The Sanremo Music Festival, which countless Italians look forward to like Christmas Eve, is coming! We are all dying to know who our tanned Santa Claus Carlo Conti will bring us this year. Conti — also known as the host and artistic director of the Italian music contest — is already getting our hopes up that it’s going to be an amazing year. He recently announced that 20 singers will take to the stage, despite the fact the rules said it would be just 18! “We have got too many good proposals,” he told Italian media, “and for this reason, as already happened in the last edition, we have to increase the number of songs from 18 to 20“.

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And who will sing at Sanremo 2016?

Darling, we wish we could tell you. But the rumour mill is in full swing, and those rumours are like fragrant bread for the hungry. So let’s eat.

The reliable All Music Italia has revealed various options. Surely the most talked about is Sister Cristina, the singing Nun who won The Voice of Italy in 2014.

The biggest name is Alessandra Amoroso, a young star who has already sold more than 1 million records. She has participated in Sanremo as a special guest before, but she has never entered the contest with one of her original songs. She has also been nominated as the “best option” for Eurovision from the same Italian music site here.

Two other possible contestants are Arisa and Giusy Ferreri. The former won the 2014 edition and co-hosted the 2015 edition of the festival, and she also expressed her interest in representing her homeland at Eurovision a few months ago. The latter, who rose to fame on the Italian X Factor, smashed the charts in Italy this summer with her five-times-platinum hit Roma-Bangkok.

Plenty of Sanremo veterans are reportedly hungry for a comeback: red-headed girls AnnalisaChiara and Noemi, as well as Lorenzo FragolaBianca Atzei, Giovanni Caccamo and Amara. Another winner of the Italian X Factor, Francesca Michielin, is also rumored.

The reported shortlist of male singers is anything but short: Francesco Renga, Alessio Bernabei, Valerio Scanu, Marco Carta, Fabrizio Moro, Neffa, Rocco Hunt, Clementino, and Briga are all dripping off Italian tongues. The most plausibile bands are Dear Jack (with their new lead singer Leiner Riflessi), Bluvertigo and Negrita.

Last but not least, other names come from the group of artists who have taken part several times in Sanremo: Patty Pravo, Loredana Bertè, Giorgia, Dolcenera, Syria and Paola Turci.

Follow all of our Italy Eurovision news here

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siggester
siggester
8 years ago

i’m italian..i hope Alessandra Amoroso or Francesca Michielin two great artist!

CookyMonzta
CookyMonzta
8 years ago

Any chance Nek or Chanty will try again?

Samuele Vela
Samuele Vela
8 years ago

I hope for the amazing Deborah Iurato!!

Tom
Tom
8 years ago

Tbh I would want Malika Ayane or Dolcenera

Esc
Esc
8 years ago

SEND IL VOLO AGAIN!!!!

mocosuburbian
mocosuburbian
8 years ago

Francesca Michielin is such an amazing artist, I really really hope she shows up at San Remo

Keni
Keni
8 years ago

I think Alessandra Amoroso would win hands down knows take the stage and sing whatever excites his voice , really fantastic I hope to see her on the stage of the Eurovision , I follow from Argentina and is really a great singer.

Lucas
Lucas
8 years ago

Alessandra Amoroso follow her for many years by Spain he came here and won everyone over with her voice holds well on the Eurovision stage it would be great !

Michael
Michael
8 years ago

Alessandra Amoroso would be nice to have her Eurovision has a beautiful voice would be wonderful! 😉

MirkoJoshua
MirkoJoshua
8 years ago

Please, not Alessandra Amoroso… Anyone, but not her… Arisa is way much better, actually she won Sanremo 2014 but she couldn’t participate because of Emma Marrone and when she discovered that the winner of Sanremo 2015 was going to represent Italy in Vienna, she said that she won in the wrong year lol

ESCESPAÑA
ESCESPAÑA
8 years ago

Don’t the ESC rules say something about no religious content on stage? How would Sister Cristina perform?

ESCESPAÑA
ESCESPAÑA
8 years ago

Don’t the ESC rules say something about no religious content on stage? How would Sister Cristina compete?

Adam
Adam
8 years ago

send il volo again lol

No Name
No Name
8 years ago

Omg I really hope Francesca Michielin will participate!!! She would slay at Eurovision with the right song. Also hope Lorenzo Fragola will do so!

Jak
Jak
8 years ago

Despite Emma Marrone’s “La mia citta” was my third favourite in 2014, and she’s a great singer – I like Arisa’s “Controvento” more (despite she was less succesfull commercially than fellow Sanremo winners like Emma, Marco or Il Volo), and if she would have represented Italy with this song, she would make it to the top ten. Or Emma, despite I adored Nina Zilli’s entry was my personal winner with Israel that year, too, had represented Italy in 2012 with her winning song, she would even win the all thing. The thing is internal selections are risky in bigger countries… Read more »