It hosts five never-ending galas every year, filled with glamour, eleganza and extravaganza. And now, the city of Sanremo, home of the Music Festival which inspired Eurovision, has expressed its desire to apply to be host city of Eurovision 2022.
Located in the northern region of Liguria, Sanremo hosts the iconic Italian music festival that bears its name, and which gathers some of the country’s top artists. It has a population of 55,000, which would make it the least populated city to host Eurovision since Millstreet in 1993.
Teatro Ariston, which you’ll instantly recognise from the Sanremo festival, has been tipped as the city’s preferred venue. Despite the historical appeal of the proposal, it would be a quite a disruptive choice, as it can only accommodate 2,000 people.
The proposal came from the regional president of Liguria, Giovanni Toti, who said: “We are already thinking about next year and we have the goal of hosting Eurovision 2022 in Sanremo. It’s in the City of Flowers where it all began, and it is the house of Italian music. We must not forget that the Festival’s winner will also represent our country.”
Milan, Naples and Florence will also apply to be Eurovision 2022 host city
Sanremo is not the only city in Italy that says it will apply to host. As early as Sunday, Rome, Turin and Pesaro had already announced their forthcoming bids, and the list is growing by the day.
Milan, Italy’s second biggest city, is also considering applying. The city’s councillor of Culture, Filippo del Corno, said the city “is the capital of the Italian discographic industry,” which makes it an obvious choice. According to Corriere della Sera, the city ticks all the boxes to host.
The host city of Eurovision 1965, Naples, is also joining the race. Councillor of Heritage and candidate for Mayor Alessandra Clemente promised to work for it on social media.
A Napoli! Lavorerò per questo ?? @thisismaneskin complimenti @ESCitanews #Napoli2022 https://t.co/Fiovvy31DM
— Alessandra Clemente (@ale_clem) May 23, 2021
Florence is also interested in hosting. Mayor Dario Nardella shared his wish on Facebook, where he wrote: “Italian cities have already started offering themselves to host Eurovision 2022. It’s clear that the most beautiful, functional and artistic one to host such an event is Florence. Quiet and well mannered (in a reference to Måneskin’s entry “Zitti e buoni”) we’ll prove this right.
Bologna is keen. Councillor of Culture Matteo Lepore announced on Twitter that he’ll be writing to Rai, to president of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and to Måneskin about hosting the contest there. Maybe they should also hit up Senhit for some tips about how to sell the city — it’s where she grew up and still lives today.
I @thisismaneskin hanno vinto l’#Eurovision ? è una grande vittoria per l’Italia! ??
Da Assessore alla cultura di #Bologna candido la nostra città ad ospitare la prossima edizione del festival, che dovrà appunto essere organizzata dal nostro paese. pic.twitter.com/jUIrdUemxa
— Matteo Lepore (@matteolepore) May 23, 2021
Reggio Emilia has also expressed their interest in hosting. Mayor Luca Vecchi wrote on Facebook: “What if we held the contest at RCF Arena? We are ready”. It is worth noting that this is an open-air venue, which may not be suitable for Eurovision.
Rimini has offered its Fiera to host the contest, which can accommodate up to 10,000 people. The city is close to San Marino and has over 151,000 inhabitants.
Arena di Verona, a “difficult choice”
Another city that has been tipped as a possible host is Verona. However, Koit Toome and Laura might be shocked to hear that it won’t be easy for the city to get the honour.
Eurofestivalnews.com reports that artistic director Gianmarco Mazzi considered it “difficult” for the venue to host, as it doesn’t have a roof.
And yes, if you were wondering, Arena di Verona was the set of Diodato’s live performance of “Fai Rumore” during last year’s Europe Shine a Light.
As you may recall, these are not the only cities who have expressed an interest in hosting. Rome, Turin and Pesaro were the first to do so on Sunday. You can read more here:
What do you think about Eurovision potentially going back to Sanremo? Is it a real possibility? Are there any other cities you’d prefer? Let us know in the comment section below!
Does anyone know when they announce the host city?
Regarding the italian multicam director suitable for the role, I have no doubts: Duccio Forzano. The human cue pilot. He directed 6 Sanremo Festivals and a lot of other shows. Take a look here:
https://youtu.be/TXB5bJ2BCXc
San Remo would be a great host city. We’ll get to know more about the San Remo Festival that selected Maneskin and how it inspired the Eurovision Song Contest to be created by Switzerland. I’d expect some skits at the ESC 2022 giving some good history lesson for the new Eurovision fans!
Trieste2022 ?
I am not sure about Rome. There’s an important event in PalaLottomatica with tickets already on sale from 12 to 15 of may: the musical Notre Dame de Paris. So Rome with that venue only could be a contender in the first week of may
I mean, ESC could be in late May like this year.
ESC needs an available venue during the previous four or five weeks before the eurovision week.
let’s hope wherever it is they improve on ’91 🙂
I predict it to be Genoa 2022.
No way.
It probably is not likely to happen, but I like to make random predictions when it comes to the host city.
Some cities don’t even take the bidding process serious. Sanremo wants to host it in a small theatre of 2500 people?, Verona thinks about hosting it in an old amphitheatre in Piazza Bra. What is this? The only cities i see taking it serious so far are Milan, Torino, Rome, Bologna and Pesaro. I’m almost 100% sure that it won’t be Rome because their arena is round shaped which makes it almost impossible to build a big Eurovision stage. Bologna and Pesaro are small compared to the other cities. I don’t think they will choose them – same with Florence.… Read more »
Unipol Arena in Bologna is the biggest. 20k places. Only problem for Bologna is the arena is 14km from the city center and there is only one airport ans not well served with the major european destinations.
