Eurovision 2021 winners Maneskin are set to make an appearance on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s highly-anticipated Elvis biopic.
The Italian band revealed the collaboration during their triumphant return to the Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Turin, Italy on Saturday night.
The group, composed of Damiano David, bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi, and drummer Ethan Torchio, have had a whirlwind year since taking home the Eurovision trophy last May. As well as appearing on “Saturday Night Live” and at the Coachella festival, they have just released a new single, “Supermodel,” which they worked on with Swedish pop supremo Max Martin.
In addition to performing “Supermodel” on Saturday night, David revealed the glam rockers had collaborated with Luhrmann on a track, “If I Can Dream,” for the biopic, which features Austin Butler as the doomed music icon. “We felt a huge connection and we decided to jump on it,” David said of working with Luhrmann. “We’re really proud of what we did, we can’t wait to see it.”
The song is a cover and was originally released by Presley in 1968.
Luhrmann is known for infusing period films with modern songs, from a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in the turn of the century-set “Moulin Rouge” to The Cardigans’ “Lovefool” in his adaptation of “Romeo + Juliet.”
The director also happens to hail from Australia, where Eurovision is such a big deal that in 2015 the country was permitted to take part in the contest as a one-off, despite not being a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the event. Ostensibly their participation was to celebrate the competition’s 60th anniversary but seven years later they continue to field representatives for the competition and have become an associate member of the EBU.
“Elvis” is set to have its world premiere in Cannes this week.
From Variety US