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Italy: Media reports “Amadeus at Sanremo 2025 and 2026” while Rai Denies Everything!

In the past few hours, the news portal ItaliaOggi has launched the rumor that Rai’s CEO, Roberto Sergio, would have made a mega-offer to Amadeus to host and artistically direct the next two editions of the Sanremo Festival, 2025 and 2026.

According to the newspaper, some clauses of the agreement still need to be refined, but “it seems that the signature will arrive shortly”. There is talk of a “mega-offer” from CEO Roberto Sergio, who would have also proposed to the host a show with his friend Rosario Fiorello on Rai 1 and the continuation of pre-evening shows Affari Tuoi and I Soliti Ignoti.

The news bounced around through various portals, but Rai immediately stepped in to deny it:

“The news reported by some news outlets about an agreement reached between the company and Amadeus for the hosting of the 75th edition of the Italian Song Festival in Sanremo is to be considered totally unfounded,” reads the statement. 

Recall that Amadeus, several times, has confirmed his intention to stop after the five editions from 2020 to 2024.

As a reminder, the big winner of this year’s Sanremo Festival was Angelina Mango with the song “La Noia”, who will represent Italy in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Malmö in May.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for more news about Italy’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Source: ItaliaOggi

 

 

Italy: Voices for a change of venue for the Sanremo Festival!

In an interview on Non Stop News on RTL 102.5, the CEO of FIMI, Enzo Mazza (Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana), addressed some critical issues arising from the latest Sanremo Festival, including the inadequacy of the Ariston Theater to host the event and the need for audience renewal. “The first hot spot is the Teatro Ariston, which is a vintage ‘tool’,” said Mazza.

He then added:

Certainly important for the country and what it represents. But absolutely inadequate to host an event like Sanremo. Consider that this year there were 30 artists. Additionally, on Friday’s cover night, there were guests of the 30 artists, and the situation, even in terms of security, was indeed very concerning. Everyone was at the Ariston Theater, it’s a gem from the 1950s. It has its own set of characteristics that today, with everything revolving around the event and the people involved in the Festival, make it a difficult place to manage.”

Enzo Mazza also discussed the logistical problems in the city of Sanremo during the Festival days.

Furthermore, there is all the disorganization of the city. Hotels, traffic, the impossibility of bringing artists to rehearsals. All of this explodes in a year that has seen a great deal of participation even outside the Ariston, around the stage where events take place, in front of the radio stands. But you can imagine what happens to those who have to work there.”

Regarding the reimbursement of expenses to the record companies, Enzo Mazza pointed out:

As for the expense refunds for the artists, these are expense contributions to the record companies. So they are not fees for the artists. They perform in exchange for a reimbursement to the record companies, which is about 55,000 euros. Plus some additional reimbursement such as for Friday night, which is certainly paltry compared to the commitments undertaken by the record companies. Because Friday night is a show event but not a record event.

“We are not asking the city to change, but we are asking the city for interventions that have been necessary for 30 years,” he continued.

As long as I have been attending the festival, there has been talk of a new structure, and this never happens. The city of Sanremo receives 5 million euros a year from Rai for an agreement, it is not known where they go because there are no city renovations, the new hall for events does not exist. So we wonder where this flow of money goes if it is not used to make the city more attractive. This would be the first step; there have been 15,000 ticket requests for just over a thousand seats available. There would also be an audience that follows this event and would give further visibility.”

Despite recent generational changes in the artists and target audience thanks to Amadeus’ valuable work, Enzo Mazza noted that the same cannot be said for the audience in the room.

If we also look at it from a demographic point of view, the boos at Geolier came from an audience mainly made up of adults, and that is the audience of Sanremo, and probably the boos would not have come if there had been a younger audience under the stage. Think of Eurovision or X Factor, which are innovative events and have a dimension that can appeal to the audience. Everyone has been renewed here. The record industry has been renewed, radio has been renewed, Rai has been renewed, the only thing that is not renewed is the Sanremo Festival,”Enzo Mazza concluded.

It remains to be seen whether Enzo Mazza‘s concerns will be taken into account and whether something will be changed in the way the great celebration of Italian music is conducted.

The big winner of this year’s Sanremo Festival was Angelina Mango with the song “La Noia“, who will represent Italy at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Malmö in May.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates regarding Italy’s participation in Eurovision 2024 in Malmo!

Source: RTL Italia

Italy: The results of the fourth night of Sanremo 2023!

