Lights went on at Teatro Ariston yesterday for the first night of the 75th Sanremo Festival in Italy. Under the direction of Carlo Canti the most important music festival of the Belpaese delivered some five hours of high quality television. The top 5 was announced past 1 am, is the ultimate winner already in this group?
One down, four to go. All 29 contestants of this year’s Sanremo Festival went on stage for the first time and left the first impressions of what the 75th edition will leave to history books. Carlo Conti, Antonella Clerici and Gerry Scotti led millions of viewers through a show which has already impressed by its quality.
The first night
The press ress room, TV and web delivered its votes. The co-hosts announced the provisional top 5 at the end of the night in random order, it was:
- Brunori Sas – L’albero delle noci
- Giorgia – La cura per me
- Lucio Corsi – Volevo essere un duro
- Simone Cristicchi – Quando sarai piccola
- Achille Lauro – Incoscienti giovani
The first night also saw the special appearance of two former Eurovision entrants: Noa and Mira Awad (Israel, 2009), who perfomed a cover of John Lennon‘s Imagine in Hebrew, Arabic and English. They were introduced by a special video message on peace by Pope Francis. Italian superstar Jovanotti and former Sanremo winner and Eurovision representative Raf (Italy, 1987) also graced the stage.
How to watch
The second night of the 75th Sanremo Festival will air live on Thursday 12 February at 20.40 CET. Eurofans can watch it on the following channels:
- Rai 1
- RaiPlay.it
The second night
Half of this year’s contestant will take again to the stage of Teatro Ariston. They will perform their entries once again. We will then see another top 5 in random order, which will be established by the votes of the public (50%) and the radio jury (50%).
Co-hosts of the second night are Bianca Balti, Cristiano Malgioglio and Nino Frassica. Special guests are former Sanremo and Eurovision winner Damiano David (Maneskin, Italy 2021) and BigMama.
Tonight’s line-up
Fifteen acts will perform a second time tonight, in this running order:
- Rocco Hunt – Mille volte ancora
- Elodie – Dimenticarsi alle 7
- Lucio Corsi – Volevo essere un duro
- The Kolors – Tu con chi fai l’amore
- Serena Brancale – Anema e core
- Fedez – Battito
- Francesca Michielin – Fango in paradiso
- Simone Cristicchi – Quando sarai piccola
- Marcella Bella – Pelle diamante
- Bresh – La tana del granchio
- Achille Lauro – Incoscienti giovani
- Giorgia – La cura per me
- Rkomi – Il ritmo delle cose
- Rose Villain – Fuorilegge
- Willie Peyote – Grazie ma no grazie
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 thrice with Gigliola Cinquetti (1964), Toto Cutugno (1990) and Maneskin (2021).
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 9 times in the top 10 of the scoreboard including a victory in 2021.
Last year Angelina Mango represented Italy at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden with her entry La noia, placing 7th with 268 points.
