San Marino was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "Like an Animal" performed by Piqued Jacks. The Sammarinese broadcaster San Marino RTV (SMRTV) organised the national final concept entitled ("A voice for San Marino") to decide their representative. The event consisted of over 1,000 emerging and 32 established artists competing over a five-month period from October 2022 through February 2023 for the opportunity to represent the nation at the contest. The winning entry "Like an Animal" was written by Andrea Lazzeretti, Francesco Bini, Marco Sgaramella, and Tommaso Oliveri.
Promotion of the entry consisted of the release of a music video as well as a tour of a selection of nations participating in the contest, including England, Israel, Poland, Spain, and the Netherlands. San Marino was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the contest, which took place on 11 May 2023. Performing during the show at position 12 in the running order, "Like an Animal" did not qualify to compete in the final. It placed last out of the 16 participating countries in its semi-final, with no points awarded to the nation for the first time in its Eurovision history.
Background
Prior to the 2023 contest, San Marino had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times since its 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. It 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. 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", which eventually placed 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 with "Say Na Na Na". For the 2020 contest, Senhit and her song "Freaky!" were to represent the nation, though following its cancellation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, San Marino re-selected Senhit for . Her 2021 song, "", which she performed alongside American rapper Flo Rida, qualified for the final, eventually placing 22nd out of the 26 entries. For the , a competition titled ("A voice for San Marino") was held to select the country's entry. Its selected entrant Achille Lauro and the song "Stripper" failed to qualify for the final. In February 2022, SMRTV confirmed the return of the selection event for the 2023 contest.
Before Eurovision
returned for a second edition to select the Sammarinese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. This marked the third time that the nation had opted to select their entry with a national final format, the first time being in 2018 with 1in360.
Auditions for were held between October 2022 and February 2023. Interested artists could apply to partake in the event through the official website. 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). Artists who proceeded to the next round attended an academy in the Teatro Titano in the City of San Marino from 28 October 2022 and 16 February 2023, acting as preliminary castings. From 20 to 24 February 2023, a series of semi-finals decided the 22 acts that moved on to the final. Established artists were directly invited to the semi-final stage by Media Evolution SRL. As the end of the auditions period approached, a special in-depth show, narrated by Maria Letizia Camparsi and focused on introducing and recapping , was aired on RTV on 24 January 2023.
Emerging acts auditions A submission period was opened by SMRTV on 20 August 2022 for emerging artists and composers to submit their entries. By 14 October 2022, the broadcaster announced it had received over 400 applications, particularly from Spain, Germany and Norway, but also from other European countries, Canada, the United States and Australia. Near the close of the submission period, SMRTV reported that they had received over 1,000 applications overall from 31 different countries, out of which 299 were selected to take part in the emerging acts round. The emerging acts auditions took place during scheduled dates between 28 October 2022 and 27 January 2023.
