The EBU has announced today that the Vatican City will participate in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Turin as guest entrants.
They will be represented by Catullus, who will perform “Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō”. The song will be released on streaming platform Pontify in the coming days.
As special guest entrants, much like Australia in 2015, they will be given an automatic place in the Grand Final on 14th May 2022. As such, the number of participants in this year’s final is once again back at 26.
Executive Supervisor, Martin Österdahl, had this to say:
We are very excited to welcome the Vatican City to the Eurovision stage in Turin. This year, of all years, it felt appropriate to extend an invitation to the world’s smallest nation to share their culture and traditions on the global stage. The competition being held in Italy, plus the precedent set by Konstrakta in bringing Latin back to the contest this year, along with the chance to have an extra country perform as part of the final, meant that the time was just right to extend a welcome to our friends from the enclave nation. We will Holy See you in Turin in May!
Martin Österdahl
What do we know about the Vatican City’s Eurovision entry?
The world or Eurovision is a far cry away from Catullus’ day job as a member of the Swiss Guard. The 27 year-old from Altdorf, Switzerland, has been writing music and poetry in his time off, and never expected it to make it to the Eurovision stage, but says that he was “overjoyed” to be invited to be the Vatican City’s first representative.
Catullus speaks fluent French, German, Italian, Romansch, Latin, English and Esperanto. Quite the polyglot! In his spare time, he enjoys visiting museums, geocaching, cheese rolling, and dressing up as anthropomorphic animals. His favourite fursuit is a wolf called “Gary”, so Subwoolfer will have a new pal to collaborate with.
Catullus’ entry, “Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō”, is sung entirely in Latin. While we have not heard the song in full, we may have some idea of what the lyrics will be thanks to a mysterious leak.
“Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō
Aurēlī pathice et cinaede Fūrī.
quī mē ex versiculīs meīs putāstīs
quod sunt molliculī parum pudīcum.
nam castum esse decet pium poētam
ipsum, versiculōs nihil necesse est
quī tum dēnique habent salem ac lepōrem
Sī sint molliculī ac parum pudīcī
et quod prūriat incitāre possint
nōn dīcō puerīs sed hīs pilōsīs
quī dūrōs nequeunt movēre lumbōs
Vōs quod mīlia multa bāsiōrum
lēgistis male mē marem putātis.
Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō”
We will have to wait and see what genre the song will be when it is released. We will let you know as soon as it is here at That Eurovision Site!
Are you excited to see the Vatican City debut at Eurovision 2022? What will you be expecting from their entry? Let us know in the comments below or on social media. Don’t forget to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ over on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
News Source: EBU
Photo Source: World Atlas
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