Who will follow in the grande footsteps of 2015 champions Il Volo, who represented Italy so magnificently at last year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna?  It’s Night 3 of the Sanremo Festival, and just what does the famous Italian musical extravaganza have in store for us tonight…

About the Show

Organised and broadcast by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the 66th Sanremo Festival has reached Night 3, where all 20 participants in the Campioni (Big Artists) category will take to the Teatro Ariston to perform cover versions of either Italian songs or international songs that have been translated into Italian.

The Campioni participants are listed below next to their cover versions, with the original artist in parentheses. This is not an official running order.

• Annalisa – America (Gianna Nannini)
• Arisa – Cuore (Rita Pavone)
• Alessio Bernabei – A mano a mano (Riccardo Cocciante)
• Clementino – Don Raffaè (Fabrizio De André)
• Dear Jack – Un bacio a mezzanotte (Quartetto Cetra)
• Dolcenera – Amore disperato (Nada)
• Elio e le Storie Tese – Quinto ripensamento (Walter Murphy)
• Irene Fornaciari – Se perdo anche te (Gianni Morandi)
• Lorenzo Fragola – La donna cannone (Francesco De Gregori)
• Rocco Hunt – Tu vuò fà l’americano (Renato Carosone)
• Deborah Iurato e Giovanni Caccamo – Amore senza fine (Pino Daniele)
• Francesca Michielin – Il mio canto libero (Lucio Battisti)
• Bluvertigo – La lontananza (Domenico Modugno)
• Neffa – O sarracino (Renato Carosone)
• Noemi – Dedicato (Loredana Bertè)
• Patty Pravo – Tutt’al più (Patty Pravo)
• Enrico Ruggeri – A’ canzuncella (Alunni del Sole)
• Valerio Scanu – Io vivrò (senza te) (Lucio Battisti)
• Stadio – La sera dei miracoli (Lucio Dalla)
• Zero Assoluto – Goldrake (Actarus)

Two rounds of voting will take place and the winning cover version will be decided by a 50/50 combination of public votes and press jury voting.  The winning act will receive a prize.

The remaining Nuove Proposte (New Artists) duels will also take place tonight, with the winner of each duel proceeding to the semi-finals on Notte 4.

The show will be presented by Carlo Conti, who will be ably assisted by Virginia Raffaele, Mădălina Diana Ghenea and Gabriel Garko.

How to Watch

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Commencing at 20:30 CET, Sanremo 2016 can be viewed via the following channels:

• Rai webcast
• Rai 1
• Rai HD
• Rai Radio 2

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Sanremo 2016 Agenda

• 09/02: Night 1 (First 10 Campioni acts perform)
• 10/02: Night 2 (Remaining 10 Campioni acts perform; first 4 Nuove Proposte acts compete in semi-final 1, 2 qualifiers)
• 11/02: Night 3 (The 20 Campioni acts perform cover songs, cover round winner decided; remaining 4 Nuove Proposte acts compete in semi-final 2, 2 qualifiers)
• 12/02: Night 4 (The 20 Campioni acts perform, 15 qualifiers decided including 1 repechage qualifier; the 4 Nuove Proposte finalists perform, winner decided)
• 13/02: Night 5 (The 16 Campioni acts perform, 3 acts will qualify to the second round of the final where the winner is decided)

The winner of Sanremo 2016 has the opportunity to represent Italy at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden, succeeding Il Volo, who won the hearts of millions of Eurovision fans across the globe with their passionate entry Grande amore.

Be sure to check out the official RAI Sanremo site, follow the action on Facebook, take to Twitter (#sanremo2016, #TuttiCantanoSanremo) and involve yourself with Instagram.

Will the Sanremo Festival provide yet another classic entry for Italy?  What do you think of #sanremo2016?  Who will represent Italy at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm?  Stay tuned to ESCToday for all the latest news on the Sanremo Festival and the Eurovision Song Contest!