The Mad-Dog sang in Italian for the first time on X Factor 2026. At the fourth Live on Thursday, November 12, the band from Sassari combined Elenore by The Turtles and Scende la pioggia by Gianni Morandi. The video of the second round, posted on X Factor Italia’s YouTube channel, is 2 minutes and 17 seconds long.
The Mad-Dog video, from «Elenore» to «Scende la pioggia»
The performance begins in English with Elenore. At the second chorus, singer Renato Marchisio switches to Scende la pioggia, the Italian adaptation of the same song that Gianni Morandi made famous. The performance thus features the melody of The Turtles with two different sets of lyrics.
On the eve of the show, Paola Iezzi had assigned Elenore to the band to showcase the group’s vocal technique. After the performance, the judge explained that she had wanted audiences to hear Marchisio sing in Italian too, ahead of the original songs. Francesco Gabbani praised the performance and wondered what artistic direction the four would take.
From the Giostra to the Live of original songs
A week after Rebel Rebel by David Bowie at the third Live, Mad-Dog had opened their Hell Factor night with Club Foot by Kasabian. In the Giostra, they performed again for about a minute the song they had debuted with at the Live shows, placing among the five contestants with the most votes in the first round.
The public vote allowed the band to get through Hell Factor without going to the sing-off. Mad-Dog are among the seven contestants still in the competition, and on Thursday November 19 they will perform their original song at the fifth Live.