But after asking for time to think about how much he really wants to go to Basel in Switzerland and compete in May, Olly now announces via his social media that he is withdrawing.
Instead, it will be the 31-year-old singer-songwriter Lucio Corsi, who came second in Sanremo, who will represent Italy in Eurovision with his song "Volevo essere un duro", roughly "I wanted to be tough".
In Italy, feelings have been running high during the week over the Estonian Eurovision entry "Espresso macchiato", which is said to perpetuate well-known clichés about the country.
"No stresso, no need to be depresso", rapper Tommy Cash sings in a mix of broken Italian and English, which, according to Der Spiegel, has not amused the Italians.
Italy, along with Spain, Germany, France, and the UK, belongs to the so-called "Big Five", which, through their public service channels, are the largest financiers of Eurovision and therefore have a guaranteed spot in the grand final.
