One down, four to go. The 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival began last night in Italy with the usual programme filled with anything but music. Amadeus and Marco Mengoni took the audience through some 5 hours of live television and presented all 30 contestants of this year’s edition. Here are the first results.

Like every year Sanremo feels like a marathon. For about one week millions of viewers in Italy and beyond only talk about Sanremo, watch Sanremo and sing songs from Sanremo. Last night the 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival kicked off at Teatro Ariston. And just as we could have expected, it took very long for all 30 contestants to go on stage.

Last night the press, tv and web jury delivered the first votes of this edition. At the end of the night hosts Amadeus and Marco Mengoni (Italy, 2013 and 2023) announced the top five:

1. Loredana Bertè – Pazza
2. Angelina Mango – La noia
3. Annalisa – Sinceramente
4. Diodato – Ti muovi
5. Mahmood – Tuta gold

Two former Eurovision entrants, Diodato (2020) and Mahmood (2019 and 2022) have made it to this list. Can Mahmood go for a sensational third win? Only three singers in the history of the contests have won more than twice: Iva Zanicchi has triumphed three times (1967, 1969 and 1974), while Claudio Villa (1955, 1957, 1962 and 1967) and Domenico Modugno (1958–59, 1962 and 1966) jointly hold the record for the most wins, four.

At the top of the provisional scoreboard it is looking fairly good for female singers. The last woman to win Sanremo was Arisa in 2014 with Controvento.

Looking ahead

Tonight for the second evening of the contest only 15 of the 30 contestants will sing again. This time however votes will come from the radio jury (50%) and the televote (50%). Amadeus will be accompanied by Giorgia, winner of Sanremo 1995. Only the top 5 of tonight’s performers will be revealed.  American actor and singer John Travolta is announced as special guest, together with the internationally-acclaimed pianist Giovanni Allevi.

How to watch

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?