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Sanremo Music Festival

The Sanremo Music Festival (Italian: Festival di Sanremo [ˈfɛstival di sanˈrɛːmo, festiˈval -]), officially the Italian Song Festival (Italian: Festival della canzone italiana), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by Italian public broadcaster RAI.[1][2][3][4] It is the longest-running annual TV music competition in the world on a national level (making it one of the world's longest-running television programmes)[5] and it is also the basis and inspiration for the annual Eurovision Song Contest.[6][7]

For the most recent edition, see Sanremo Music Festival 2024. For the upcoming edition, see Sanremo Music Festival 2025.

Italian Song Festival
Festival della canzone italiana

  • Pop
  • folk
  • rock
  • classical

February

Sanremo, Liguria, Italy

1951–present

Unlike other awards in Italy, the Sanremo Music Festival is a competition for new songs, not an award to previous successes (like the Premio regia televisiva for television, the Premio Ubu for stage performances, and the Premio David di Donatello for motion pictures).


The first edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, held between 29 and 31 January 1951, was broadcast by RAI's radio station Rete Rossa, and its only three participants were Nilla Pizzi, Achille Togliani, and Duo Fasano.[8] Starting from 1955, all editions of the festival have been broadcast live by the Italian TV station Rai 1.[9][10]


From 1951 to 1976, the festival took place in the Sanremo Casino, but starting from 1977, all the following editions were held in the Teatro Ariston,[11] except in 1990, which was held at the Nuovo Mercato dei Fiori.[12]


The songs selected in the competition are in Italian or in any regional language, and the three most voted songs are awarded. Other special awards are also given, including the Critics' Award, created ad hoc by the press in 1982 to reward the quality of Mia Martini's song, and named after the singer in 1996, after her death.


The Sanremo Music Festival has often been used as a method for choosing the Italian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.[13][14] It has launched the careers of some of Italy's most successful musical acts, including Gigliola Cinquetti,[15] Laura Pausini,[16] Eros Ramazzotti,[17] Andrea Bocelli,[18] Giorgia,[19] and MÃ¥neskin.[20]


Between 1953 and 1971 (except in 1956), in 1990,[21][22] and 1991,[23] each song was sung twice by two different artists, each one using an individual orchestral arrangement, to illustrate the meaning of the festival as a composers' competition, not a singers' competition. During this era of the festival, it was custom that one version of the song was performed by a native Italian artist while the other version was performed by an international guest artist.[24] This became a way for many international artists to debut their songs on the Italian market, including Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Cher, Gloria Gaynor, Dionne Warwick, Jose Feliciano, Roberto Carlos, Paul Anka, Miriam Makeba, Bonnie Tyler, Shirley Bassey, Mungo Jerry, Kiss, Laura Branigan, and many others.

1964: , team partner of Claudio Villa with "Passo su passo", semi-finals only.[171]

Peggy March

1965: , team partner of Gigliola Cinquetti with "Ho bisogno di vederti".[172]

Connie Francis

1965: , team partner of Betty Curtis with "Invece no".

Petula Clark

1965: , team partner of Gianni Mascolo with "Di fronte all'amore", semi-finals only.

Dusty Springfield

1965: , team partner of Remo Germani with "Prima o poi".

Audrey Arno

1966: , team partner of Caterina Caselli with "Nessuno mi può giudicare".

Gene Pitney

1966: , team partner of Peppino Gagliardi with "Se tu non fossi qui".

Pat Boone

1967: and Sonny Bono, team partner of Caterina Caselli with "Il cammino di ogni speranza".

Cher

1967: Cher, team partner of with "Ma piano (per non svegliarmi)"

Nico Fidenco

1967: , team partner of Luigi Tenco with "Ciao, amore ciao", semi-finals only.

Dalida

1968: , team partner of Sergio Endrigo with "Canzone per te" (winner).

Roberto Carlos

1968: , team partner of Al Bano with "La siepe".

Bobbie Gentry

1968: , team partner of Tony Del Monaco with "La voce del silenzio".

Dionne Warwick

1968: , team partner of Lara Saint Paul with "Mi va di cantare".

Louis Armstrong

1968: , team partner of Fausto Leali with "Deborah".

Wilson Pickett

1969: , team partner of Sergio Endrigo with "Lontano dagli occhi" (second place).

Mary Hopkin

1969: , team partner of Gabriella Ferri with "Se tu ragazzo mio", semi-finals only.

Stevie Wonder

1971: , team partner of Ricchi e Poveri with "Che sarà" (second place).

José Feliciano

1990: , team partner of Pooh with "Uomini soli" (winner).

Dee Dee Bridgewater

1990: , team partner of Toto Cutugno with "Gli amori" (second place).

Ray Charles

1990: , team partner of Caterina Caselli with "Bisognerebbe non pensare che a te".

Miriam Makeba

1991: , team partner of Renato Zero with "Spalle al muro".

Grace Jones

1991: , team partner of Fiordaliso with "Il mare più grande che c'è (I love you man)".

Laura Branigan

1991: , team partner of Raf with "Oggi un Dio non ho".

Ofra Haza

1991: , team partner of Gianni Bella with "La fila degli oleandri".

Gloria Gaynor

1991: , team partner of Amedeo Minghi with "Nené".

Bonnie Tyler

Notable guest artists of that time were, among others:

an international guest at the Sanremo Festival 1987, was the only artist to be asked for an encore performance in the history of the contest until then. After singing "All at Once", Houston received a standing ovation and the presenter, Pippo Baudo, asked her to perform again.[205]

Whitney Houston

an international guest at the 1984 Sanremo Festival, did not want to lip sync (a rule at that year's festival), and, in protest, he moved the microphone away from his face a few times during his performance.[206]

Freddie Mercury

In by Patricia Highsmith and its film adaptations, Dickie Greenleaf invites Tom Ripley to travel to the Sanremo Music Festival to enjoy some jazz, as a parting gesture before sending Ripley on his way. The ensuing events in Sanremo have major implications for all of the characters.

The Talented Mr. Ripley

In 1960, future Italian pop legend made her Sanremo debut.[207] The contest helped launch her career.

Mina Mazzini

The song "Perdere l'amore" was proposed in 1987 by and rejected in the preliminary song screening. A year later, it was proposed by Massimo Ranieri and won the contest.[208]

Gianni Nazzaro

In 1990, turned down the opportunity to participate in the Sanremo Music Festival with "Donna con te", which was sung at the event by Anna Oxa.[209]

Patty Pravo

In 2007, the song "Bruci la città" was rejected in the screening, mainly as a decision of that year's artistic director , who later explained that the decision was due to the poor quality of the received demo.[210] However, the song was later released by Irene Grandi and became one of her biggest hits.[211]

Pippo Baudo

List of historic rock festivals

Sopot International Song Festival

Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

Sanremo Music Festival – official website

Festivaldisanremo.com – Independent website on Sanremo Music Festival since 1998

RAI – official website

City of Sanremo