ANALYSIS OF THE PRODUCTION OF LIVE TELEVISION SHOWS: ITALY IN EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2021

Abstract

This paper aims to study the production of live television at the Eu-rovision Song Contest, a contest characterized by the use of avant-garde and experimental technologies and staging. The filming and production of the win-ning performance in 2021, «Zitti e buoni», by the Italian group Måneskin, is selected as a case study, as it breaks with previous trends. The main objectives of this research are to analyze the selected performance from a discursive and formal perspective and to identify the visual references on which the production is based. We apply a formal audiovisual analysis while considering inter-textual practices and the intention to appropriate pop culture references. The formal audiovisual analysis highlights the respect for a functional and classic audiovisual grammar that tries to make itself invisible to highlight the members of the band with their charisma. Faced with previous practices trying to break spatial and temporal continuity, the performance claims a classical audiovisual grammar and an apparently simple staging based on nostalgia.