Perché Sanremo è Sanremo! After weeks of anxious waiting, on February 6 Sanremo Music Festival has finally kicked off.
A glamorous atmosphere, tons of glitter and sequins, a bombastic dynamic scenography. The most loved and talked-about Italian program of the year delivered another amazing — even if endless — show. But it’s always worth it to see!
QUESTO AMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE ?#Sanremo2018 pic.twitter.com/jUo4HVK9t1
— Festival di Sanremo (@SanremoRai) February 6, 2018
During the first episode, we enjoyed special guest appearances from Italian host, comedian and singer Fiorello — who opened the show and made several incursions on stage during the night — and Eurovision 1970 representant Gianni Morandi. He performed his latest single “Una vita che ti sogno” together with Tommaso Paradiso, leader of the band The Giornalisti.
Guess what? There was also a face many European viewers may remember. 83-year-old salsa dancer Paddy Jones — who took part in Britain’s Got Talent, Tu si que vales and La France a un incroyable talent — earned a standing ovation dancing to Lo Stato Sociale‘s performance “Una vita in vacanza“.
Stasera il Festival è stato suo. #Sanremo2018 pic.twitter.com/6LiviC6ynM
— LALLERO (@SeeLallero) February 6, 2018
Anyway, all of our attention has been focused on the main event for Eurovision fans: the original numbers, heard by the public for the very first time, as required by sanremese tradition! After four hours of songs, the results were revealed in random order.
SANREMO’S FIRST NIGHT
TOP
- Annalisa – Il mondo prima di te
- Lo Stato Sociale – Una vita in vacanza
- Max Gazzè – La leggenda di Cristalda e Pizzomunno
- Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro – Non mi avete fatto niente
- Nina Zilli – Senza appartenere
- Noemi – Non smettere mai di cercarmi
- Ron – Almeno pensami
MIDDLE
- Luca Barbarossa – Passame er sale
- Elio e le Storie Tese – Arrivedorci
- Giovanni Caccamo – Eterno
- Mario Biondi – Rivederti
- The Kolors – Frida (Mai mai mai)
- Ornella Vanoni, Bungaro & Pacifico – Imparare ad amarsi
BOTTOM
- Red Canzian – Ognuno ha il suo racconto
- Decibel – Lettera dal Duca
- Diodato & Roy Paci – Adesso
- Enzo Avitabile & Peppe Servillo – Il coraggio di ogni giorno
- Roby Facchinetti & Riccardo Fogli – Il segreto del tempo
- Le Vibrazioni – Così sbagliato
- Renzo Rubino – Custodire
If you’re cheering for the results, we must warn you: this is not the definitive ranking of the first night. To keep us in suspense until Saturday, the organizers decided to show us just the results of ONE “voting jury” — a different one each night.
A bit messy indeed… but this is how it works! That said, for the first night it was the turn of the “demoscopic poll”.
Tomorrow night will feature ten artists who will sing their entries for a second time, including your hot favourite Annalisa, Italian Eurovision 2012 act Nina Zilli and betting agencies’ pick Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro. Who are y’all excited for?
HOW WILL THE SANREMO WINNER BE PICKED?
Voting during the five evenings occurred through different combinations of four methods:
- Public televoting, carried out via landline, mobile phone, the contest’s official mobile app, and online voting.
- Press jury voting, by accredited journalists that followed the competition from the Roof Hall at the Ariston Teathre.
- A demoscopic poll, composed of a sample of 300 music fans, which voted from their homes via an electronic voting system managed by Ipsos.
- Expert jury voting, resulting from points assigned by eight personalities from the world of music, entertainment and culture.
The three voting systems will have a percentage weight so distributed:
- First, Second and Third Evening: 40% Public televoting; 30% Demoscopic poll; 30% Press jury voting
- Fourth and Fifth Evening: 50% Public televoting; 30% Press jury voting; 20% Expert jury voting
In the final part of the fifth evening, a new rank indicating the first three acts — determined by the percentage of votes obtained in this evening’s vote and those obtained in previous evenings — will be drawn up.
What do you think of the songs of Sanremo 2018? Who are you most excited for? Share your thoughts below!
Bonsoir Lisboa,
Lo stato sociale – Una vita in vacanze !!!
Canzione stupenda, gioiosa che non rompe i co***ni, spero che vinca a San Remo. E la vecchia que balla, molto divertente !
Bravi ragazzi.
Baci
my favorite is definitely The Kolors!!!! they have the best song and I would LOVE to see them in Eurovision! I literally have been listening to this song all day.
So sad that Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro were suspended. They were absolutely my favorites.
Annalisa!!!
Renzo Rubino’s song deserved a much better placing.