The Quarta Serata of the 73rd Festival di Sanremo has just been completed! Tonight, we listened to some classics by the 28 contestants in duets with other non-competing artists. At the end of the night, we found out the combined ranking of the night, according to the voting of the jury of journalists, the demoscopic jury and the televoting.

Amadeus, along with Gianni Morandi and Chiara Francini, were tonight’s presenters.

The performances

Ariete – Sangiovanni – Centro di gravità permanente (Franco Battiato – 1981)

We welcome Sangiovanni who managed to enter the top 5 in last year’s Sanremo. A lot of chemistry with Ariete, a heartwarming result.

 

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Will – Michele Zarrillo – Cinque giorni (Michele Zarrillo – 1994)

Michele Zerrillo, a Sanremo legend, performs with Will the song with which he participated in Sanremo 1994. A really moving performance that the audience seemed to appreciate.

 

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Elodie – BigMama – American Woman (Lenny Kravitz – 1999)

BigMama is a rapper known for her body positivity activism. Elodie looks gorgeous and gives her all. Such female power in this performance!

 

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Olly – Lorella Cuccarini – La notte vola (Lorella Cuccarini – 1989)

Lorella Cuccarini is a famous tv persona and singer and has presented Sanremo in the past. A fun choreography and performance by Olly and her.

 

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Ultimo – Eros Ramazzotti – Medley Eros Ramazzotti

There’s no need for introductions when it comes to Eros Ramazzotti! Ultimo starts performing accompanied by the piano and is then joined by Ramazzotti in a medley that gets the audience on their feet during the whole performance.

 

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Lazza – Emma Marrone e Laura Marzadori – La fine (Nesli – 2009)

A special performance with Emma, who we all know from previous Sanremo editions and Eurovision 2014, and the Scala di Milano violinist Laura Marzadori.

 

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Tananai – Don Joe e Biagio Antonacci – Vorrei cantare come Biagio (Simone Cristicchi – 2005)

Tananai chose to perform with famous singer Biagio Antonacci and rapper Don Joe.

 

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Shari – Salmo – Medley Zucchero

The rapper Salmo made a guest performance from the cruise ship Costa Smeralda during the first Sanremo night. Tonight, he duets with Sanremo Giovani finalist Shari.

 

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Gianluca Grignani – Arisa – Destinazione Paradiso (Gianluca Grignani – 1995)

Another great collaboration with Arisa, an artist we’ve also seen multiple times in Sanremo and the last solo woman to win the Festival in 2014.

 

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Leo Gassmann – Edoardo Bennato e il Quartetto Flegreo – Medley Edoardo Bennato

The great singer from Napoli Edoardo Bennato accompanies Leo Gasmann in a medely of his biggest successes.

 

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Articolo 31 – Fedez – Medley Articolo 31

Fedez appears for the second time after his guest appearance during the second night of Sanremo. Friendship unites him with J-AX of Articolo 31 and they have collaborated multiple times in the past.

 

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Giorgia – Elisa – Luce (tramonti a nord est) (Elisa – 2001) / Di sole e d’azzurro (Giorgia – 2001)

Two huge singers of italian music come together on stage to perform the songs with which they participated in Sanremo 2001. In fact, Elisa won that year, while Giorgia came second. They earn a standing ovation.

 

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Colapesce Dimartino – Carla Bruni – Azzurro (Adriano Celentano – 1968)

Ex First Lady of France Carla Bruni appears on the Ariston stage again after 2003 and 2013!

 

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I Cugini di Campagna – Paolo Vallesi – La forza della vita (Paolo Vallesi – 1992) / Anima mia (I Cugini di Campagna – 1973)

Paolo Vallesi accompanies I Cugini di Campagna in a performance of his 1992 Sanremo entry.

 

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Marco Mengoni – The Kingdom Choir – Let It Be (The Beatles – 1970)

Accompanied by the famous choir from the United Kingdom, Marco Mengoni performs the iconic Beatles song and earns a standing ovation from the audience.

 

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gIANMARIA – Manuel Agnelli – Quello che non c’è (Afterhours – 2002)

Manuel Agnelli, a legendary italian rock singer, had performed with Måneskin in duets night of Sanremo 2021. A really powerful performance from both Agnelli and gIANMARIA.

 

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Mr. Rain – Fasma – Qualcosa di grande (Lùnapop – 2000)

Mr. Rain performs with rapper Fasma whom we’ve seen before in Sanremo.

