Eurovision 2022: Maneskin joke about last year’s ‘cocaine’ controversy

Italian rock band were accused of doing drugs on air at last year’s event

Maneskin has returned to Eurovision with lead vocalist Damiano David joking about last year’s “cocaine” controversy.

The Italian rock band were the winners of last year’s Song Contest with their performance of “Zitti E Buoni” at the Ahoy arena in Rotterdam.

The group returned to Eurovision this year on Saturday night (14 May) to sing their new track “Supermodel” before voting began.

After their performance, host Alessandro Cattelan – an Italian TV personality – asked the band if they had any advice for the competitors awaiting the results.

Lead vocalist David joked in response: “Have fun and don’t get close to the table.”

The comment was a reference to last year’s Eurovision controversy after viewers spotted what looked like the musician doing drugs on air.

In one part of the live broadcast of the event, David was seen leaning forward while sat at a table, prompting viewers to suggest that he was sniffing cocaine.

Speaking at a press conference after the ceremony, he strongly denied taking drugs, stating: “Thomas broke a glass... I don’t use drugs.”

(AFP via Getty Images)

The band again denied the rumours in a statement shared to Instagram, claiming that David was not doing drugs but was actually picking glass off the floor after it was dropped by bandmate Thomas Raggi.

A subsequent inquiry found that Maneskin did not take drugs during the grand final. A drug test was also voluntarily undertaken by the band, which returned a negative result.

David’s joke was met with laughs from the audience as well as Graham Norton who is commentating the BBC coverage of the event.

You can follow along with the live updates from the event here.

Find out all information about how to watch the grand final and what time it begins here.