Italian singer Mahmood won the Sanremo Music Festival on Saturday, but his country’s interior minister is clearly not among his fans.
Matteo Salvini took to Twitter as the song contest ended to voice his preference for the second-placed finisher Ultimo, and to ask: “The most beautiful Italian song?!?”
#Mahmood............... mah............
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) February 10, 2019
La canzone italiana più bella?!?
Io avrei scelto #Ultimo, voi che dite?? #Sanremo2019 pic.twitter.com/jpflaSLF7c
Salvini’s ex-girlfriend Elisa Isoardi, however, had a different take on Mahmood’s victory: “Proof that the meeting of different cultures creates beauty,” she wrote on Twitter.
Mahmood ha appena vinto il festival di Sanremo. La dimostrazione che l’incontro di culture differenti genera bellezza. #top #culture https://t.co/30QQORiYkW
— Elisa Isoardi (@ElisaIsoardi) February 10, 2019
Mahmood, who is of Sardinian-Egyptian heritage and was born and raised in Italy, was forced to answer questions about his identity again just moments after his victory at Sanremo, telling a pressing conference: “I am 100% Italian.”
The 69th annual Sanremo festival saw Ultimo finish second, while Il Volo victors four years ago, placed third.
Mahmood, who sang Soldi, will now represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv in May.