 

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Madame – Izi – Via del Campo (Fabrizio De André – 1967)

Accompanied by rapper Izi, Madame performs a classic in her own unique way.

 

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Coma_Cose – Baustelle – Sarà perché ti amo (Ricchi e Poveri – 1981)

Two alternative groups unite to perform a classic, widely loved italian song.

 

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Rosa Chemical – Rose Villain – America (Gianna Nannini – 1979)

Undoubtedly the most eccentric performance of the evening!

 

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Modà – Le Vibrazioni – Vieni da me (Le Vibrazioni – 2003)

Two beloved pop-rock bands unite forces tonight. The audience sings along.

 

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Levante – Renzo Rubino – Vivere (Vasco Rossi – 1993)

We were introduced to Renzo Rubino in Sanremo 2018. Tonight, he accompanies Levante on the piano.

 

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Anna Oxa – Iljard Shaba – Un’emozione da poco (Anna Oxa – 1978)

The Albanian cellist appears on the stage of Teatro Ariston for the first time. Anna Oxa delivers excellent vocals once again.

Sethu – Bnkr44 – Charlie fa surf (Baustelle – 2008)

An alternative appearance by a very matching collaboration between Sethu and Bnkr44. Very uplifting performance, lots of energy on stage.

 

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LDA – Alex Britti – Oggi sono io (Alex Britti – 1999)

A performance of the winning song of Sanremo Giovani 1999.

 

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Mara Sattei – Noemi – L’amour toujours (I’ll Fly with You) (Gigi D’Agostino – 1999)

Noemi is a Sanremo legend, since she has taken part 7 times in the last 12 years. In the years she didn’t take part, she accompanied competing artists on the duet nights! A match made in heaven between her and Mara Sattei.

 

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Paola e Chiara – Merk & Kremont – Medley Paola e Chiara

A return to the 00’s as the two djs and sisters Paola & Chiara sing their past hits.

 

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Colla Zio – Ditonellapiaga – Salirò (Daniele Silvestri – 2002)

We were introduced to Ditonellapiage in last year’s Sanremo with the song Chimica.

 

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The results

Firstly, only the top 5 of tonight’s duets was announced. Tonight’s top 5 was the following:

  1. Marco Mengoni
  2. Ultimo
  3. Lazza
  4. Giorgia
  5. Mr.Rain

Tonight’s ranking was then combined with the rankings of the previous nights. The overall ranking so far is as follows:

  1. Marco Mengoni
  2. Ultimo
  3. Lazza
  4. Mr.Rain
  5. Giorgia
  6. Tananai
  7. Madame
  8. Rosa Chemical
  9. Elodie
  10. Colapesce Dimartino
  11. Gianluca Grignani
  12. Coma_Cose
  13. Moda
  14. Articolo 31
  15. LDA
  16. Leo Gassmann
  17. Paola & Chiara
  18. Ariete
  19. Mara Sattei
  20. Colla Zio
  21. gIANMARIA
  22. Cugini di Campagna
  23. Levante
  24. Olly
  25. Anna Oxa
  26. Will
  27. Shari
  28. Sethu

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for tomorrow’s Final of Sanremo 2023!

Italy: Sanremo 2023 finalists to be released on December 2 and 3?

We are three months away from the 73rd Sanremo Festival, where once again the winner will have the opportunity to represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest. In case the Sanremo winner does not wish to participate in Eurovision, then RAI can choose any of the other finalists from the festival to represent them. 25 artists will compete for the Golden Lion, with three coming from Sanremo Giovani, which will take place on December 12.

In the past days, Italian media have been publishing lists of the possible names of artists expected to be seen at Sanremo 2023, and according to Il Messaggero, the official announcement of the artists for this year’s festival is expected to take place on two separate evenings, namely on December 2 and 3.

The announcement will be made by Amadeus, who is expected to reveal more about the festival on November 25th at Milan Music Week.

Last but not least, according to Il Messaggeroit, the number of songs collected for this year far exceeds that of last year.

Sanremo 2023 will take place from 7 to 11 February 2023. The voting rules remain unchanged. You can read the Sanremo regulations in detail here!

Last year’s Sanremo winner was Mahmood and Blanco with “Brividi” which brought Italy their fifth consecutive top 10 spot as they finished 6th with 268 points!

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding Italy’s participation in Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool!