Buonasera Sanremo! The Italian coastal city is ready to welcome the 74th edition of Sanremo Festival, the most important music competition in Italy, from which Eurovision took inspiration. 30 contestants are vying glory and fame, as well as a ticket to Malmö. Millions and millions of Italians are ready to be glued to their screens for more than 28 hours of live show from Teatro Ariston.

Tonight Italy begin the search for the successor of Marco Mengoni. Who will be crowned winner of Sanremo and insert their name in the hall of glory of Italian music? From Domenico Modugno to Gigliola Cinquetti, from Iva Zanicchi to Al Bano and Romina Power,  from Anna Oxa to Maneskin, the list is long. The one who will raise the trophy this Saturday night will receive fame and glory and engrave their name in the History books of Italian music. But even better: the winner of the 74th Sanremo Festival will represent the Belpaese at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden.

Five long nights await the most eager followers. Host and artistic director is once again and for the last time Amadeus. 30 contestants are partaking in this year’s event. They were selected among more than 400 submissions.

The contestants

• Alessandra Amoroso – Fino a qui
• Alfa – Vai!
• Angelina Mango – La noia
• Annalisa – Sinceramente
• BigMama – La rabbia non ti basta
• Bnkr44 – Governo punk
• Clara – Diamanti grezzi
• Dargen D’Amico – Onda alta
• Diodato – Ti muovi
• Emma – Apnea
• Fiorella Mannoia – Mariposa
• Fred De Palma – Il cielo non ci vuole
• Gazzelle – Tutto qui
• Geolier – I p’ me, tu p’ te
• Ghali – Casa mia
• Il Tre – Fragili
• Il Volo – Capolavoro
• Irama – Tu no
• La Sad – Autodistruttivo
• Loredana Bertè – Pazza
• Mahmood – Tuta gold
• Maninni – Spettacolare
• Mr. Rain – Due altalene
• Negramaro – Ricominciamo tutto
• Renga e Nek – Pazzo di te
• Ricchi e poveri – Ma non tutta la vita
• Rose Villain – Click boom!
• Sangiovanni – Finiscimi
• Santi Francesi – L’amore in bocca
• The Kolors – Un ragazzo una ragazza

The list includes some former Eurovision entrants such as Ricchi e Poveri (1978), Emma (2014), Il Volo (2015), Mahmood (2019, 2022) and Diodato (2020). Will any of them come back to Europe’s most beloved contest? For the record, Mahmood has partaken in Sanremo Festival twice and won both times. Will he experience defeat for the first time this year?

Night 1 – Tuesday 6 February

The opening night will be co-hosted by last year’s winner Marco Mengoni. All 30 acts will perform on stage and will be voted by the jury as well as the press. Amadeus will reveal the top five at the end of the night.

Night 2 – Wednesday 7 February

The second night will be co-hosted by Giorgia. The winner of Sanremo 1995 will present 15 contestants. Tonight’s votes will come from the radio jury (50%) and the televote (50%). Amadeus will present the best five among the 15 performers. American actor and singer John Travolta is announced as special guest, together with the internationally-acclaimed pianist Giovanni Allevi.

Night 3 – Thursday 8 February

Teresa Mannino will co-host the third night, presenting the second set of 15 contestants. Again, votes will come the radio jury (50%) and the televote (50%). Amadeus will reveal the top five among these 15 entries. Special guests: Russell Crowe, Paola & Chiara and Eros Ramazzotti.

Night 4 – Friday 9 February

During the fourth night all 30 contestants will come back to Teatro Ariston, this time however to perform the cover of a song of their choice, either Italian or international. These covers will be performed in duos with invited guests, among which we will see former Eurovision entrants Umberto Tozzi (1987), Francesco Gabbani (2017), Fabrizio Moro and Ermal Meta (2018). Lorella Cuccarini will co-host.

Tonight’s vote will come from the radio jury (33%), the televote (34%) and the press (33%). A provisional ranking of all 30 artists will be compiled also taking into account the results of the first three nights. Amadeus will reveal to the public only the top 5.

Night 5 – Saturday 10 February

The final show will take place on Saturday 10 February and is expected to last the usual 6 hours (or more?). All 30 contestants will jump once more on stage to try to impress the audience and the press. With the special appearance of Fiorello as co-host, as well as ballet dancer Roberto Bolle and former Eurovision winner Gigliola Cinquetti (Non ho l’età, 1964), whose victory was exactly 60 years ago.

The hosts will announce the top 5 at the end of all performances. All votes expressed until then will be deleted and these 5 acts will go one last time on stage. The ultimate winner of the 74th edition of Sanremo Festival will be determined by the combined votes of the radio jury (33%), the televote (34%) and the press (33%). According to the schedule Amadeus will proclaim the winner close to 03:00 CET.

How to watch

To those who intend to follow the more than 28 hours of live television from Sanremo, good luck.

The first four shows of Sanremo 2024 will begin at 20:40 CET, while the final on Saturday will start at 20:30 CET. Eurofans can watch it on the following channels:

• Rai 1
• RaiPlay.it

Italy in Eurovision

Italy is one of the founding members of the Eurovision Song Contest having debuted in the very first contest in 1956. The country has won the event three times with Gigliola Cinquetti (1964), Toto Cutugno (1990) and Maneskin (2021). The contest was organised in Naples (1965), Rome (1991) and Turin (2022).

Italy withdrew from the competition in 1998 and returned to Eurovision in 2011 after a 13 year hiatus. Since their return to the contest the Italians have enjoyed great success in the event placing 10 times in the top 10 of the scoreboard including a victory in 2021. The southern European country has partaken 48 times in Europe’s favourite television show.

In 2023 Marco Mengoni sang for Italy at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. His entry Due vite reached the very honourable 4h place in the Grand Final. Who will be next?