Eurovision 2022 San Marino profile: 'Stripper' by Achille Lauro

San Marino in Eurovision

Relative new comers to Eurovision, tiny micro-state San Marino made their debut in 2008 and have competed eleven times. It has been a bumpy journey on their way to the Grand Final, with eight non qualifiers, one cancelled contest and three Grand Final performances.

So far San Marino's highest scoring entry was Serhat with his joyous performance of 'Say Na Na Na' which is said to have been written on the streets of Copenhagen in all of five minutes. Serhat took San Marino to 19th place in 2019. He had previously failed to qualify for San Marino in 2016, however he is not the only artist to have represented San Marino more than once. Valentina Monetta represented San Marino in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017.

In 2021 San Marino were represented by Senhit and American rapper Flo Rida with their high energy hit 'Adrenalina.' Senhit and Flo Rida came 9th in their semi-final and 22nd in the Grand Final, amassing 50 points.

2022 entry: Achille Lauro - 'Stripper'

• Semi-final: Achille will compete in position number 7 of semi-final 2

• My Eurovision Scoreboard ranking: 31st

• Odds to win ranking: 20th

(Rankings as of 9 April 2022)

About the Achille Lauro

Italian rapper Achille Lauro, born Lauro De Marinis, is no stranger to a little controversy, his stage name itself is taken from a fatal Italian ship highjacking in the 1980s. Achille competed for San Marino 2022 fresh from performing on the Sanremo stage where he competed with the song 'Domenica' accompanied by the US Harlem Gospel Choir.

Achille emerged on the Italian music scene in 2014 and has since released eight albums. He has transformed from rapper to genre bending phenomenon since the debut of his stunning single 'Rolls Royce' at Sanremo 2019. Achille is not simply a singer, he is an artist and a true performer. It is quite frankly impossible to shoehorn Achille into one genre of music as he lends his talents to a wide range of musical styles including rap, pop, punk, rock, grunge and electronica. Achille has many musical idols and influences, including Elvis, Kurt Cobain, The Beatles, Travis Scott and Young Thug. He lays his emotions all out there on the stage through his varied music and his own utterly unique style.

About the song

Achille gave a wild, fiery performance in San Marino and looks set to dazzle the Turin stage.

'Stripper' is a high energy punk rock number sung in a combination of Italian and English. The catchy lyrics are based on the duality of man and woman. Achille calls 'Stripper' a "feminist anthem" which compels the audience to step outside of their comfort zones, stop worrying about judgement from others and truly be their authentic selves.

How was Achille chosen for Eurovision?

Sanmarinese song selection has undergone a number of iterations over the years, from internal selection to televised national finals. in 2022 SMRTV use a singing competition entitled 'Una Voce Per San Marino' to select their entry. 'Una Voce Per San Marino' was a multi round competition incorporating emerging artists, Sanmarinese artists and pre selected established artists.

Voting in the final round of 'Una Voce Per San Marino' was a 100% jury vote which included Mogol (President of the Jury), Dino Stewart (Managing Director at BMG Italy), Susanne Georgi (singer at Eurovision 2009 for Andorra), Simon Lee (conductor, composer, arranger) and Clarissa Martinelli (presenter at Radio Bruno). Achille Lauro won the vote by a single point to earn his spot in Turin.

Controversies

Whilst performing in Sanremo 2022 Achille caused a little controversy by mimicking the sacrament of baptism in front of a cheering crowd, where at the end of his his song he knelt in prayer and used a baptismal shell to pour water over his face. Unsurprisingly this caused some levels of outrage amongst majority Catholic Italy. Local Bishop Antonio Suetta, claimed Lauro’s mock baptism was offensive to both religion and human dignity.

Andrea Monda, editor of the Vatican newspaper 'L’Osservatore Romano', offered a more subtle commentary stating that the use of Catholic tropes to take aim at the Church is nothing new and, amusingly, others have done it better.

This is just one of many "controversies" from Achille Lauro's visual and (for some) confronting performances. He is no shrinking violet and we expect a jam packed, possibly controversial, performance from him in Turin!

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San Marino will compete in semi-final two on May 12 (European time) in Turin.