The Hague (AFP)

The singer of the Italian group Måneskin, which won Eurovision 2021, will submit to drug testing after suspicious behavior during the competition, with France calling for "the honor of this competition" to be safeguarded.

Damiano David will undergo a test upon his return to Italy after the controversy caused by a viral video in which he can be seen lowering and touching the table with his nose in full competition on Saturday in Rotterdam, images which were seen live worldwide.

Italy, which pranced ahead of the favorites, won the 2021 Eurovision song contest, ahead of France and Switzerland, thanks to the powerful performance of the rockers of the group Måneskin.

But if the Italian group were disqualified, the victory would go to the French Barbara Pravi, who came second ahead of Switzerland with her title "Voila".

- "The honor of the competition" -

Asked whether Italy should be sanctioned in the event of a positive result, the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, replied to RTL radio that it was "to the ethics committee of Eurovision to decide if there is a problem ".

But he added: "Eurovision is responsible for the honor of this competition".

"The group strongly rejected the allegations of drug use and the singer in question will voluntarily submit to screening on his return home," said the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

"They asked for it themselves last night but it could not be organized immediately by the EBU," she said in a statement.

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The singer was asked about the incident during the winning group's press conference and explained that he leaned over because guitarist Thomas Raggi had just broken a glass.

"I'm not doing drugs. Please guys. Don't say that, really. No cocaine. Please don't say that," Damiano David replied.

- "Broken glass" -

The group then said on their Instagram account: "We are ready to undergo tests because we have nothing to hide."

"We are really shocked that some people say that Damiano takes drugs. We are really AGAINST drugs and we have never taken cocaine," they said.

EBU argued that there was evidence that a glass had been broken.

"We are aware of speculation regarding a video clip of the Italian winners of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Green Room last night," EBU said in its statement.

"The group, its leaders and the head of the delegation informed us that there were no drugs in the Salon Vert and they explained that a glass had been broken on the table and the singer was picking it up. "on the images, she says.

The EBU confirmed "that a broken glass was indeed found on site during an inspection".

"We are still analyzing the images carefully and will communicate as soon as we have anything new," she added cautiously.

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The Måneskin group, made up of a girl and three boys, born with the century and bottle-fed with rock-saturated riffs, professes to make something new with old.

Måneskin means "Moonlight" in Danish, Victoria De Angelis' mother tongue.

The title they presented in the Eurovision Song Contest, "Zitti e buoni", enabled them to win in 2021 the grand prize of the 71st edition of the San Remo Song Festival.

This is the third victory for Italy in this competition which is usually not very popular with artists claiming the influences of the original "rock bands".

© 2021 AFP