The curtain opened tonight at Teatro Ariston for Sanremo 2022 and the first 12 Campioni artists performed their songs live. At the end of the night, we found out the ranking of the journalists, who are the ones voting the first two nights of the Festival.
The show
Tonight we watched a Sanremo that really had nothing to envy from the pre-pandemic shows. The audience returned to Teatro Ariston after two years and the difference was really obvious compared to last year’s festival.
Amadeus is, for the third consecutive year, in the position of presenter and artistic director of Sanremo. This year, the presenter has five important women of Italian showbiz on his side, each of them co-hosting each night. Tonight, perhaps the top Italian actress of the 70’s and 80’s, Ornella Muti, was the one co-hosting.
Guests of the night were last year’s winners of Sanremo, but also of the Eurovision Song Contest, Måneskin, who performed their winning song “Zitti e buoni” as well as their ballad “Coraline”. Of course, appearances from sports, television and other music industry personalities could not be missing. Also invited tonight were tennis player Matteo Berrettini, the house band Meduza with Hozier and actors and friends of Amadeus Fiorello, Raoul Bova and Nino Frassica.
The first 12 candidate songs
The main menu of today included the first 12 candidate songs of the festival. After months of gossip and speculation on the online and written press, the agony is (almost!) over after we finally listened to half of the songs of Sanremo 2022. These songs were the following:
Achille Lauro & Harlem Gospel Choir – “Domenica”
Achille Lauro has been successful mainly in the field of punk and hip hop music. This is his third participation in the Sanremo Festival.
Yuman – “Ora e qui”
Yuman is half Italian and half from Cape Verde. He had a difficult childhood, and music has always been his refuge. This is his first participation in the festival. He was the winner of the latest Sanremo Giovani last December.
Noemi – “Ti amo non lo so dire”
Although she failed to win The Voice in 2009, she has been a hugely successful name in the italian music scene ever since. She has participated seven other times in the Sanremo festival.
Gianni Morandi – “Apri tutte le porte”
A legend of Italian music, with sales exceeding 50 million records. He represented Italy in Eurovision 1970, and was the winner of Sanremo 1987.
La rappresentante di lista – “Ciao Ciao”
One of the favourites for the victory. The pop band from Palermo, who are constantly changing their appearance, hopes to represent Italy in Eurovision 2022. It is their second participation in the festival.
Michele Bravi – “Inverno dei fiori”
Bravi rose to fame after winning the seventh edition of the italian X Factor. This is his second participation in Sanremo.
Massimo Ranieri – “Lettera di là dal mare”
Winner of Sanremo 1988 and a two-time representative of Italy in Eurovision (1971 and 1973). This is his seventh participation in the festival.
Mahmood & Blanco – “Brividi”
Also one of the favorites for the win. Mahmood does not need introduction to the fans, as he was the winner of Sanremo 2019 and brought Italy near the victory at Eurovision. Blanco is a rather new artist who has already made a name for himself in Italy among the younger generations, especially with his album “Blu Celeste”. This is his first participation in the festival.
Ana Mena – “Duecentomile Ore”
First participation in Sanremo for the Spanish singer and actress.
Rkomi – “Insuperabile”
First participation for the rapper from Milan too. He already counts three albums that arrived at the top of the Italian charts, especially last year.
Dargen D’Amico – “Dove si balla”
Another first-time participant as a performer, although he has already participated in the festival as a composer of the songs “Chiamami per nome” and “Dieci”.
Giusy Ferreri – “Miele”
Known for several hits in Italy and not only. Her fourth participation in the festival.
The voting
The first 12 songs competing in Sanremo 2022 were heard by the general audience for the first time tonight. The result was determined 100% by a jury of journalists (34% television editors, 33% radio and 33% online correspondents).
The same process will be repeated tomorrow night, for the remaining 13 songs of Sanremo 2022. Journalists will have the right to vote again on the fifth and final night of the festival, Saturday, February 5th.
The ranking of the first night
At around 1am, Amadeus announced the journalists’ ranking of the 12 songs. The ranking was as follows:
- Mahmood & Blanco
- La rappresentante di lista
- Dargen D’Amico
- Gianni Morandi
- Massimo Ranieri
- Noemi
- Michele Bravi
- Rkomi
- Achille Lauro feat. Harlem Gospel Choir
- Giusy Ferreri
- Yuman
- Ana Mena
The winners of the first night were Mahmood & Blanco with the song “Brividi”.
What do you think of the results of the first night? What was your favorite song and/or performance? Tell us in the comments!
