The die is cast! It took one week, five long nights, over one hundred performances, but we finally have it. In the first hours of Sunday 1 March 2026 the name of the winner of the 76th Sanremo Music Festival was screamed in front of the ecstatic crowd of teatro Ariston and the millions of viewers accross Italy, Europe and the world.
Carlo Conti and Laura Pausini hosted the 2026 Sanremo Festival with steady hand. They accompanied the 30 acts of this year’s contest since the first night last Tuesday and until the proclamation of the winner tonight.
This year’s contestants
- Arisa – Magica favola
- Bambole di pezza – Resta con me
- Chiello – Ti penso sempre
- Dargen D’Amico – Ai ai
- Ditonellapiaga – Che fastidio!
- Eddie Brock – Avvoltoi
- Elettra Lamborghini – Voilà
- Enrico Nigiotti – Ogni volta che non so volare
- Ermal Meta – Stella stellina
- Fedez e Masini – Male necessario
- Francesco Renga – Il meglio di me
- Fulminacci – Stupida fortuna
- J-Ax – Italia Starter Pack
- LDA e AKA 7even – Poesie clandestine
- Leo Gassmann – Naturale
- Levante – Sei tu
- Luchè – Labirinto
- Malika Ayane – Animali notturni
- Mara Sattei – Le cose che non sai di me
- Maria Antonietta e Colombre – La felicità e basta
- Michele Bravi – Prima o poi
- Nayt – Prima che
- Patty Pravo – Opera
- Raf – Ora e per sempre
- Sal Da Vinci – Per sempre sì
- Samurai Jay – Ossessione
- Sayf – Tu mi piaci tanto
- Serena Brancale – Qui con me
- Tommaso Paradiso – I romantici
- Tredici Pietro – Uomo che cade
Several former winners were competing this year: Arisa (2009 and 2014), Ermal Meta (2018, with Fabrizio Moro), Marco Masini (2004) and Francesco Renga (2005). Eurofans will recognise Ermal Meta, who represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with Non mi avete fatto niente, placing fifth, and Raf, who took part to the 1987 Eurovision with Umberto Tozzi with Gente di mare, reaching the third place. Another notable participant was Patty Pravo, whose first appearance dates back to 1970 and was at her 11th participation.
All 30 Campioni took to the stage tonight. The media room, TV and Web jury (33%), the radio jury (33%) and the televote (34%) voted tonight, and their preference were added to the results of the first three nights. As a reminder, the results of the cover night on Friday are not included in the overall results.
The night saw the special appearance of Andrea Bocelli, The Pooh, and Max Pezzali (from the band 883). Carlo Conti also announced that TV-host and dancer Stefano De Martino will be the host and artistic director of the 2027 Sanremo Music Festival, for a highly anticipated generational renewal of the festival.
The final ranking
At the end of all performances, and after the televote was closed at 01.30, Carlo Conti and Laura Pausini announced the final ranking from the 30th to the 6th position:
- 6th Nayt – Prima che
- 7th Fulminacci – Stupida fortuna
- 8th Ermal Meta – Stella stellina
- 9th Serena Brancale – Qui con me
- 10th Tommaso Paradiso – I romantici
- 11th LDA e AKA 7even – Poesie clandestine
- 12th Luchè – Labirinto
- 13th Bambole di pezza – Resta con me
- 14th Levante – Sei tu
- 15th J-Ax – Italia Starter Pack
- 16th Tredici Pietro – Uomo che cade
- 17th Samurai Jay – Ossessione
- 18th Raf – Ora e per sempre
- 19th Malika Ayane – Animali notturni
- 20th Enrico Nigiotti – Ogni volta che non so volare
- 21st Maria Antonietta e Colombre – La felicità e basta
- 22nd Michele Bravi – Prima o poi
- 23rd Francesco Renga – Il meglio di me
- 24th Patty Pravo – Opera
- 25th Chiello – Ti penso sempre
- 26th Elettra Lamborghini – Voilà
- 27th Dargen D’Amico – Ai ai
- 28th Leo Gassmann – Naturale
- 29th Mara Sattei – Le cose che non sai di me
- 30th Eddie Brock – Avvoltoi
The finalists
Which left us with the following five finalists:
- Fedez e Masini – Male necessario
- Arisa – Magica favola
- Ditonellapiaga – Che fastidio!
- Sal Da Vinci – Per sempre sì
- Sayf – Tu mi piaci tanto
The televote was opened again for the five finalists. This additional vote was added to the previous ranking to determine the ultimate winner of the 2026 Sanremo Music Festival.
And the winner is…
After a great medley of Laura Pausini, the televote was closed. Before moving to the announcement of the two last names in the run to win Sanremo, the two co-hosts read out the recipients of the traditional awards:
- Critics award “Mia Martini” to Fulminacci with Stupida fortuna
- Press room award “Lucio Dalla” to Serena Brancale with Qui con me
- Sergio Bardotti” award to the best lyrics to Fedez and Masini with Male necessario
- “Giancarlo Bigazzi” award to the best musical composition to Ditonellapiaga with Che fastidio!
- TIM Award to Serena Brancale with Qui con me
Finally, Carlo Conti and Laura Pausini announced the placements between the 5th and the 3rd place. They were:
- 3rd Ditonellapiaga – Che fastidio! (20,6%)
- 4th Arisa – Magica favola (18,9%)
- 5h Fedez e Masini – Male necessario (16,5%)
Which meant that…
- Sal Da Vinci – Per sempre sì
- Sayf – Tu mi piaci tanto
Were either the winner of the runner up.
Finally, minutes past 02.00, excitement was the word at teatro Ariston when the evenlope with the name of the ultimate winner was opened. It was Sal Da Vinci with the entry Per sempre si! He placed first with 22,2% of the total score. Sayf placed runner up with 21,9%.
What a night for Sal Da Vinci! The Neapolitan singer, also known as Salvatore Michael Sorrentino, born in New York in 1969, took part to the Sanremo Festival for the second time, after a first unsuccessful attempt in 2009 with the entry Non riesco a farti innamorare, placing third in the grand final won by Marco Carta.
The winner of the Sanremo Music Festival 2026 will be given the right of first refusal to represent Italy at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest on 16 May 2026 in Vienna, Austria. Further communication from Italian broadcaster RAI is expected in the immediate aftermath of the contest. Last year year’s wiinner Olly opted out from a Eurovision participation after a week-long deliberation, so second-placed Lucio Corsi went on to fly the Italian flag in Basel, Switzerland with the entry Volevo essere un duro. Lucio Corsi placed fifth with 256 points in the Grand Final.
