Italy has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest a number of times with their most recent absence spanning from 1998 until 2010.

Their return in 2011 with the song "Madness of Love", performed by Raphael Gualazzi, placed second—their highest result, to this point, since their victory in 1990.

On 22 January 2014, RAI announced that they had internally selected Emma Marrone to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.

[2][3] On 24 January 2014, RAI revealed that Emma would perform "La mia città" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.

On stage, Emma was joined by two guitarists, one keyboard player, one drummer and one backing vocalist, Arianna Mereu.