After a record first night — 10,058,000 viewers and an audience share of 52.2%, the best result since 2005 — the super-duper Italian Sanremo 2020 continued on with its Wednesday night show.

The remaining 12 Campioni contestants — the big names from which Italy’s Eurovision 2020 artist will be chosen — performed their entries to the viewers for the very first time, just like yesterday.

At the end of the live show, a complete provisional ranking based on the results of the demoscopic poll was revealed.

Sanremo 2020 second night

Demoscopic poll ranking

Click on song titles to watch the performance.

  1. Francesco Gabbani with “Viceversa
  2. Piero Pelù with “Gigante
  3. Pinguini Tattici Nucleari with “Ringo Starr
  4. Tosca with “Ho amato tutto
  5. Michele Zarrillo with “Nell’estasi o nel fango
  6. Levante with “Tikibombom
  7. Giordana Angi with “Come mia madre
  8. Paolo Jannacci with “Voglio parlarti adesso
  9. Enrico Nigiotti with “Baciami adesso
  10. Elettra Lamborghini with “Musica (E il resto scompare)
  11. Rancore with “Eden
  12. Junior Cally with “No grazie

Provisional ranking based on the first two nights

  1. Francesco Gabbani with “Viceversa”
  2. Le Vibrazioni with “Dov’è”
  3. Piero Pelù with “Gigante”
  4. Pinguini Tattici Nucleari with “Ringo Starr”
  5. Elodie with “Andromeda”
  6. Diodato with “Fai rumore”
  7. Irene Grandi with “Finalmente io”
  8. Tosca with “Ho amato tutto”
  9. Michele Zarrillo with “Nell’estasi o nel fango”
  10. Levante with “Tikibombom”
  11. Marco Masini with “Il confronto”
  12. Alberto Urso with “Il sole ad Est”
  13. Giordana Angi with “Come mia madre”
  14. Raphael Gualazzi with “Carioca”
  15. Anastasio with “Rosso di rabbia”
  16. Paolo Jannacci with “Voglio parlarti adesso”
  17. Achille Lauro with “Me ne frego”
  18. Enrico Nigiotti with “Baciami adesso”
  19. Rita Pavone with “Niente (Resilienza 74)”
  20. Riki with “Lo sappiamo entrambi”
  21. Elettra Lamborghini with “Musica (E il resto scompare)”
  22. Rancore with “Eden”
  23. Bugo e Morgan with “Sincero”
  24. Junior Cally with “No grazie”

The live show — hosted by Amadeus with the support of Rosario FiorelloLaura Chimenti, Emma D’Aquino and Sabrina Salerno — started with the performances of half of the Nuove Proposte, the category dedicated to newcomers, judged by the demoscopic poll.

And these are the results: Fasma with “Per sentirmi vivo” and Marco Sentieri with “Billy Blu” will go to the semi-final on Friday night, while Gabriella Martinelli & Lula with “Il gigante d’acciaio” and Matteo Faustini with “Nel bene e nel male” have been eliminated.

During the evening we were treated to guest performances from Italian pop singer Tiziano Ferro — who dueted with Eurovision 1971 and 1973 act Massimo Ranieri to the tune of “Perdere l’amore” and sang a medley of his hits “Sere nere”, “Il regalo più grande” and “La fine” — and Ricchi & Poveri, who represented Italy at ESC in 1978.

They took the Festival stage in the original quartet formation for the first time since 1981 performing evergreens “La prima cosa bella”, “Che sarà”, “Sarà perché ti amo”, “Mamma Maria” and their new single “L’ultimo amore”.

They weren’t the only guests at the Ariston Theatre. Bluesman Zucchero Fornaciari presented his latest singles “Spirito nel buio” e “Canzone che se ne va” and the song “Solo una sana e consapevole libidine salva il giovane dallo stress e dall’Azione Cattolica“, while Gigi D’Alessio celebrated 20 years of his first Sanremo entry “Non dirgli mai”.

How will the Sanremo winner be picked?

Voting during the five evenings will occur 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, expressed by accredited journalists that followed the competition from the Roof Hall at the Ariston Theatre.
  • demoscopic poll, composed by 300 music fans who voted from their homes via an electronic voting system managed by global market research and a consulting firm Ipsos.
  • Orchestra voting, resulting from points assigned by musicians and singers of the Sanremo Music Festival Orchestra.

