their own criteria. The competition took place between 5–9 February 2019 with the winner being selected on the last day of the festival. Twenty four artists competed in Sanremo 2019. Two of the twenty four competing artists (Einar and Mahmood respectively) were selected in the standalone Sanremo Newcomers competition that was held in December 2018. Among the competing artists were former Eurovision Song Contest entrants Il Volo who represented Italy in the 2015 contest. The performers were: Final The 24 Big Artists each performed their entry again for a final time on 9 February 2019. A combination of public televoting (50%), press jury voting (30%) and expert jury voting (20%) selected the top three to face a superfinal vote, then the winner of Sanremo 2019 was decided. Mahmood was declared the winner of the contest with the song "". During the press conference that followed the final, Mahmood accepted to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, in an interview to published on 11 February 2019, Mahmood stated that he was reconsidering his acceptance as he and his management had to consider "how much work it entails". Finally, on 12 February 2019, Mahmood confirmed his participation at the Eurovision Song Contest via his social media. At Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 took place at Expo Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel and consisted of two semi-finals on 14 and 16 May and the final on 18 May 2019. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big Five", Italy automatically qualified to compete in the final. In addition to their participation in the final, Italy is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals (the second one this year). Voting Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage