A Sanremo Week Sur-thrive-al Guide

Sanremo. The archetype. The blueprint. The keystone. The song festival nonpareil! That’s right, the holy week of music is upon us and we want you prepared for what’s in store!

Look. We’re not going to get into a whole history, if you’re here, you are probably already aware that Italy’s Sanremo Music Festival (Festival della canzone italiana, or Italian Song Festival, if you’re a stickler for government names) pre-dates Eurovision by 6 years. The event is an institution in Italy, a five-day long celebration of Italian music, that is best understood as a marathon, not a sprint. And in that spirit, we’re here as your Sanremo coaches, giving you inspiration and encouragement to see this event through to the very end! If you’re looking for a complete history of Sanremo, you’ll find that elsewhere, but below is information to help you prepare for the week ahead.

We’re in the hands of a new/old Artistic Director, with Carlo Conti back at the helm (he filled this role from 2015-2017) after five years with Amadeus. Conti has kept some of Amadeus’s choices, like the increased number of songs (30 songs were, once again, announced in December even though Conti planned a reduction to 24), and dispensed with others, such as separating Sanremo Giovani (Young Sanremo) from the Campioni (Champion or Big Artists, also referred to as “Bigs”) category and reinstating Nuove Proposte (New Proposals, or NP).

Another change is that last year’s winner, Angelina Mango, is not expected to appear. At Monday’s press conference, Conti indicated that there was no rule that winners had to come back to open the show. He also pointed out the the winner of New Proposals will not be back to perform during the Saturday finale.

So what IS happening?

As briefly mentioned above, in separating Sanremo Giovani from the main competition, Conti is bringing back New Proposals as the finale of the Sanremo Giovani competition. Over the past three years, with Amadeus bringing the top three youth (16-26 year olds) acts to Sanremo, performers such as Olly and Clara (both back this year) as well as Santi Francesi and Tananai were elevated to the Bigs where they brought a new song. Tananai placed last in 2022, his first year in the Bigs, but came back in 2023 to take 5th place, a significant glow up.

This year, four acts made it through to New Proposals (three from the 24 Sanremo Giovani acts, and 1 winner of Area Sanremo), and are bringing their song with them to the Ariston stage:

• Alex Wyse – “Rockstar”
• Maria Tomba – “Goodbye (voglio good vibes)”
• Settembre – “Vertebre”
• Vale Lp e Lil Jolie – “Dimmi tu quando sei pronto per fare l’amore”

These four songs have been available on streaming and via music video (linked above) since at least December (Maria Tomba), if not earlier (the MVs were posted in early November). I have opinions, but I’ll simply say that while these may not the 4 best songs from the earlier competition, one of them is the obvious, run away, rightful winner.

Settembre’s song gained traction in Italy almost immediately upon release, and currently has over 7 time the streams of the next highest ranked song of these 4 (“Rockstar”), and closer to 70 times the streams of the other two. It stands to reason that those streams should easily convert to votes. He performed beautifully in the Sanremo Giovani live shows, both vocally and through his emotional delivery and storytelling. It’s hard to argue that his song won’t be elevated by the orchestra, so it seems likely he’ll pull in new fans/voters even as the existing come out in force. However, Alex Wyse has an equally large fanbase, and while they have not come through in streams, they are in the comments section of every instagram post I’ve ever seen about Sanremo Giovani, so make of that what you will.

New Proposals is now scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, and they’re continuing the atrocious duel format from the fall. On Wednesday, the 4 songs will face off in pairs which will get whittled down to 2 via a three-pool vote: 34% viewer vote, 33% press/TV/web jury, 33% radio jury. The same groups and proportions will determine the winner on Thursday. Originally, it was announced that NP would be a part of the Friday and Saturday shows, which would have brought the young artists in front of larger viewing audiences.

We’ll talk more about Sanremo Giovani and Nuove Proposte as the week progresses, but in the meantime, be on the lookout for our interview with semi-finalist Bosnia (“Vengo dal sud”) coming soon to this site and YouTube.

La prima serata (The first night)
On Tuesday, la prima serata, all 29 remaining Big artists (Emis Killa withdrew due to personal legal issues stemming from an ongoing investigation into his mafia associations in Milan) will perform their songs for the first time. The songs will be released and available on streaming that night. The running order is shared at the end of this article.

The press (print, TV and Internet) gets 100% of the vote on Tuesday. Only the top 5 songs will be announced, and they will be announced in random order. We will not know the breakdown of the vote until Saturday.

La seconda serata (The second night)
On Wednesday, in addition to the New Proposals battles, 15 acts will perform for a second time. Their scores are determined by a 50/50 televote/radio jury vote, and once again, only the top 5 songs of the night will be named, in random order. Damiano David (Måneskin) is one of the night’s special guests.

La terza serata (The third night)
The remaining 14 songs will have their second performance with scoring by the same groups as on the second night. As mentioned earlier, this night should also serve as the New Proposals finale.

La quarta serata (The fourth night; also referred to as covers/duets night)
First of all, it feels relevant to share that Mahmood is co-hosting on covers night. (Especially since Lucio Corsi’s duet partner once covered “Brividi” alongside Valerio Lundini.)

The night’s duets will be ranked, but another big change under Conti is that these votes will not count toward the final festival tally on Saturday. This night will use the New Proposal’s finale proportion of 34% viewer vote, 33% press/TV/web jury, 33% radio jury.