Italian iTunes:
NEW
Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro – 1
Annalisa – 2
The Kolors – 3
Lo Stato Sociale – 4
Noemi – 6
Ron – 12
Max Gazzè – 15
Giovanni Caccamo – 16
Nina Zilli – 19
Easilly the strongest selection so far
Many people miss the point that Sanremo is a song festival that also works as an Eurovision selection but it’s much more than just an Eurovision selection. That’s why there’s always the possibility something not suited to ESC itself can win the whole thing (and I insist: people should vote for the songs they love, not keep trying to predict the final scoreboard of Eurovision). They of course can decide not to participate if they win. Annalisa would be a good Sanremo winner that also seems to be the best suited act to Eurovision. She gave a great performance and… Read more »
For us that understand the lyrics, Meta&Moro’s song is so powerful and literally gives you chills down the spine! Here you have a non-profit translation of the song: In Cairo, they don’t know what time it is now The sun over Rambla today isn’t the same There is a concert in France People are having fun Someone sings loudly Someone shouts to death It rains every day in London, but it doesn’t hurt today The sky doesn’t stop even when there’s a funeral In Nice, the sea is red from fire and shame From people over the asphalt and blood… Read more »
Non-official* translation (damn autocorrect)
Thank you for the translation, Lourdes! It’s very beautiful indeed. Now I can totally get the comments I read last night. Let’s see if they’ll be allowed to keep competing. If they do, I can see why they’re frontrunners.
I hope they we will be allowed to compete too and win the whole thing! This song has been on repeat since I first heard it and never ceases to transmit the same chills and emotions! I understand it might sound a bit weird if you don’t understand the lyrics, since there are a lot of words, but it’s the only one who truly deserves to win!
I like there’s diversity this year in Sanremo! We have ballads, pop songs, rock songs, love songs, songs with a social message. Ron’s song is good but really slow tempo and I didn’t quite like it. I don’t get the hype. Nina Zilli presented sth different this time and I like that. However, I don’t quite like the song, her performance was great nevertheless. The songs that stood out for me are: Annalisa, Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro, Lo Stato Sociale and “Adesso”. Annalisa: amazing!! Her performance was stunning and the best by far! Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro: My… Read more »
Italy should consider sending The Kolors with “Frida” to ESC 2018 regardless of the final result.
With it’s perfect vocals, beautiful orchestration, and wonderful performance it could shine in Lisbon. Plus, it’s something new and fresh for Italy. If the Italians want another top 10 placement this is the song to send!
Same. We’ve never had a rock band represent them to my knowledge. I think the song could do with a bit of a revamp or just give them an entirely new song. But I really believe in them and I think they can keep Italy in the top 10.
Yess, The Kolors are the best what Italy could bring to Lisbon! They’ll be in my top 3 and in top 10 overall for sure.
Ermal and Fabrizio all the way! They deserve it!
Totally, love the song, it is on my repeat from midnight
Ermal Meta and Frabizio Moro are winning! Amazing song.
This is not Eurovision music so fans will don’t get it, this is real music folks
The Kolors are my fav. I didn’t enjoy Ermal and Fabrizio’s song, sorry. I hope you’ll be happy with your entry next Saturday.
Italian iTunes:
Annalisa – 7
Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro – Non mi avete fatto nient – 13
The Colors – 23
Noemi – Non smettere mai di cercarmi – 26
Lo Stato Sociale – 67
Lo Stato Sociale!!!! Quite quirky but at least it would be something different and may stand out from the rest.
The best ones were ”The Kolors”… Ermal’s song was also good. But the rest was freaking boring. I’ve never seen a selection with as many old people and as many boring and outdated Songs as Sanremo had it.
ANNALISA IS A QUEEN. YESSSSSS SWEETIE. HEY AMAIA, THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT. We need a strong powerful woman to win the show. I loved the granny that was dancing too lmaooo
Last year I loved Ermal Meta’s song Vietato Morire, it was my favorite and IMO it’s a masterpiece.
But I hate this year’s song (not the meaning), I don’t like Fabrizio Moro and I don’t understand why they need to sing together this year. It seems like they needed to find something to sing about and the song doesn’t fit to them.
And finally, if they win, I think they will decline to represent italy at the ESC.
Looking at odds make me scratch my head. Also the results. The only songs I enjoyed listening were those of Annalisa and the Kolors. I like meaningful songs, but Ermal Meta’s song just sounds like fast talking without an underlying melody. Noemi’s song : we heard it million times before, and I think Mia Martini was better. La Stato Sociale must be a joke, right?
SO…MANY … slow and mid-tempo ballads (trying to repeat “Amar Pelos Dios”) — and so many others that just resorted to shtick and weird stuff — ONLY The Kolors, Lo Stato Sociale (and ONLY because of Paddy) and Annalisa stood out to me — and of those, I ONLY feel like Annalisa would be Eurovision ready — and yet I don’t know how you’d parse down her song by 30 seconds — Italy seems to have gone off the rails this year a bit
Ballads have existed way before Amor Pelos Dios, and Sanremo always has ballads. Moreover Sanremo is a a traditional national festival in Italy that has existed before Eurovision ( actually Eurovision was inspired by Sanremo) and they don’t select their songs or winners with Eurovision as their main goal.
