The winner of the 2015 Sanremo Song Festival Campioni Categeory will be eligible to represent Italy at the forthcoming 2015 Eurovision Song Contest as RAI announced last month. More details and information about the forthcoming Italian song festival have been released.
A total of 16 candidates will be battling for the coveted grand prix in the 2015 Festival Della Canzone di Sanremo- Campioni Category. The 16 candidates will present their entries on Friday 13 February and only 12 will make it to Saturday’s grand final after a mixed televoting/expert jury/poll deliberation. Hence one of the 12 qualified acts for Saturday’s final will have the honour of flying the Italian flag in Vienna.
This year the Campioni candidates will only compete with 1 song instead of 2 song as has been the case in the previous years.
Famous Italian presenter and tv host Carlo Conti will be hosting the song festival. The shows will be aired live on Rai 1, Rai HD, Rai Radio 1 and Rai Radio 2.
10/02 -Sanremo Notte 1
11/02 – Sanremo Notte 2
12/02- Sanremo Notte 3
13/02 – Sanremo Notte 4 (Semifinal of Campioni Category with 16 acts)
14/02 – Sanremo Notte 5 ( Grand final of Sanremo 2015 with 12 acts)
Italy has long had the tradition of sending Sanremo winners or participants to the Eurovision Song Contest. The Sanremo rules and regulations have been released , where it states that the winner of the 2015 Sanremo Song Festival will be eligible to represent Italy at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest if he/hes wishes to.
The 2015 Sanremo Song Festival will run from 10- 14 February with the grand final scheduled on Saturday 14 February at Teatro Ariston in Sanremo.
Article n.27 in the 2015 Sanremo Song Contest rules states:
The winner of the Campeoni category at the Sannremo Song Festival will have the right to participate at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest and represent Italy in the contest if he/she are available and agreeable.
In case the artist is not available , the organizers of the above event will reserve the right to choose another participant via their own criteria.
The story so far
Since its return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011, Italy has selected its Eurovision representatives via the Sanremo Song Festival: Raphael Gualazzi (2011), Nina Zilli (2012) and Marco Mengoni (2013). But this changed in 2014 when RAI opted for an internal selection and Emma Marrone was given the grand honour of representing Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with her entry La mia citta.
Emma achieved a 21st placing at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest grand final.
Italy debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and was one of the founder members of the contest. The country has won the event 2 times in 1964 with Gigliola Cinquetti and 1990 with Toto Cotugno. Italy withdrew from the event in 1998 and returned back in 2011.
The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 19, 21, 23 May at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.
