Sewers, Selfie Fees, And A Eurovision Earworm: Italy 2026

A $24 billion bridge, selfie surge pricing, mafia arrests, poisoned wolves, and a Eurovision track that makes you want to get up and dance. Italy doesn’t do “quiet”, and we lean into the chaos with a fast, funny, sharply opinionated tour through the country’s biggest headlines and cultural moments.

Then pure joy with Italy’s Eurovision pick Sal Da Vinci and our first-listen reaction to a warm, dramatic, disco-funk crowd-pleaser.

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#eurovision #eurovisionsong contest #eurovisionpodcast #eurovisionaustralia #eurovisionfunny

Transcript

Midnight Greetings And Pizza Energy

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Bonjour, good, prevent, hello, and bonjour, the Duspar Podcast. I suddenly went Russian. That was not what I intended. Take to. Welcome, bonjour. That's French. I'm sorry, it's very late at night and I'm waiting for my pizza. Ciao Bella. It's the Duspoir Podcast. Let's settle down for some sexy sounds as we explore Italy. Well, what can we say? Italy has spent the last year doing what it does best, staging high drama on a breathtaking set. Parliament debated a 24 billion. I'm sorry, did you say$24 billion on a suspension bridge project between Sicily and the mainland? Because if you're gonna argue about money, you might as well do it while designing the world's longest shortcut. The Prime Minister also made a point of putting a little bit of daylight between Italy and the US leadership. Politically speaking, they've given the old, ooh, scene message with no reply. Back at home, the government tightened its migration policy, probably to try and, you know, oh, over here, over here, look at me, look at my hands, look at my hands, don't look at what's going on behind me. As they endured a few scandals and tried to mop up after severe flooding that refused to respect anyone's agenda. Meanwhile, Venice expanded the numbers of days it charges day trippers an entry fee. Basically, they've had to surge price for selfies, and Pompeii has capped the daily visitor limit at 20,000, proving even ancient ruins only have a capacity for so many American tourists. Meanwhile, the bridge plan kept moving along despite the usual concerns, you know, cost, environmental impact. Ooh, the usual concerns, cost, environmental impact, I don't know, it's a small matter of gravity. The authorities continued cracking down on drug trafficking, snagging high-ranking mafia figures, and dismantled a forgery ring that was churning out knockoff masterpieces attributed to everyone from Banksy and, oh, I don't know if you've heard of him, Picasso. Because when you're spending$20 million, nothing says authenticity certificate, like a well-organized criminal gang. It was suggested in Italy the idea of capping energy company profits. Here's an idea. How about instead of just capping the energy, we take energy out of companies' hands and we put it back into the hands of the people and we make things like, ooh, electricity, heat, hot water a matter of right and human dignity and not a profit. Italy was feeling price pressures due to, well, you know, the state of the world at the moment. This coupled with a deadly alpine avalanche, fierce coastal storms in Sicily, and a Naples bank heist where robbers escaped through sewers. Ew! Not for all the money in Italy. They escaped through the sewers, presumably one hand carrying the loot, the other hand pinching their nose clothes. Put all of this together and you have a full season of Italian news. In conservation, officials investigated the poisoning of 18 wolves. Certain parts of certain parts of the world, they have begun trying to conserve and reintroduce wolves into native forest areas. Because you know what? The wolves actually play a very intrical part. And where we've removed them from the environment, it has had a huge knock-on effect. It degrades the forest, it degrades the other animals there, and ultimately degrades conditions for the human being. So you know what? They're there, they're a natural part of the cycle. Idiots, just because they eat a cow or a sheep, have decided to poison them. We must be the only species on the planet that kills an animal because another animal kills an animal that we're gonna kill. What is wrong with us? Of course, this doesn't bode well for the other endangered bigger critters in Italy, in particular the Marseccan brown bear, with roughly 50 remaining. And I don't just mean in that part of the forest. I mean that's it. There's just 50 of them out there. And they are so cute. I just want them to live. Go look them up. No, not all brown bears look the same, you racist. They look different, they have different habits. Save the Marsich and brown bear. Save the Marsich and brown bear. There's only 50, there's billions of us and only 50 of the bears. Please just let them be. Also, on the playlist for Italy, Mount Aetna erupted again. Italy's most reliable overachiever. Mount Aetna erupting on 4th of March 2026 with what was described as a brief explosive event. Oh, don't worry, Mount Aetna. We've all been on that date. I hear it happens to everyone at some stage. Meanwhile, politicians still argued over the bridge as the country began to psych itself up for the winter 2026 Winter Olympics. So what could we say? Things have not been 100% good, they have not been 100% bad, but they have been 100% Italy. Italy has selected Sal da Vinci, who was a Neapolitan artist born in 1969. He was actually born in New York, while his dad, another famous Italian singer, Mario da Vinci, was on tour. Sal has had a consistently impressive career releasing hit singles, being the star of large musical productions. He's also, well, look, I'm gonna say it, for an Italian, for a lot of people, but mainly for Italians, he has reached what has to be the ultimate bucket challenge for an Italian, with him actually singing for, I don't know, the Pope. If that doesn't get an Italian straight into heaven, I don't know what does. With Sal performing for the late John Paul II. Sal actually attempted to represent Italy at Eurovision in 2009, participating in the San Remo Music Festival, but unfortunately only came third. In 2024, Sal released his most successful song to date, Rosetta di Cafe, with a single achieving over 450 million plays across all digital platforms. That's right, I said 450 million, and was one of the most streamed songs of the year. But this year in February, he returned to the San Remo Music Festival. And he and his song Per Sempre won the Golden Gong. And finally, he earned his right to represent Italy in the Eurovision song contest. Now he has been married to his wife since 1992. That's 34 years. They've had two children. He is now the grandfather of three, which for everyone out there goes to prove don't worry, even after your sexy, single 20s, you know what? Exciting stuff can happen even into your 30s and beyond. All right, let's take a taste of Italy. You know, I don't know what I was expecting from this, but I was not expecting Italy mixed with a 70s disco funk. I love it. Also, if he's a grandfather, what? It is a 70s casino in Morocco. Uptown, downtown, every which way, funk. Oh, this is every reason why we love Italy. This is showmanship. This is drama. This is over expression of emotion and love and lots of hand gestures. This is comforting, this is warm, this is delicious, this is fun! And I cannot wait to see this on the Eurovision stage. I don't care if it win, lose, draw. This is a yes, yes, yes. There's no way you can hear this and not dance. And if you're not dancing, I have some bad news. You're already dead. Cannot wait to see this on the Eurovision stage.