Announced duets:
Achille Lauro with Elodie – Tributo to Rome (“A mano a mano” by Rino Gaetano & “Folle città” by Loredana Bertè)
Tony Effe with Noemi – “Tutto il resto è noia” (Franco Califano)
Giorgia with Annalisa – “Skyfall” (Adele)
Bresh with Cristiano De André – “Crêuza de mä” (Fabrizio De André)
Coma Cose with Johnson Righeira – “L’estate sta finendo” (Righeira)
Brunori Sas with Dimartino & Riccardo Sinigallia – “L’anno che verrà” (Lucio Dalla)
Clara with Il Volo – “The sound of silence” (Simon and Garfunkel)
Fedez with Marco Masini – “Bella stronza” (Marco Masini)
Francesca Michielin with Rkomi – “La nuova stella di Broadway” (Cesare Cremonini)
Francesco Gabbani with Tricarico – “Io sono Francesco” (Tricarico)
Gaia with Toquinho – “La voglia, la pazzia” (Ornella Vanoni)
Irama with Arisa – “Say something” (Christina Aguilera)
Joan Thiele with Frah Quintale – “Che cosa c’è” (Gino Paoli)
Lucio Corsi with Topo Gigio – “Nel blu dipinto di blu” (Domenico Modugno)
Marcella Bella with Gemelli Lucia – “L’emozione non ha voce” (Adriano Celentano)
Massimo Ranieri with Neri per caso – “Quando” (Pino Daniele)
Modà with Francesco Renga – “Angelo” (Francesco Renga)
Olly with Goran Bregovic – “Il pescatore” (Fabrizio De André)
Rocco Hunt with Clementino – “Yes, I Know My Way” (Pino Daniele)
Rose Villain with Chiello – “Fiori rosa, fiori di pesco” (Lucio Battisti)
Serena Brancale with Alessandra Amoroso – “If I Ain’t Got You” (Alicia Keys)
Sarah Toscano with Ofenbach – “Overdrive”
Shablo with Neffa – “Aspettando il sole” (Neffa)
Simone Cristicchi with Amara – “La cura” (Franco Battiato)
The Kolors with Sal Da Vinci – “Rossetto e caffè” (Sal Da Vinci)
Willie Peyote with Federico Zampaglione & Ditonellapiaga – “Un tempo piccolo” (Franco Califano)

The Finale
Saturday, February 15th, is the finale. All 30 songs will be performed for at least one last time. The televotes are reopened, along with the press/TV/web jury and radio jurys, with the 34/33/33 split in effect. These scores are added to the scores from nights 1-3 and then, the top 5 head for a superfinal. The top 5 songs will have one last performance aired, but it seems the regulations provide that it may be a live performance or it may be a replay of one of the previous performances. (Perhaps to allow for time control?) The voting will be reopened, and then the new tally added back to the original calculation before we will have the announcement of our winner.

La prima serata running order:

1. Gaia – “Chiamo io chiami tu” (I call you, you call me)
2. Francesco Gabbani – “Viva la vita” (Long live life)
3. Rkomi – “Il ritmo delle cose” (The rhythm of things)
4. Noemi – “Se t’innamori muori” (If you fall in love, you die)
5. Irama – “Lentamente” (Slowly)
6. Coma_Cose – “Cuoricini” (Little hearts)
7. Simone Cristicchi – “Quando sarai piccola” (When you are small)
8. Marcella Bella – “Pelle Diamante” (Diamond skin)
9. Achille Lauro – “Incoscienti Giovani” (Reckless youth)
10. Giorgia – “La cura per me” (The cure for me)
11. Willie Peyote – “Grazie ma no grazie” (Thanks but no thanks)
12. Rose Villain –  “Fuorilegge” (Outlaw)
13. Shablo ft. Joshua, Tormento, Gué – “La mia parola” (My word)
14. Olly – “Balorda Nostalgia” (Foolish nostalgia)
15. Elodie – “Dimenticarsi alle 7” (Forgetting at 7)
16. Massimo Ranieri – “Tra le mani un cuore” (A heart in the hands)
17. Tony Effe – “Damme na mano” (Give me a hand)
18. Serena Brancale – “Anema e core” (Soul and heart)
19. Brunori Sas – “L’albero delle noci” (The walnut tree)
20. Modà – “Non ti dimentico” (I don’t forget you)
21. Clara – “Febbre” (Fever)
22. Fedez – “Battito” (Beat)
23. Lucio Corsi – “Volevo essere un duro” (I wanted to be tough)
24. Bresh – “La tana del granchio” (The crab’s den)
25. Rocco Hunt – “Mille vote ancora” (A thousand times again)
26. Sarah Toscano – “Amarcord” (Nostalgic memory)
27. Joan Thiele – “Eco” (Echo)
28. Francesca Michielin – “Fango in paradiso” (Mud in paradise)
29. The Kolors – “Tu con chi fai l’amore” (Who are you making love to?)

There’s not much more to share about these songs but rumors and short notes from those who witnessed the rehearsals today. However, some of the commentary is more specific or relevant to Eurovision fans, so I’ll share some brief notes of interest or thoughts on those artists.

And that’s all for now, really. Remember to stretch before the show starts, and don’t forget to hydrate! Pace yourself. It’s okay to use the restroom during sketches, but you might miss John Travolta doing the chicken dance. (I’ll miss you most of all, Fiorello!)

Seriously though, it’s probably not the end of the world if you aren’t glued to your seat for five hours all five nights. Highlights will be posted to YouTube, but remember to act fast to catch anything you missed. RAI does not leave them up indefinitely, and they’re usually gone from YouTube about two weeks after the show. They stay up longer on RAIplay, but again, they aren’t archived forever.

Oh! And remember, this isn’t a National Selection in the strictest sense. The winner has the opportunity to decline to go to Eurovision. In that case, RAI has the discretion to choose who would be asked next. It might be the second place finisher, or it may be someone else. They have given all participants advance notice that they will need to communicate by noon Sunday CET whether or not they will be heading to Eurovision as Italy’s representative.