The four voting systems will have a percentage weight so distributed:

  • First and Second Evening: 100% demoscopic poll
  • Third Evening: 100% orchestra voting
  • Fourth Evening: 100% press jury voting
  • Fifth Evening: 34% public televoting; 33% press jury voting; 33% demoscopic poll

In the final part of the fifth evening, a new rank indicating the first three acts — determined by the percentage of votes obtained in that evening’s vote and those obtained in previous evenings — will be drawn up.

What do you think of the songs of Sanremo 2020? Who are you most excited for? Share your thoughts below!

Keep up to date with all our Sanremo news

47 Comments
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Gwendal
4 years ago

Very few winner vibes atm in this whole Eurovision season… but “Fai Rumore”. Fai Rumore. FAI RUMORE. This sounds like a ticket to Milano/Roma/Torino/… 2021.
Interesting Sanremo selection btw. Elodie is obvious top 5 material, Rancore top 10. Less enthusiasmed by Anastasio & Gabbani that I’d thought.

Voxtaylor
Voxtaylor
4 years ago

I honestly wish Gabbani would’ve saved È un’altra cosa for Sanremo, it’d be in my top 3. Still love Viceversa though.

poe-tay-toe-chips
poe-tay-toe-chips
4 years ago
Reply to  Voxtaylor

I kind of feel the same. È un’altra cosa could honestly be a winning song. I doubt viceversa is even the best song on his upcoming album. I think the main reason he entered Sanremo is to promote the album and he didn’t come to win. Honestly if he won I don’t think I’d be surprised if he declined. He was told basically the entire time in 2017 that he would probably win only to place only in 6th so…idk if he would want to risk a repeat of that. I’d love to see him back at Eurovision but I… Read more »

checkpoint
checkpoint
4 years ago

I don’t understand that hype about francesco. I mean i am from Italia and he is not that famous here, almost unknown singer…

poe-tay-toe-chips
poe-tay-toe-chips
4 years ago
Reply to  checkpoint

Your concept of “unknown” is obviously completely broken. Once you’re in esc and place top 10, you aren’t unknown anymore.

RoboESC
RoboESC
4 years ago

Elettra…. I’m disappointed

tasha
tasha
4 years ago

francesco gabbani is so ugly that i don’t wanna see him on screen.enough don’t vote

Patrick
Patrick
4 years ago
Reply to  tasha

And you are so ugly that I don’t wanna read your comments!!! I guess we can’t always get what we want!

Johan
Johan
4 years ago
Reply to  tasha

Why do you say such a thing? Your clearly a troubled soul inside

poe-tay-toe-chips
poe-tay-toe-chips
4 years ago
Reply to  tasha

Your icon obviously looks like a booger because you’re a little snot. Criticize the song all you want, but calling a performer ugly is just too far…

lucky
lucky
4 years ago
Reply to  tasha

rude

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
4 years ago

such a weak top 3, the demoscopic jury’s median age must’ve been 135. the televote will turn things around.

Pavel
Pavel
4 years ago

you wish.

Thanos
Thanos
4 years ago

My favourites last night were Gabbani and Levante. I also liked Piero Pelu, Rancore, Michelle Zarillo and Junior Cally and Paolo Jannacci but not that much. The first night was a bit stronger imo.

Mia
Mia
4 years ago

Junior Cally is my favorite in this group.
Also liked Rancoro, Levante, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari.
Honourable mention- Paollo Jannacci, what a sweet performance and song, I enjoyed it throughout.
Gabbani- I have feeling he tops the score because of fan base. I love his performances, he’s truly one of a kind, but meh, he has better songs than this.

Martin
Martin
4 years ago

Rancore’s score is a complete joke, demoscopic jury surely hates good music

Pavel
Pavel
4 years ago
Reply to  Martin

or the Eminem-styled rap

Bob
Bob
4 years ago
Reply to  Martin

Rancore has one of the strongest songs to be fair. I guess the demoscopic jury don’t care much for rap… :/

Thomas
Thomas
4 years ago

Side note. San Remo has probably at least three esc winners this year. Rancore Elodie an Pinugini.

