San Marino was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song "Stripper" performed by Achille Lauro. The Sammarinese broadcaster, San Marino RTV (SMRTV), organised a new national final concept entitled ("A voice for San Marino") to decide their representative. The event consisted of 299 emerging and nine established artists competing over a three-month period from December 2021 through February 2022 for the opportunity to represent the nation at the contest. The winning entry "Stripper" was written by Lauro, Daniele Dezi, Daniele Mungai, Davide Petrella, Federico De Marinis, Francesco Viscovo, Gregorio Calculli, Marco Lanciotti, Matteo Ciceroni, Mattia Cutolo and Simon Pietro Manzari.
To promote the entry, Lauro released the song as a digital download, lyric video and a music video consisting of the performance of the entry at . A promotional tour was initially scheduled, but appearances were subsequently canceled due to the rise in COVID-19 cases occurring at the time. San Marino was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 which took place on 12 May 2022. Performing during the show seventh in the running order, "Stripper" was not announced among the top 10 entries of its semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that San Marino placed 14th out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 50 points.
Background
Prior to the 2022 contest, San Marino had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 11 times since their first entry in . The nation's debut entry in the 2008 contest, "" performed by Miodio, failed to qualify for the final and placed last in the semi-final it competed in. San Marino subsequently did not participate in both the and contests, citing financial difficulties. They returned in with Italian singer Senit performing "Stand By", which also failed to take the nation to the final. From 2012 to 2014, San Marino sent Valentina Monetta to the contest on three consecutive occasions, which made her the first singer to participate in three consecutive contests since Udo Jürgens, who competed in , and for Austria. Monetta's first two entries failed to qualify San Marino to the final, however in , she managed to bring the nation to the final for the first time with "Maybe", placing 24th. Following four consecutive non-qualifying years, San Marino qualified for the final for its second time in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, where Serhat represented the nation for his second time and finished in 19th place in the final with "Say Na Na Na". For the 2020 contest, Senhit and her song "Freaky!" were to represent the nation, though following its cancelation, San Marino re-selected Senhit for . Her song, "", which she performed alongside American rapper Flo Rida, qualified for the final, eventually placing 22nd out of the 26 entries. San Marino RTV (SMRTV) confirmed the nation's participation in the 2022 contest on 5 April 2021, at the same time also revealing that they intended to select their entry through a national final entitled Una voce per San Marino.
Before Eurovision Una voce per San Marino On 5 April 2021, as part of the release of a 2021–2022 tourism events calendar introduced by the government of San Marino, SMRTV confirmed the nation's participation in the 2022 contest and the introduction of ("A voice for San Marino"), a new national final format to select the nation's entry. This marked the second time that the nation had opted to select their entry with a national final format, the first time being in 2018 with 1in360.
was held between December 2021 and February 2022. Interested artists could apply to partake in the event through the official website, which was open for submissions until 8 January 2022. There were no restrictions on the nationality of the performer nor the language of the song, though all artists and songs had to comply with the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest as set by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). At the close of the application window, all selected artists were divided into two categories: Emerging and Established. Emerging artists attended an academy in the Teatro Titano in the City of San Marino from 13 to 17 December 2021 and 3–11 January 2022, acting as preliminary castings. Then, from 13 to 17 February 2022, a series of semi-finals decided the nine Emerging acts that moved on to the final. Established artists, numbering nine in total as well, were directly invited to the final by Media Evolution SRL. Aside from the first place act becoming the Sammarinese representative at Eurovision, the first, second and third placings of the final were also awarded €7000, €2000 and €1000, respectively.
Voting for the Emerging artists shows was performed by a seven-member jury. The first four members of the jury for this category, announced on 16 November 2021, were Emilio Munda, Roberta Faccani, and Steve Lyon. The remaining three jury members for the category were announced on 31 December 2021, and were Maurizio Raimo, Nabuk and Mimmo Paganelli.
Emerging acts auditions A submission period was opened by SMRTV on 22 September 2021 for emerging artists and composers to submit their entries. By 16 November 2021, the broadcaster announced it had received over 200 applications, particularly from Germany, Russia and Sweden, but also from other European countries, the United States and Australia. Near the close of the submission period, SMRTV reported that they had received 585 applications overall, out of which 299 were selected to take part in the emerging acts round. The emerging acts auditions took place between 13 and 17 December 2021 and 3–11 January 2022. From December and over the course of two months, the 299 participants took part in the auditions (though only 282 were listed). From the emerging acts round, 60 international entrants and six Sammarinese had qualified for the semi-finals and they were revealed on 17 January 2022. Highlights from the auditions were then broadcast on San Marino RTV over three consecutive Fridays from 14 January to 28 January 2022.
