Good evening Europe, this is Italy calling! The 75th edition of the Sanremo Festival has finally arrived at its final night. They were 29 at the first night last Tuesday, they are still 29 tonight. Hours and hours of live television have kept millions of viewers glued to their screens. Who will emerge victorious tonight? The answer should fall close to 2am.
Humanity has only a few certainties: the earth revolves around the sun, two plus two equals four, and the final of Sanremo is always too long. For yet another edition the final night of the most important music competition in Italy is expected to last for about six hours. So sit down and make yourself comfortable while the Belpaese selects the next name for the Olympus of the Italian music industry.
Carlo Conti is ready to host the fifth and final night, this time accompanied by Alessia Marcuzzi and Alessandro Cattelan (co-host of Eurovision 2022 in Turin). Guests of the night are Gabry Ponte, Planet Funk, Tedua, Antonello Venditti and Vanessa Scalera.
How to watch
- Rai 1
- RaiPlay.it
The final night of the 75th Sanremo Festival will air live on Saturday 15 February at 20.45 CET. Eurofans can watch it on the following channels:
Tonight’s show
All 29 contestants will be on stage tonight for their final appearance. They will be voted by the public (34%), the press, tv and web jury (33%) as well as the radio jury (33%). Tonight’s results will be added to those of the first, second and third night to establish the final ranking. Friendly reminder, the results of the cover night of Friday are not considered.
These are the contestants in running order:
- Francesca Michielin – Fango in paradiso
- Willie Peyote – Grazie ma no grazie
- Marcella Bella – Pelle diamante
- Bresh – La tana del granchio
- Modà – Non ti dimentico
- Rose Villain – Fuorilegge
- Tony Effe – Damme ‘na mano
- Clara – Febbre
- Serena Brancale – Anema e core
- Brunori Sas – L’albero delle noci
- Francesco Gabbani – Viva la vita
- Noemi – Se t’innamori muori
- Rocco Hunt – Mille volte ancora
- The Kolors – Tu con chi fai l’amore
- Olly – Balorda nostalgia
- Achille Lauro – Incoscienti giovani
- Coma_Cose – Cuoricini
- Giorgia – La cura per me
- Simone Cristicchi – Quando sarai piccola
- Elodie – Dimenticarsi alle 7
- Lucio Corsi – Volevo essere un duro
- Irama – Lentamente
- Fedez – Battito
- Shablo ft. Guè, Joshua and Tormento – La mia parola
- Joan Thiele – Eco
- Massimo Ranieri – Tra le mani un cuore
- Gaia – Chiamo io chiamo tu
- Rkomi – Il ritmo delle cose
- Sarah Toscano – Amarcord
Eurofans will recognise former Sanremo winners Francesco Gabbani (Italy,2017), Giorgia (1995), Massimo Ranieri (1988, Italy 1971), Simone Cristicchi (2007) and former Eurovision entrant Francesca Michielin (Italy, 2016).
At the end of the 29 performances Carlo Conti will announce the ranking from the 29th to the 6th position. The top five will advance to the superfinal, where the same voting scheme will be repeated. This second round of votes will be added to the previous ranking to establish the ultimate winner.
Any favourite?
Disclaimer: this article was written without checking any betting odds or opinionated websites.
The first three nights delivered three different top 5, which were announced in random order. They could lead to an early indication of tonight’s frontrunners. For instance, five contestants have placed in the top 5 during both of their appeareances. They are:
- Lucio Corsi – Volevo essere un duro
- Simone Cristicchi – Quando sarai piccola
- Giorgia – La cura per me
- Achille Lauro – Incoscienti giovani
- Brunori Sas – L’albero delle noci
Furthermore, five additional contestants have appeared once in the top 5:
- Coma_Cose – Cuoricini
- Fedez – Battito
- Francesco Gabbani – Viva la vita
- Irama – Lentamente
- Olly – Balorda nostalgia
Rationally, the ultimate winner of the 75th Sanremo Festival should come from this restricted group. Surprises are however parts of this competition and the superfinal could completely reshuffle the cards. Angelina Mango, the still reigning champion, is waiting to know who will succeed her in the list of Sanremo winners.
A Eurovision drama ahead?
But wait! There’s more. The winner of the 75th Sanremo Festival is expected to represent Italy at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest next May in Basel, Switzerland. Eurofans should note here a change compared to recent years. An amendment to the rules of Sanremo states that in case of non acceptance of the winner, RAI will designate a new Eurovision representative according to the final ranking of the contest. This means that should the winner of Sanremo refuse to go to Eurovision, the second-placed of tonight will be given the honour. Clarity on this should come by Italian broadcaster RAI in the hours following the proclamation of the winner.
With countless rumours circulating in the hours immediately preceding the beginning of the Grand Final, it could be that tonight’s name on top of the ranking might not be the same artist representing Italy at Eurovision. This would be a scenario which last happened in 2016, when the band Stadio won Sanremo with Un giorno mi dirai, but it was the second-placed Francesca Michielin who went on to sing for Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm.
Italy at Eurovision 2025
The representative of Italy to the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland will emerge from the final ranking. Member of the Big5, Italy will be on stage for the Grand Final on Saturday 17 May 2025.
In 2024 Angelina Mango with La noia reached an honourable 7th place with 268 points.