The fact Rancore was ranked so poorly though makes me dissapointed, but also again…because Mahmood won, anything is possible. Here is to Italy fir giving me so much hope for the ESC season…

Pavel
Pavel
4 years ago
Reply to  Thomas

Mahmood was more modern (Contemporary R&B) than Rancore’s dated flow.

poe-tay-toe-chips
poe-tay-toe-chips
4 years ago
Reply to  Pavel

If I’m being honest I couldn’t even get through rancore’s entire song without deciding that I had enough. Or any of the rap ones for that matter. Rancore’s was probably the easiest to stomach but that’s not saying much for me. As for Junior Cally and Anastasio, I don’t know why they are both trying so hard to make rap over rock music a thing, but it just does not work for me. I’d rather hear a singer than a rapper. I don’t hate rap music and I even listen to it….I just don’t like these three.

Thomas
Thomas
4 years ago

SanRemo is a fantastic selection of songs that showcase the diversity and talent of Italian Music. I wish other selections were like this but hey…Italy may have this year.

Tbh my fave is still Elodie but I loved a lot of entries this year an the winner isnt the same as the previous…so maybe Elodie could win at San Remo an ESC

Johan
Johan
4 years ago
Reply to  Thomas

It seems their voting is the problem. All the best int the middle or bottom

Voxtaylor
Voxtaylor
4 years ago

This was my first time watching Sanremo live, can’t believe I haven’t sooner. The hosts had me in stitches both nights (especially the second), and I love having a lot of guest acts between the competing songs to chill out to. Wish more countries would adopt the pacing of Sanremo. Definitely a festival first, and a competition second. As for the competing artists, this would have to be my top 5 (from favorite to least favorite): 1. Bugo e Morgan 2. Elodie 3. Achille Lauro 4. Rancore 5. Raphael Gualazzi Can’t wait to see some old faces return for night… Read more »

Mr Vanilla Bean
Mr Vanilla Bean
4 years ago

I don’t get why they let her compete in such a prestiged festival. The puritans who still think Eurovision is only trash would not see such a bad act at Eurovision these days. Not that often, anyways.

Mr Vanilla Bean
Mr Vanilla Bean
4 years ago

True. As I wrote, it’s the rap songs that work for me this year. I certainly didn’t expect that. Any genre goes. It’s just that this particular act would obviously be awful in any genre.

Joe
Joe
4 years ago

I love how with most national selections it’s either “could we qualify with this?” or if it’s an automatic qualifier “will we make the top ten with this?” With Italy, it’s almost never *will* they make the top ten. The real question with any of these songs is, how high in the top ten would it finish?

Sabrina
Sabrina
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Also, since Sanremo is a song contest that happens to be a national final too, they’ll just vote for what they think it’s the best entry. We’re the crazy ones trying to picture how the favorites would do in Eurovision. 😛 But I share very similar opinions to yours.

Joe
Joe
4 years ago
Reply to  Sabrina

Italy, save for maybe the folks at RAI, don’t realize how utterly spoiled for options they are every single year. They have winning contenders every year without even looking at Eurovision as the be-all end-all of Sanremo. It’s insane.

Joe
Joe
4 years ago

Just heard Ringo Starr and loved it. If Italy were just thinking in terms of which song would be the biggest Eurovision crowd-pleasers, that or Carioca would be the way to go. They have the best hooks of the songs I’ve heard and the band in particular has a lot of energy and would do a great job connecting with the crowd in Rotterdam.

Sabrina
Sabrina
4 years ago

Some thoughts: – I get why Gabbani topped the Demoscopic poll. He has a cute song, gave a great performance, is a returning champion. But I feel they overrated Pelù and Le Vibrazioni. Maybe many voters who are into mature rockers? 😀 – Anyway, the demoscopic may be useful to know where part of the votes will go in the final (though I believe last year the demoscopic of the final was a different one), but don’t kill anybody hopes. Mahmood was just 19th in the first night (while already won the press vote). – My favorites tonight were Levante… Read more »

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
4 years ago

Haha. Those votes don’t seem to correspond to anything I actually watched.

