Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

In 2005, "Nel blu dipinto di blu" was one of fourteen songs chosen by Eurovision fans and an EBU reference group to participate in the Congratulations anniversary competition. It was the only Italian entry featured and the only song from the 1950s represented, as well as one of three participating songs that hadn't actually won in its year (the others being "Congratulations" by Cliff Richard and "Eres tú" by Mocedades). Italy didn't broadcast the event (it likewise hadn't broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest since their last participation in 1997 and wouldn't again until 2011), but were represented by both "Nel blu dipinto di blu" and references to their Eurovision entries in both clip montages and one live performance (Belgium's Sandra Kim, who won the contest in 1986, performed a brief rendition of Gigliola Cinquetti's 1964 winner "Non ho l'eta" during one of the medleys).

"Nel blu dipinto di blu" appeared sixth in the running order, following "Ein bißchen Frieden" by Nicole and preceding "Waterloo" by ABBA. While the majority of performances that night featured brief appearances by the original singer(s), Domenico Modugno had died in 1994. Therefore, the song was represented by footage of his original performance alongside dancers performing a routine. At the end of the first round, "Nel blu dipinto di blu" was announced as one of the five songs headed to the second round. It was later revealed that the song finished as runner-up in the first round, receiving 200 points (as, unlike in 1958, the twelve-point system introduced in 1975 was being used, and the song's reputation had grown significantly since its original appearance). In the end, "Nel blu dipinto di blu" finished in second place overall with 267 points. Among these were three top scores from Germany, Lithuania, and Turkey.