Calls in Italy for Espresso Macchiato to be banned from Eurovision.

Italian consumer group Codacons has filed a complaint with the organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest over Estonia's "offensive" entry by rapper Tommy Cash.

Codacons has appealed to the European Broadcasting Union to consider excluding Cash's song Espresso Macchiato on the grounds that it "offends a country and an entire community" and "risks transmitting incorrect messages that damage the reputation of a nation and its inhabitants."

Stereotypes and clichés

The consumer group claims the lyrics contain stereotypes about Italy and Italians, "associated with the usual clichés of coffee and spaghetti, but above all with the mafia and the ostentation of luxury".

The lyrics have prompted a mixed reaction among Italians, with critics arguing that the catchy song presents harmful stereotypes while others find it amusing.

L’Estonia manda all’Eurovision Tommy Cash con “Espresso Macchiato”: il suo brano è virale pic.twitter.com/tXQxORbU8l

— Trash Italiano (@trash_italiano) February 17, 2025

The first verse of Espresso Macchiato goes likes this: "Ciao bella, I'm Tomaso, addicted to tobacco, Mi like mi coffè very importante, No time to talk, scusi, my days are very busy, And I just own this little ristorante".

However it is the second verse that is controversial in Italy: “Me like to fly privati with 24 carati also mi casa very Grandioso. Me money numeroso. I work around the clocko. That’s why I’m sweating like a mafioso. Life is like spaghetti. It’s hard until you make it“.

Political reaction

Italian politician Gian Marco Centinaio, a senator with the right-wing Lega party, is among those in Italy to take offence.

"This Tommy Cash, Estonian singer, qualified for the Eurovision Song  Contest with a song in which he speaks in macaronic Italian about someone who got rich only by drinking coffee and 'sweating like a mafioso'" - Centiniao wrote on Instagram - "This singer should come to Italy to see how good people work before allowing himself to write such stupid and stereotyped songs."

The controversy has given major publicity to Cash in the run-up to the Eurovision which will be held in Basel, Switzerland, from 10 to 17 May.

Cash, 33, has over 1 million followers on Instagram and is described on the Eurovision website as "a successful conceptual artist who combines post-Soviet aesthetics with global trends, mixing raw tenderness with twisted humour."

Italy and the Eurovision

It is not clear yet who Italy's entry for the Eurovision will be. Traditionally the winner of Sanremo, Italy's biggest song contest, goes on to represent the country in the European competition.

However, Olly, who was declared the Sanremo winner last weekend, has refused to confirm whether or not he will put himself forward.

Photo credit: Christian Bertrand / Shutterstock.com.