"Gente di mare" was the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987

Eurovision Song Contest 1987

The Eurovision Song Contest 1987 was the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1987 in Brussels, Belgium after Sandra Kim's win the previous year. The presenter was Viktor Lazlo. Johnny Logan was the winner for Ireland with the song "Hold Me Now"...

, performed 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...

 by Umberto Tozzi

Umberto Tozzi

Umberto Antonio Tozzi is an Italian pop/rock singer and composer, born in Turin. His most internationally famous song is "Gloria" -Biography:...

 & Raf

Raffaele Riefoli

Raffaele Riefoli is an Italian popular singer who is better known as simply Raf.-Biography:...

.

The song is a blues-influenced ballad, in which the singers describe the qualities of the "people of the sea". They describe themselves as "people of the plain", who are "prisoners of this city", while contrasting that with the freedom of the people of the sea "who leave it behind".

The song was performed seventh on the night, following Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

's Lotta Engberg

Lotta Engberg

-External links:* *...

 with "Boogaloo

Boogaloo (song)

"Fyra bugg och en Coca Cola" , also called "Fyra bugg", is a Swedish language song, written by Mikael Wendt and Christer Lundh. Swedish dansband and pop singer Lotta Engberg won the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1987 in Sweden with this song. The lyrics are about summer...

" and preceding Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

's Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

 with "Neste barco à vela

Neste Barco À Vela

"Neste barco à vela" was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987, performed in Portuguese by Nevada.The song is in praise of Portugal itself...

". At the close of voting, it had received 103 points, placing 3rd in a field of 22.

While not winning the Contest the song achieved considerable popularity, becoming a Top 10 hit in most parts of Continental Europe and Scandinavia in the summer of 1987 (#7 Switzerland, #8 Austria, #6 Sweden) and was included on the compilations of Winners and Classics produced to coincide with the Congratulations

Congratulations (Eurovision)

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the Contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. It took place at Forum,...

special in late 2005.

It was succeeded as Italian representative

Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest

Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest frequently from 1956 to 1997. It was one of only seven countries that competed at the very first contest...

 at the 1988 Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1988

The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 30 April 1988 in Dublin. The presenters were Pat Kenny and Michelle Rocca...

 by Luca Barbarossa

Luca Barbarossa

Luca Barbarossa is an Italian singer-songwriter who has released 12 albums since 1981, and is known for his participation in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.- Early career :...

 with "Vivo (Ti scrivo)

Vivo (Ti Scrivo)

"Vivo " was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, performed in Italian by Luca Barbarossa....

".

Dutch-language cover

Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 satirists Henk Spaan and Harry Vermeegen performed the song in 1988 on their successful TV-show Verona as Ach, laat maar waaien (compare; Take it easy).