from Perugia), on 22 and 22 October at the Forum in Milan, on the 25th in Florence, on the 27th at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome and the 31st in Naples: «I hope to be able to use my physicality more, between choreography and everything else – he anticipates – if I aim for the stadiums? Nope. I want to last as many years as possible. And to do that, you need to be calm.”

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