“Trying to repeat Amar pelos Dois” looool
No ballads this year pleeeease… no salvadore imitators pleeease! or better no ballads anymore in eurovision! (irony mode on)
Annalisa is literally a ballad.
Keep in mind that Sanremo is not your traditional National Final like Melfest!
There’s a high chance that most of the artist don’t aim to win to participate at Eurovision and therefore write and composed the song solely for italian Sanremo ?
Sanremo always has ballads – it’s Sanremo! It’s not really a Eurovision NF, that’s just tacked on to it.
Sanremo Festival is older than ESC, and has such an impact in Italian culture that cannot be infuenced (sadly) in any ways by ESC. Every year most of the songs are slow ballads (like Grande Amore and No Degrees of Separation). Nina Zilli and Emma Marrone were internal selected and Gabbani has been a huge success last year because he broke the Sanremo rules. No one of the artists has been influenced by Salvador. Actually I think that most of them don’t even know who is him. Italy really needs to change its way to select the ESC entry because… Read more »
Well, It has been working pretty good for us so far
Ermal and Fabrizio must win.. I think Italy made a mistake not sending one of them last year
They will not, or if they win, they will be disqualified to participate to Eurovision by ESC organization due to heavy and strong plagiarism of Silenzio from Ambra Calvani e Gabriele De Pascali ! And nobody can tell me I dream about this plagiarism – Same Melody and same lyrics on the chorus !!!! Come on …
It’s not a plagiarism. They explained in interviews that the refrain already exists – so that means 30% of the song, so they’re fine with that.
Yes, just saw the information. Anyway, I still don’t like the method…. Copy Paste of same composer from an old song to a new one, come one ! …. Will be angry if they win and EBU agree to have this song representing Italy. I thought Eurovision was original song competition, or maybe I’m wrong, The rules of EBU says the song can’t be exploited before th 1st of september …. here, 30% of the song have been exploited and released 2 years ago !! Same Melody, Same lyrics … sorry but without me ! ^^
Just listened to it as well, what a shame.. I really like them both and want them to represent Italy but I agree with you that this is the wrong way to do it. Mixed emotions right now.. 🙁
I like lo stato sociale, good cult performance and nice gimmick i hope they win. I also like the kolors, but he should fire his haordresser bc he looks like a digimon character. My third place would be annalisa, i didnt like the rest of the songs
Lol he kept removing hair from his eyes during the performance! A haircut is indeed mandated!
The best of the night for me were Annalisa, Noemi, Nina, and The Kolors. I was a little confused by Ermal and Fabrizio’s song, and Giovanni unfortunately couldn’t match Via da qui. Mario was a bit of a surprise for me, but I’m not sure it would work at Eurovision.
Also, I can’t believe Rai are finally uploading the performances to YouTube! Now, will they post last year’s so I can watch Elodie again?
Meta & Moro’s song is brilliant and has excellent lyrics. It’s the most touching and powerful song of them all. I’m so sorry for the language barrier in this case.
The lyrics are touching, but the way Moro almost raps in italian is awful.
It’s not really a language barrier (I know a bit of Italian); it just doesn’t feel right, as if they would have been better entering as individuals rather than together.
It’s unfair to know the best performances of the night were on the bottom: Diodato & Roy Paci and Le Vibrazioni (so far). I’m considering them unexpected, but great contenders for Meta/Moro.
Red Canzian’s song was a big surprise for me. I could understand when Wiwibloggs wrote Italian journalists seemed happily surprised with his entry. So was Biondi’s one.
Annalisa, Nina and Noemi overrated.
I don’t like Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro’s song.
Annalisa’s 2015 song was better in my opinion.
Noemi probably has the best female ballad.
The Lead singer for the Kolors looks like an anime character.
Lo Stato Sociale is probably the act most influenced by Francesco Gabbani. Retro fun but not right for Eurovision.
Is it just me or can we guess which artists want to go to Eurovision based on the lengths of their songs?
I was counting on Italy to bring some quality to this season. They have, but they don’t have a winner this year. Annalisa and Noemi the standouts, with good showings by Ermal and Fabrizio and Lo Stato Sociale.
I think Annalisa probably has the best package with the best europewide attraction.
I would have liked to see The Kolors in the top section, they were a real stand out for me.
The good thing is that the winner of San Remo doesn’t always go to the Eurovision.
The Kolors indeed have a wonderful song.
I was not expecting a song like Frida at Sanremo, but it was a pleasant surprise. I love rock/electro pop music at Eurovision, and they were exceptional. They were tied with Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro for my favourite of the night.
I was not expecting a song like Frida either but what a change of pace for Italy to send something like that to Eurovision.