Senhit will carry San Marino into this year's Eurovision Song Contest, returning for a fourth outing with the song Superstar and a clear promise of spectacle: Boy George is expected to join her on stage in Vienna. She will perform in 15th place in the running order on 12 May, as the competition gets under way tonight.
The Italian-born singer said she was ready for the moment after support from fans and the Eurovision community, telling them, “Thank you very much guys, thank you for your love, for your support, for this kind of beautiful community that surround me, so I'm ready.” Superstar includes uncredited vocals from Boy George, and Senhit said the collaboration had already been discussed with him. “This is something that was discussed with Boy George, I will go to him next week [as he's been touring America] just to start to talk about staging and all the things,” she said, adding that he “knew that the possibility to go to Vienna.”
Senhit first represented San Marino in 2011, then returned in 2020 and 2021, making her one of the microstate's most familiar Eurovision figures. Her background was built far from the contest, with early work in theatre in productions including Fame, The Lion King and Hair across Europe. After her 2011 Eurovision appearance, she released Dangerous, an album that featured collaborations with Steve Aoki, Benny Benassi and Flo Rida, widening her profile beyond the contest.
San Marino has been represented at Eurovision 15 times and has never won, a record that makes every new entry carry extra weight for the country. Last year Gabry Ponte took the stage for San Marino and finished 26th with 27 points, landing in last place overall and leaving Senhit with the task of trying to push the country forward again. This time, she sounded certain Boy George would be there too. “He said absolutely I will be involved with you, and I will be on stage with you. So yeah absolutely you will see him for sure. For sure,” she said. More on Boy George's Eurovision debut with San Marino in Vienna is available here:
For San Marino, the question is not whether Senhit can generate attention; it is whether attention can finally turn into a result the country has never managed to achieve. With a known performer, a recognizable guest and a slot in the middle of the night’s running order, this remains one of the contest’s more watchable entries, and one of the few with a built-in story before the first note is sung.