As the only Sammarinese acts in the selection, Kida and Simone De Biagi were granted a direct pass to the final. The 104 international emerging acts, including both auditionees and established artists who got automatic passes to participate in the semi-finals following their auditions, and their country of origin were as follows: Emerging artists
Acousticouple (Italy) Alabaster (Italy) Andry (Italy) Angel Dell (Finland) Aria (Italy) Aristea (Italy) Atwood (Italy) Blonde Brothers (Italy) Brandon Parasole (Spain) Camilla (Italy) Christina (Italy) Christopher (Germany) Con Amore (United Kingdom) Daniel Schuhmacher (Germany) Daudia (Italy) DƏVA (Italy) Dionysian (Italy) E.E.F. (Italy) Edoardo Brogi (Italy) Eleonora Alì (Italy) Ellynora (Italy) Erna Hrönn (Iceland) Florin Răduță (Belgium) Francesca Monte and Kevan (Italy) Francesco Balasso (Italy) Francesco Da Vinci (Italy) FreakyBea (Italy) Gelida (Italy) Gisele Abramoff (Germany) Ice Eye (Finland) Ilenya (Italy) Iole (Italy) Jenny & Me (Switzerland) Jenny May (Latvia) Kiara D.V. feat. Pamela Ivonne Cole (United Kingdom) Leonor (Italy) Lodia (Italy) Lola (Croatia) Lost City feat Emerique (Italy) Luca Minnelli (Italy) Luciano Carlino (Italy) Luna Palumbo (Italy) Morgana (Italy) Nevruz (Italy) Nicole Hammett (Malta) Noe (Italy) Norah (Italy) Only Sara (Italy) Ophelio (Italy) Out Offline (Italy) Piqued Jacks (Italy) Pjero (Italy) Raim (Italy) Ruggero Ricci (Italy) Santo (Italy) Sara (Italy) Silver (Italy) Sophia (Italy) Surama Tsu (Italy) TES – Tutti Esageratamente Stronzi (Italy) Tothem (Italy) Veronica Howle (Italy) Verónica Romero (Spain) Vian (Italy) Victor Arbelo (Spain) Vina Rose (United Kingdom) Viviana (Italy) Viviana Milioti (Germany) Xada (Italy) XGiove (Italy)
Established artists
Alessandro Coli (Italy) Alfie Arcuri (Australia) Camille Cabaltera (Italy) Ciro De Luca (Romania) Deborah Iurato (Italy) Deshedus (Italy) Dramalove (United Kingdom) Eiffel 65 (Italy) Ferrán Faba (Spain) Flexx (Italy) Francesco Monte (Italy) Ginny Vee (Italy) Kurt Cassar (Malta) Laïoung feat. Marzio (Italy) Le Deva (Italy) Lorenzo Licitra (Italy) Manuel Aspidi (Italy) Massimo Di Cataldo and Andrea Agresti (Italy) Mate (Italy) Matilde (Italy) Mayu (Switzerland) MeriCler (Italy) Moreno (Italy) Neja and Luca Guadagnini Band (Italy) Rawstrings (Italy) Ronela (Albania) Rouges (Italy) Roy Paci (Italy) Selina Albright (United States) Sofia Mae (Italy) Stefano d'Orazio (Italy) Thomas (Italy)
Semi-finals On 20 February 2023, SMRTV announced the names of the 106 acts that had been selected to progress to the semi-final stage. In each semi-final, four artists advanced immediately to the final. A further four artists in each semi-final were chosen to advance to the second chance round. In total, 22 acts were to compete in the final: 16 artists chosen from the semi-finals, four from the second chance round, and the two Sammarinese artists that had automatically advanced to the final. All of these events took place at the Teatro Nuovo in Dogana.
Key: Finalist Second chance Absent +Semi-final 1 – 20 February 2023ArtistSongResult1Acousticouple"Hell Rider"Eliminated2Alfie Arcuri"Collide"Finalist3Alabaster""Eliminated4Andry"Superboom"Eliminated5Alessandro Coli"Afterglow"Eliminated6Angel Dell"Hard to Be an Angel"Eliminated7Aria""Eliminated8Aristea""Eliminated9Atwood"Dangerous"Eliminated10Blonde Brothers""Eliminated11Brandon Parasole""Eliminated12Camilla"It's Not You, It's Me"Second chance13Camille Cabaltera"Mental"Second chance14Christina"Complicated"Eliminated15Christopher Grev"Stars in the Sky"Eliminated16Ciro De Luca""Eliminated17Con Amore"Perfect Sight"Eliminated18Daniel Schuhmacher"Skin I'm In"Eliminated19Daudia"What If"Second chance20Deborah Iurato"Out of Space"Finalist21Deshedus""Finalist22Dəva"Malaise"Eliminated23Dionysian"Steps of the Way"Eliminated24DramaLove"Thunder"Eliminated25E.E.F."Something for You"Finalist26Edoardo Brogi""Second chance