The six Sammarinese acts selected from the auditions were Alibi, Elisa Mazza, Garon & Duan, Giada Pintori, Ginevra Bencivenga and Giulia Vitri. The 60 international emerging acts and their country of origin were as follows:
Aaron Sibley (United Kingdom) Alessandra Simone (Italy) Alessia Labate (Italy) Alice Burani (Italy) Allerija (Italy) Anna Faragò (Italy) Ashley (Italy) Brenda (Italy) Camille Cabaltera (Italy) Corinna Parodi (Italy) Daniel Mincone (Italy) Daniela Pisciotta (Italy) Davide Rossi (Italy) Diego Federico (Austria) Elena & Francesco Faggi (Italy) Elisa Del Prete (Italy) Eliska Mrázová (Czech Republic) Ellynora (Italy) Florent Amare (France) Frio (Italy) Giada Varaschin (Italy) Giorgio Borghes (Claudia F) (United Kingdom) Gisele Abramoff (Brazil) I Koko (Italy) Jessica Anne Condon (United Kingdom) João Paulo & Miguel (Portugal) Joe Romano & TheStolenClipper (Italy) Katrin Roselli (Italy) Kimberly Genil (Italy) Kumi Watanabe (Italy) Kurt Cassar (Malta) Le Bebae (Italy) Leonardo Frezzotti (Italy) Lorenza Rocchiccioli (Italy) Luca Cima (Italy) Luca Veneri (Italy) Luci Blu (Italy) Mad (Italy) Marco Saltari (Italy) Maria Chiara Leoni (Italy) Martina Gaetano (Italy) Mate (Italy) Matilde Montanari (Italy) Matteo Giannaccini Gravante (Italy) Muriel (Italy) Nada e Sissi (Italy) OnlySara (Italy) Operapop (Italy) Oxa Sia (Germany) Raimondo Cataldo (Italy) Riccardo Foresi (Italy) Riccardo Guglielmi (Italy) Sebastian Schimdt (Germany) Snei Ap (Italy) Thomas Grazioso (Italy) Tothem (Italy) Valentina Tioli (Italy) Vanja Vatle (Norway) Veronica Liberati (Italy) Vina Rose (Italy)
Semi-finals The 60 international emerging acts competed across three semi-finals from 13 February to 15 February 2022 and three acts qualified to the final from each respective semi-final. The next day, a fourth semi-final consisting of the six Sammarinese artists took place, with an additional three acts qualifying to the final. A second-chance round on 17 February 2022 allowed a further four of the previously eliminated emerging artists to qualify. A final for the emerging artists was held on 18 February 2022, where 9 of the 16 qualified acts proceeded to the final. All of these events took place at the Teatro Titano in the City of San Marino.
Of the emerging acts participants, Muriel was announced to have been disqualified from the competition on 10 February 2022 for unspecified reasons. Additionally, Allerija, Corinna Parodi and Diego Federico had been announced as participants in the semi-final, but were absent from the show without explanation.
Key: Finalist Second Chance Absent +Semi-final 1 – 13 February 2022 Artist Song Result 1 Aaron Sibley "Pressure" Finalist 2 Alessandra Simone "" Eliminated 3 Alessia Labate "World Falls Down" Second chance 4 Alice Burani "" Eliminated 5 Anna Faragò "" Second chance 6 Ashley "In My Mind" Eliminated 7 Brenda "" Eliminated 8 Camille Cabaltera "Move 'Em Like You Never Did" Finalist 9 Daniel Mincone "In This World" Eliminated 10 "" Second chance 11 Davide Rossi "Wasted Love" Eliminated 12 Elena & Francesco Faggi "Nothing Can Blow Me Out" Finalist 13 Elisa Del Prete "" Eliminated 14 Ellynora "" Eliminated 15 Florent Amare "" Eliminated 16 Frio "" Second chance 17 "Imma Be" Second chance rowspan="3" Allerija — Absent Corinna Parodi — Absent Diego Federico — Absent
+Semi-final 2 – 14 February 2022 Artist Song Result 1 Giada Varaschin "W.A.T. (What a Tragedy)" Second chance 2 Giorgio Borghes (Claudia F) "Time Is Ticking" Eliminated 3 Gisele Abramoff "Higher than Before" Second chance 4 I Koko "Born to the River" Eliminated 5 Jessica Anne Condon "Water on the Ground" Eliminated 6 João Paulo and Miguel "" Eliminated 7 Joe Romano and TheStolenClipper "Hallelujah" Eliminated 8 "If You Love Me" Finalist 9 Kimberly Genil "Pink Skies" Eliminated 10 "Freedom" Second chance 11 Kurt Cassar "Tears of Gold" Finalist 12 Le Bebae "" Eliminated 13 "Blessing" Eliminated 14 Lorenza Rocchiccioli "" Finalist 15 "Feed the Flies" Eliminated 16 Luca Veneri "Dreams and Beliefs" Eliminated 17 Luci Blu "Bla Bla" Eliminated 18 Mad "" Second chance 19 Marco Saltari "" Eliminated 20 "" Second chance
+Semi-final 3 – 15 February 2022 Artist Song Result 1 Martina Gaetano "Coffee" Second chance 2 Mate "DNA" Finalist 3 Matilde Montanari "" Eliminated 4 Matteo Giannaccini Gravante "Read My Mind" Eliminated 5 Nada & Sissi "Mala Way" Second chance 6 OnlySara "Rubik" Eliminated 7 Operapop "" Eliminated 8 Oxa Sia "Purple Sky" Eliminated 9 "Feelin' Broken" Finalist 10 Riccardo Foresi "" Eliminated 11 "" Eliminated 12 "Running" Second chance 13 Thomas Grazioso "Dance" Eliminated 14 Snei Ap "" Second chance 15 Tothem "Celebrate" Eliminated 16 Valentina Tioli "Never Looking Back" Eliminated 17 "Hymn of Hope" Second chance 18 Veronica Liberati "Once More a Little Smile" Eliminated 19 Vina Rose "Sweet Denial" Finalist rowspan="3" Muriel — Absent
Sammarinese artists final The final for the competing entrants from San Marino took place on 16 February 2022. Six artists took part, with three advancing to the final. + Artist Song Result 1 Alibi "" Eliminated 2 Elisa Mazza "Gonna Do Me" Eliminated 3 Garon & Duan "Power" Finalist 4 Giada Pintori "" Finalist 5 Ginevra Bencivenga "" Eliminated 6 Giulia Vitri "Father and Son" Finalist
Second chance The second chance round took place on 17 February 2022 and featured the fifteen acts that finished in 4th to 8th place in the first three semi-finals. Five of the fifteen acts qualified for the Emerging acts final.