After Eurovision Victory Comes a Drug Test

Rumors spread that lead singer snorted cocaine onstage
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 23, 2021 1:26 PM CDT

The Italian glam rock band that won the Eurovision Song Contest returned home Sunday to the adulation of fans, congratulations from the government, and so much speculation that the lead singer had snorted cocaine during the show that he vowed to take a drug test. "We want to shut down the rumors," Maneskin lead singer Damiano David told reporters at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport as the band arrived after its victory in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rumors spread on social media after David was seen bending over a table during Saturday night's live television broadcast, the AP reports. Asked at a post-victory news conference whether he'd snorted cocaine, David said that he doesn't use drugs and that he'd bent over because another band member had broken a glass.

Eurovision confirmed that broken glass was found under the table in question but announced David had offered to take the test, which is scheduled for Monday. In Italy, the drug claim didn't mar the praise that poured in Sunday from the Italian establishment for the victory of the anti-establishment Maneskin, a glam rock band that got its start busking on Rome's main shopping drag. The band was the bookmakers’ favorite going into the finale and sealed the win early Sunday with the highest popular vote in the annual song festival. Maneskin, Danish for "moonlight" and a tribute to bass player Victoria De Angelis' Danish ancestry, won with 529 points after its over-the-top, flame-throwing extravaganza Saturday night that literally split David's pants. France was second while Switzerland, which led after national juries had voted, finished third.

(More Eurovision stories.)

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