Defiant Italy scores rocking victory in Eurovision

Italy has won the 2021 Eurovision song contest with a rock tune in defiance of European music stereotypes, with the United Kingdom being the only country that received absolutely zero points from both the jury and viewers at home.

After half of the jury votes were tallied through live announcements country by country on Saturday night, performers and viewers alike were kept at the edge of their seat after midnight during an agonizing half hour as the popular votes were also being added up for each entry.

In the end, Italy’s Maneskin came in first place with “Zitti e buoni” (Shut up and be good) after scoring 524 points in the grand final held in Rotterdam, Holland.

Maneskin proclaimed "Rock and roll never dies" as the band was taking to the stage for a victory performance, surprising many Euro fans who tend to favor dance songs and catchy melodies.

The adrenaline-fuelled performance by one of Rome’s beloved rock bands had gained a lot of support online in recent days, with their song on YouTube getting more than a million views.

Cyprus came in sixteenth place after getting 12 jury points from Greece, which came in tenth after Nicosia also sent its top points to Athens in what has become a tradition between the two countries.

During the tallying of the public vote, the presenters at the Ahoy Arena were visibly shocked when Britain became the only country that got absolutely no points either from jury votes or viewers at home, with Holland, Germany, and Spain also getting zero points from the public.

Citizens in all 39 participants could vote on the winner, while a national jury selected by each country accounted for half of the vote.