Sardinia is back making waves at X Factor. After EroCaddeo, it's Mad-Dog's turn: four very young guys from Sassari who have officially earned a spot on Paola Iezzi's team and will be among the stars of the Live show starting next Thursday. It seems like only yesterday they were playing in the basement, and it really was yesterday: because in just a few months, Renato Marchisio, 17, Davide Dore, 18, Jacopo Sale, 21, and Luca Pintus, 20, have gone from post-homework rehearsals to the stage of one of Italy's most popular talent shows. To play their last card, they chose "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers, tearing things up with the unbridled energy of a band that already has something to teach.
Formed in 2023 in the classroom as a Green Day cover band, they soon felt the need to stop playing other people's songs. That's where the turning point came: experimenting with a sound that blended punk rock and indie, with an eye on the Brit rock of the 1990s and 2000s, they began self-producing their own songs. Their first result, at the end of 2025, was "Shame on Youth." An album with no shortcuts, just the desire to tell the story of a generation judged before they were even heard.
The AX Factor journey started with a bang: Arctic Monkeys' "Brianstorm" at the Auditions, where they received four yeses, then Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" at Bootcamp. Finally, the Last Call, the moment when promising is no longer enough. And Mad-Dog succeeded with The Killers, earning the trust of Paola Iezzi: "The substance is there," said the judge, a lifelong fan, who in the ruthless game of three chairs demanded a spot for them alongside Brescian Camilla Guerini and Sicilian Manuel Gargano.
Behind the guitars are four students, mostly friends, with different backgrounds but the same determination. Renato is in his final year of high school and was introduced to music by his father, a huge Beatles fan. Before falling in love with the guitar, he played drums and bass. Davide, who studied piano and guitar before choosing bass, shares his passion for music with his love for sports. Jacopo, a high school graduate with a double degree in Italian and Spanish, is studying Modern Literature and found his calling in the drums after discovering Blink-182. Luca, a guitarist since he was young, is currently studying Cultural Heritage at university and is studying jazz guitar at the Sassari Conservatory.
Before television, the city's clubs—the Abetone Music Bar, Quod Design, The Room—this summer featured the prestigious Abbabula Festival, and that little tavern where music took shape, one note at a time. Now the leap is huge, the desire to make itself heard even more.