Volevo Essere Un Duro (Italy 2025)

We're over halfway done; Italy's our 20th entry this year! Italy has a history of sending excellent songs. Will Lucio Corsi's Volevo Essere Un Duro be another one?

Source

Lyrics: 78%
Composition: 72.5%
Vocals: 82%
Staging: 60%
Vibes: 75%
Overall: 73.5%

Verdict: I originally didn't care much for this song. But it's grown on me.

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LYRICS - Total: 19.5/25 (78%)
Subject Matter: 8/10
Effective Use of Language: 4/5
Clarity: 3.5/5
Flow: 4/5

I like what I think is the message of the song - though honestly speaking, it took me a little while to decipher. There's no need to pretend to be someone who you're not. You don't have to pretend to be a tough guy or put on an act of bravado for people who couldn't care less about you. You just have to be who you are, and the people who are worthy of your love will love you anyway. And the last two lines kind of hint at that, with an extension of the chorus line from "I'm nobody" to "I'm nobody but Lucio". 

"How tough the world is / For the ordinary ones / Who have little love around them / Or too much sun in their glasses" I presume is a comment on the average person who has to put on a mask, to pretend to be someone they're not. The bridge solidifies this idea, with "The sunflowers with sunglasses told me / “Beware of the light” / And that moons without craters / Are just rip-offs"

People are usually far deeper than the image they portray. But like sunflowers who grow towards the sun, they who depend on the light are also at its mercy, with the light judging them for their strengths and their flaws - so they have to present a strong, unyielding front - and someone who's too good to be true is probably just that.

"Living life / It’s like child’s play / That’s what my mom used to tell me / As I fell from trees"

Be true to yourself. Sometimes it's just simpler to not be what society feels is "ordinary".

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COMPOSITION - Total: 14.5/20 (72%)
Melody/Bass: 4/5
Instrumentation: 4.5/5
Development: 3/5
Coherence: 3/5

Melody is ok. I like how sweet and calming it is, without bringing in drama or all sorts of bells and whistles.

Lucio bringing in the harmonica was very clever. It fit the soundscape very well, bringing in a touch of sweetness and possibly nostalgia. It's made even cleverer because it's actually played live, which is always a risk, and also a loophole - according to Euromix:

According to the official rulebook sent to all participating delegations in advance of Eurovision, artists are prohibited from playing live on musical instruments during the performance. The reason for this restriction is entirely logistical – there isn’t enough time or technical capability to connect and synchronize musical instruments before live performances when dealing with a meticulously timed live television broadcast [...] [[b]ut Lucio Corsi found a loophole in the rule: unlike guitars, drums, or pianos, a harmonica does not require any electrical connections or cables. It is an instrument that can be played on the spot – without any technical synchronization. 

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VOCALS - Total: 20.5/25 (82%)
Vocals: 16/20
Immersion: 4.5/5

It's good. Not particularly impressive, but certainly not bad. Pretty much no pitch issues.

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STAGING - Total: 15/25 (60%)
The Show: 7/10
The Story: 4.5/10
Outfits: 3.5/5

I'm not sure where Lucio and team were going with this one. It's a very old-timey aesthetic, with the looooong piano, giant speakers, smoke, and the sepia filter - 1970's glam rock, I think?

Lucio has excellent stage presence. The harmonica definitely added to the aesthetic flavour of the performance, and with his other performer, there was a clear "brothers" type of vibe with their interactions, of being close platonic friends, the kind that sees and accepts you for who you are, whether you're a tough guy or not.

Other than that, though, I'm not sure the staging really helps to tell the story of the song.

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VIBES - 75%

Not something I love, but I definitely like it.