In the early fifties, it was the example music event for the creators of the Eurovision Song Contest: the San Remo Festival. This year, the contest celebrated its 53rd birthday. With 24,248 votes Alexia won the Italian music contest with the song Per dire no.
Alex Britti was the runner-up with the song 7000 caffé. Alex received 23,298 votes. Sergio Cammariere ended up third with the song Tutto quello che un uomo (21,919 votes). 25% of the votes came from a professional jury, 75% of the votes came from the televoters.
The absence of well-known stars during the five-days-festival led to a slight decrease concerning the public interest, as media reports revealed: around 10% less Italians watched the contest than last year.
Italy participated to the Eurovision Song Contest for the last time in 1997. In 1998 Italy decided that their own San Remo Festival was enough and since that year Italy has not been present at the Eurovision Song Contest.