+Semi-final 2 – 21 February 2023ArtistSongResult1Eiffel 65"Movie Star" Finalist2Eleonora Alì"Fade Out" Eliminated3Ellynora"Mama Told Me" Finalist4Erna Hrönn "Your Voice" Eliminated5Ferrán Faba"" Eliminated6Leonor"" Eliminated7Flexx"GOK (God Only Knows)" Second chance8Florin Răduță"My Mind" Second chance9Francesca Monte and Kevan"Holding on to You" Eliminated10Francesco Balasso"" Eliminated11Francesco Da Vinci"" Eliminated12Francesco Monte"" Eliminated13FreakyBea"" Eliminated14Gelida"" Eliminated15Ginny Vee"Haunted" Eliminated16Gisele Abramoff"Playlist" Eliminated17Ice Eye"Raging Storm" Eliminated18Ilenya"Japan" Eliminated19Iole"" Finalist20Jenny & Me"" Eliminated21Jenny May"When the World Awakens" Eliminated22Kiara D.V. feat. Pamela Ivonne Cole"My Time" Second chance23Kurt Cassar"Hurdles" Eliminated24La Bebae"" Second chance25Laïoung feat. Marzio "12 Hours" Eliminated26Le Deva"" Finalist27Lodia"" Eliminated
+Semi-final 3 – 22 February 2023ArtistSongResult1Lola"" Eliminated2Lorenza Rocchiccioli"I Am Worthy" Eliminated3Lorenzo Licitra"Never Give Up" Finalist4Lost City feat. Emerique"Titan" Second chance5Luca Minnelli"Lucky Love" Eliminated6Luciano Carlino"Hiroshima's Dreams" Eliminated7Luna Palumbo"" Second chance8Manuel Aspidi"Fading Out the Silence" Eliminated9Massimo Di Cataldo and Andrea Agresti"" Eliminated10Mate"" Second chance11Matilde"" Eliminated12Mayu"" Finalist13MeriCler"Souvenirs" Eliminated14Moreno"" Eliminated15Morgana "A Lonely Night in Shanghai" Second chance16Neja and Luca Guadagnini Band"" Eliminated17Nevruz"" Finalist18Nicole Hammett"" Eliminated19Noe"" Eliminated20Only Sara"Bleach" Eliminated21Ophelio"Rubber" Eliminated22Out Offline"Endless Loop" Eliminated23Piqued Jacks"Like an Animal" Finalist data-sort-value="24" Norah — Absent
+Semi-final 4 – 23 February 2023ArtistSongResult1Pjero"Spiderman" Second chance2Raim"All Alone" Second chance3Rawstrings"" Eliminated4Ronela"" Second chance5Rouges"" Eliminated6Roy Paci"" Second chance7Ruggero Ricci"Firework" Eliminated8Santo"" Eliminated9Sara"" Eliminated10Selina Albright"Did I Ever" Eliminated11Silver"Get You Back" Eliminated12Sofia Mae"" Eliminated13Sophia"Skybreaker" Eliminated14Stefano d'Orazio"" Eliminated15Surama Tsu"" Eliminated16TES – Tutti Esageratamente Stronzi"" Eliminated17Thomas"23:23" Finalist18Tothem"" Finalist19Veronica Howle"" Eliminated20Verónica Romero"Army of One" Eliminated21Vian"Wicca" Eliminated22Vina Rose"Oblivious" Finalist23Viviana"" Eliminated24Viviana Milioti"Seraphina's Lullaby" Eliminated25Xada"" Eliminated26XGiove"" Finalist data-sort-value="27" Victor Arbelo — Absent
Second chance Before the second chance round, Pjero was initially confirmed among the contestants with the song "Spiderman", but he was later disqualified from the competition as his song had already been released two years earlier on digital platforms, in conflict with the contest rules. Selina Albright was initially selected as an alternate, but dropped out due to logistical reasons; thus, TES – Tutti Esageratamente Stronzi were subsequently selected to compete.
Key: Finalist Absent