"Era stupendo" is a song by Paolo Meneguzzi

Paolo Meneguzzi

Paolo Meneguzzi is an Swiss Italian singer. He is the son of Loredana Pacchiani and Gomez Meneguzzo.-Biography:...

 which was chosen to represent Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Eurovision Song Contest 2008

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...

, to be held in Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

. The song was publicly unveiled as the Swiss entry on 13 January 2008 at the Swiss Music Awards. The song is a soft rock ballad in Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

. It is written and composed by the Swedish songwriter Mattias Brånn. On 20 January 2008, Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet

Aftonbladet

Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...

reported that the song had been accused of being plagiarised from Amy Diamond

Amy Diamond

Amy Diamond is a Swedish pop singer, actress and television presenter. She is known for her single "What's in It for Me" and album This Is Me Now which were released when she was 12 years old. The song was a 2005 hit in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. It was the most-played song in Poland...

's "It Can Only Get Better

It Can Only Get Better

The song was covered by Filipina singer Charice for her self-titled extended play. It was then released as her first commercial single....

".

"Era stupendo" is a ballad that starts softly but speeds up just in the beginning of its second half. It's accompanied fundamentally by piano.

Excitement about the song rose sharply since the very moment that Paolo Meneguzzi was confirmed as the Switzerland's representative in Eurovision 2008. However, the version played in Switzerland wasn't the one performed in the contest in Belgrade, as the song, having a length of 3'30", needed to be shortened to 3' maximum to suit EBU's regulations. The "maximum" points to this song were given from Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 (12 points) and Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

 (10 points).

Chart positions

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...	11