RAI, the Italian national broadcaster, will be revamping the format of its iconic Sanremo Music Festival as of next year, introducing some innovative and revolutionary changes to the competition.

The Italian national broadcaster will be bringing about a major change to the Sanremo Music Festival as of 2019 by introducing a new festival in December.

RAI has decided to separate both the Campioni (established singers) and Nuove Proposte (newcomers) competitions, thus the newcomers competition will be given more exposure and is set to be held as a separate event in December, eradicating the Campioni and Nuove Proposte categories from the main Sanremo event in February.

From 2019 all competing participants at the Sanremo Music Festival will partake in the contest equally, thus in a single category.

A revolutionary evolution strongly desired by Claudio Baglioni (Sanremo 2019 Artistic Director) in agreement with the general manager Mario Orfeo and the direction of Rai 1, that will allow RAI to enhance its commitment in discovering fresh talent and new Italian artists by dedicating a whole week to the event.

Mr. Angelo Teodoli (General Director of RAI 1) says:

Thanks to this important innovation, Sanremo Giovani becomes a great event in its own right that will develop into an exciting competition and will feature 24 young artists competing during two evenings, just before the Christmas holidays. This is a precise indication of how much RAI 1 wants to invest in Italian music and its new talents, offering them a greater and higher quality space and, in this case offering a great opportunity to the two winners.

Sanremo Giovani

Sanremo Giovani will be held from 16-21 December and will consist of 6 evenings (2 main shows and 4 pre-shows). The event will be aired live on Rai 1 and Radio 2, whilst Rai 4 will air the show deferred.

The four 45 minute pre-shows will be aired from 16-19 December and will introduce the competing artists and entries to the Italian audience. The two final (main) shows will be aired from 20-21 December, where the winners of each night will earn the right to compete at the 2019 Sanremo Music Festival.

A total of 24 acts (under 36 years old) will battle in Sanremo Giovani for 2 golden tickets to the 2019 Sanremo Music Festival.

Italy in Eurovision

Italy is one of the founder members of the Eurovision Song Contest having debuted in the very first contest in 1956. The country has won the event twice with Gigliola Cinquetti (1964)and Toto Cutugno (1990)

Italy withdrew from the competition in 1998 and returned to Eurovision in 2011 after a 13 year hiatus. RAI has the tradition of selecting its Eurovision act and entry via Sanremo as has been the case in recent years. It is more than likely that Italy will once again opt for the same mechanism in 2019.

RAI is yet to confirm its participation at the forthcoming 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.

Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro were crowned the winners of Sanremo 2018 and won the right to represent Italy at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest with their entry Non mi avette fatto niente. The duo achieved an honorable 5th place in the Grand Final.