Joe
Joe
4 years ago

I wouldn’t mind seeing Francesco back for another go, but from what I’ve heard, Carioca, Fai rumore, or Andromeda would be the songs to keep Italy’s momentum going. Been thirty years since the last Italian win. Could this year change that? There’s a real chance!

Joe
Joe
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe

They’d cater to three different crowds: Carioca if they just want a big old Latin banger to get the Ahoy jumping, Fai rumore if they want to play a slightly more earnest variation on the Il Volo “cute dude singing well in a romantic language” card, and Andromeda if they want to send a proper pop diva song.

Malmklang
Malmklang
4 years ago

Diodato’s Fai Rumore just push all the right buttons for me, reminding me how beautiful both the italian language and the country’s music is:-)

Mr Vanilla Bean
Mr Vanilla Bean
4 years ago

Another side note: I look up the lyrics translation of every Sanremo song I really like and every time it’s good. The Italians could really teach the rest of the national finals about how a song is supposed to have substance.

Yes
Yes
4 years ago

Sanremo is beyond of being a National Final, it’s bigger than “just a show for selecting an entry for Eurovision” as Supernova or Pabandom is Naujo! are…

Mr Vanilla Bean
Mr Vanilla Bean
4 years ago
Reply to  Yes

Of course. And it came before Eurovision. But since it also almost always serves as picking the Italian Eurovision entry, I think it is valid to compare its song standards to those of the other selections specifically for Eurovision.

Sabrina
Sabrina
4 years ago

My favorite thing about Italy in Eurovision. Lyrics really matter to them, they’re never an excuse for people to sing. Even Elettra’s song had more storyline than most bops from other selections.

Mr Vanilla Bean
Mr Vanilla Bean
4 years ago

Reading about the voting to decide the ultimate outcome, I must say that the orchestra voting strikes me as interesting. Letting the people who actually play the music rank their favorites sounds fun. On the other hand, I am very sceptical about that demoscopic poll and the press jury voting. And frankly, any voting using an app. Iowa, anyone?

Joe Lestingi
Joe Lestingi
4 years ago

Lol, totally agree.

Jonas
Jonas
4 years ago

I think the orchestra takes it seriously. In 2010, when their first choice – Malika Ayane’s “Ricomincio da qui” – didn’t go to the top 3, they furiously threw their sheet music to the floor and stomped their feet. Rightly so, because it’s an all-time great!

Mr Vanilla Bean
Mr Vanilla Bean
4 years ago

Interestingly enough, Junior Cally (glad he wasn’t masked) was my favorite out of the second bunch, meaning that two rap songs are my Sanremo 2020 favorites, though I almost never listen to rap. I must say, this year didn’t bring me nearly as many favorites as last year, but I love ‘Rosso di rabbia’ and it is my clear, undisputed pick for Eurovision. Side note: It was weird to watch that Elettra performance, I thought only people with an actual voice could participate in Sanremo. One of the newcomers should get her spot, like the Tsunami song. Sad to see… Read more »

Killian
Killian
4 years ago

My faves are also rap songs (though I prefer Rancore to Junior Cally) but I do listen to some hip hop ;p Sad to see demoscopic jury doesn’t like them too much, so it won’t win, but we’ll see how jury and public like them. (Tbh from songs on top so far my fav is Ringo Starr)
And yeah, Elettra was pretty bad – I at least expected song to be interesting… But well.

Mia
Mia
4 years ago
Reply to  Killian

Elettra is granddaughter of Lamborghini founder, that says all..

Sale
Sale
4 years ago

Our national broadcaster put Sanremo this year and broadcasted it, so me and my family decided to watch (my first time watching it)… I must say what an awful show… Dont get me wrong the songs were good there were some really great ones, but what’s it with presenting a contender song for 3 minutes then a 6 min interval act between the next song, then a mini concert, I mean it was long for like 4 hours yet the song presentation (the ones that compite for the prize) was an hour at tops.. why is it so dragged out?

James
James
4 years ago
Reply to  Sale

The nice thing about Sanremo is that on finale night, I don’t have to wake up extremely early to catch it. Chances are, at 7 in the morning here in the Philippines, they would still be in the middle of an interval and only two-thirds through the finalists and I can still catch the results over breakfast.