The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest are an integral part of the broadcast. They serve as the viewer’s guide to the Contest’s songs, artists and atmosphere, and often have to deal with unexpected problems due to the challenges of live TV production!
This year, Italian broadcaster RAI has brought together three massive names from the Italian and European entertainment scenes to host the Contest. Get ready to meet Alessandro Cattelan, Laura Pausini and Mika!
Alessandro Cattelan
Alessandro Cattelan is one of Italy’s biggest television and radio presenters, with a career spanning nearly 20 years.
Initially pursuing a career as a footballer, Cattelan quickly switched his track towards music and entertainment in the early 2000s. Starting in youth broadcasting with MTV Italia, Cattelan quickly rose through the ranks to become one of Italy’s best known faces.
Since then, he has appeared on several of Italy’s biggest shows, including as the host of X Factor Italia, the David di Donatello film awards and his own late-night television show called “E poi c’è Cattelan”, which ran from 2014 to 2020.
Cattelan most recently led a documentary series on Netflix called “One Simple Question”, where he seeks the answer the question of how to lead a happy life. The show launched on Netflix in March.
Laura Pausini
A true megastar of Italian music, Laura Pausini has been around since the early 1990s and continues to release new music to this day.
Pausini’s debut single, “La Solitudine”, won the newcomer’s section of the Sanremo Music Festival – now better known as part of Italy’s Eurovision selection process – and quickly became a smash hit across Europe and Latin America, reaching number 1 in Belgium, the Netherlands, El Salvador, Panama, Venezuela and the US.
This was due in no small part to Pausini’s decision to release a Spanish-language version of the song. The Spanish-language music market went on to become a lucrative part of Pausini’s future career, as she became a big star not just in Italy, but also in Spain and across Latin America.
Her global profile is emphasized by the number of awards she has won in the United States, including becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grammy in 2006 and being nominated for an Academy Award in 2021. She has also appeared as a coach on La Voz – the Spanish version of The Voice.
Mika
Mika is no stranger to anyone who was around in the 2000s. Known for his quirky songwriting and strong falsetto vocals, his first album “Life in Cartoon Motion” was a global smash hit, with no less than three top 10 singles in the ARIA music charts (“Grace Kelly”, “Happy Ending” and “Love Today”).
Since then, he has released four further albums and remains a massive star across the European continent, even if his prominence in English-speaking markets has faded over time. His most recent album, “My Name is Michael Holbrook”, reached the top 10 in Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland.
Born in Beirut, Mika was forced to evacuate Lebanon with his family due to war as an infant and spent most of his childhood in Paris and London. A man of the world from a young age, he speaks at least four languages – English, French, Italian and Spanish.
As well as a musician, he has also appeared as a judge on several TV talent shows across Europe, including The Voice: la plus belle voix (the French version of The Voice). Most recently, he has become a familiar face on Italian television as a coach on the X Factor Italia.
For continued updates on all the Eurovision Song Contest news follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, find us @aussievisionnet