The Xtra Files: We Review Italy’s ‘Occidentali’s Karma’ by Francesco Gabbani!

Welcome to The Xtra Files, our new series which will give you an insight into what the team at escXtra think of your favourite entries into this year’s contest! Today, we review Italy.

Now that all the songs have been released, we are able to review each and every one of them. Our honest and brutal reviews will keep you entertained until the rehearsals start in May! We will also each give a score out of 10 for every entry, and create an escXtra leaderboard of the entries! You can see our preview reviews here.
Today, it is the turn of the Italian entry, ‘Occidentali’s Karma’ by Francesco Gabbani, to be reviewed by Hlynur, Luke, Nathan, Rodrigo, Simon, and Sophie. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

Hlynur

It’s a cheeky and cheerful song. Energetic enough to get people to dance, and apparently monkeys as well. I understand why it’s so popular and it’s in my top 10 for sure. But somehow I don’t want this to win, I’d rather see another song win. But I guess I have little choice over it.

Luke

How can anybody not love this? He dances with a gorilla. Again, he DANCES with a GORILLA. Where else would you see that but in Eurovision? The lyrics are absolute genius, and yet it’s so much fun! I can just picture this being performed in Kyiv, and the audience waving their arms in the air with Francesco. Take note, Europe, monkeys are the way forward.

Nathan

The very first time I saw this, I didn’t get it. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the abstract performance and the absurdness of it all, of course not, but it is something that perhaps can be rectified with on-screen visuals and lyrics perhaps on the screens. Juries will probably jam to this whereas the televoters will not.

Rodrigo

Among the best lyrics that have ever been sung at Eurovision, the wit and intelligence of this song is simply amazing. Francesco’s cheekiness is sure to translate to the screen and make Europe fall in love with him. And the appeal of the Italian language is sure to get it even more votes. Without a doubt, the biggest chance for Italy to win since their return to the contest, and one that would be very well deserved. This is simply perfect.

Simon

We’re guaranteed a good voice, good song and good suit, but the chorus and the moustache are lost on me – am I too northern?

Sophie

One of my top favourites! It has got everything I need – catchy rhythm, great lyrics, impressive voice, and just the right amount of craziness. What’s not to love about this?

Scores

When we remove the top score of 10 and the lowest score of 6, the average score for Italy is a massive 9.03!
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)

Leaderboard

Italy reaches 2nd place in our leaderboard with a score of 9.03.

1. France – 9.04
2. Italy – 9.03
3. Azerbaijan – 8.00
4. Sweden – 7.77
5. Belarus – 7.75
6. Iceland – 7.46
7. Australia – 7.25
8. Israel – 7.21
9. Serbia – 7.08
10. Estonia – 7.07
11. Switzerland – 6.96
12. Denmark – 6.83
13. Armenia – 6.80
14. Portugal – 6.79
15. Hungary – 6.79
16. Germany – 6.59
17. Austria – 6.58
18. Moldova – 6.58
19. Greece – 6.54
20. Norway – 6.33
21. Latvia – 6.25
22. Czech Republic – 6.25
23. United Kingdom – 6.00
24. Ireland – 5.54
25. The Netherlands – 5.33
26. Albania – 5.21
27. Ukraine – 5.13
28. Malta – 4.25
29. San Marino – 3.92
30. Georgia – 3.91
31. Montenegro – 3.33
32. Croatia – 2.71
33. Slovenia – 2.13

Tomorrow, we will review Finland.
Do you agree with our reviews of the Italy? What are your thoughts on Francesco Gabbani’s ‘Occidentali’s Karma’? Let us know in the comments!