And the event Bologna on ice the 25th of April and the Eric Clapton concerts 20 and 21 of may, so Unipol Arena is almos not possible
Today the Maneskin are the third most listened to artists in the world and have beaten the likes of Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Pink, Coldplay and Bruno Mars. Better than Damiano, Victoria, Ethan and Thomas only BTS and Olivia Rodrigo, current queen of all charts with her debut album. 10 hours ago. historic result for Eurovision
Today the Maneskin are the third most listened to artists in the world and have beaten the likes of Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Pink, Coldplay and Bruno Mars. Better than Damiano, Victoria, Ethan and Thomas only BTS and Olivia Rodrigo, current queen of all charts with her debut album. 10 hours ago
I’m just wondering if COVID restrictions are still in place come May 2022, or if there’s any doubt, maybe a smaller venue would be viable.. like the one in Florence.
I think if covid restrictions are still in place they might especially choose a bigger arena to keep distance between the artists like they did in the Ahoy Arena.
Milan in ” Palazzo delle Scintille” “City Life” with 14.000 seats
No space for additional halls required for press center, conference hall, etc.
Sanremo seem like an obvious choice, yet wouldn’t it be cheap to host BOTH your NF and Eurovision in the same stage? I guess they could build another arena but it wouldn’t be worth the money
Sanremo is NOT a choice, at all. No close airport. Not enough hotels. No venue. Nothing.
Yes, that’s what I’m saying, they would have to build everything from scratch!
Just the airport problem. Sanremo is closer to the airport of Nice than Genova. It’s just a stupid proposal of a stupid politician, Giovanni Toti, who doesn’t even know what is ESC. And it would be unfair Sanremo hosts 2 musical events in 3 months.
None of these cities stand a chance, except Milan. I’m pretty sure they’ll pick Turin in the end, it’s the most sensible choice.
Milan has a forum which is only 12k seats. If they build the stage and green room, it becomes 8k. Palazzo Delle Scintille is beautiful, especially the location, but doesn’t have, enough space for the collateral events such as dressing rooms, props storage, press room, delegations and fans room.
I read somewhere also Pesaro is in the list.
Not enough hotels and no close airport.
Hello Wiwibloggers. Some info from an Italian supporter and follower of the ESC from 30 years. The only current valid options are (in descending order of size and number of seats) : 1) Unipol Arena in Bologna – 18000-20000 seats (don’t know how many will remain after building the stage and green room). Has space outdoors to host the pressroom and fans hall. Only one local airport (not very interconnected with many european cities) but connected via high speed train to Milan (2Hr) and Rome (2Hr). 2) Pala Alpitour in Turin (designed by Harata Isozaki), the most iconic one and… Read more »
Fantastic analysis. Bravissimo! Send it to Stefano Coletta and Simona Martorelli, really
Thanks. I wish I could, but I don’t know how to contact them. I see most of proposals are done by people who doesn’t know what ESC or hosting the ESC means. Space for 26 delegations per the final with their resting area. Space for the sound check, rehersals, props storage with an easy and wide path access to the stage, large conference room, large press room, large fans groups etc. I hope they will take the right path. Having watched all the backstage videos on youtube for the last 10 ESC, I would say I know everthing needed to… Read more »
Ahaha. I never travel by train in Italy., either plane or car.
Your analysis is spot on, my two cents, Unipol I don’t like, not central enough, and personally if spotting Chiara or Fedez gets Milano bonus points, I’ll take Torino:)
If Verona does get selected, does that mean the participants will forced to get lost in the streets or Koit and Laura will be an honorable guests but they got lost on the way to the venue?
Verona will NEVER get selected. No roof on the arena. It may be used only for a postcard.
we have no problem for the postcards….. :-)))
Hope they use it for the Estonian postcard.
This is my favourite comment ever!
Every year we get these mad host city options by mayors and city officials that just don’t know the EBU requirements and still think an outdoor Eurovision is entirely possible, or a venue with a capacity way under the minimum 10,000.
So far, the only cities that are serious contenders in my opinion are Rome, Milan, Turin and Bologna. The host city will be one of those because they have the infrastructure to accommodate the contest. They have the most realistic bids.
Napoli is also a good choice. It has closed venues.
Where are these closed venues? Never heard of them.
The EBU picked the smaller venue in Israel (7.5k) despite the Pais Arena in Jerusalem being the bigger and more logical option. Venue capacity is not always the no.1 priority.
We all know why Tel Aviv was picked in 2019. Very different reasoning
Yes, venue capacity is a lower priority than making sure Eurovision doesn’t spark a full out diplomatic crisis.
2019 is an exception to the general rule. if Jerusalem was not so problematic, it would have been chosen. from 2015 to 2018, the general rule had always been respected.
The structure, owned by Generali Real Estate since 2019 and recently renovated to host events, has up to 13,500 seats for concerts and has a maximum height of 32 meters.
Are you speaking of the Palazzo delle Scintille in the Citylife part of Milan?
Michelle Hunziker as presenter, please.
surely she will be one of the best female candidates to present it ..
Potential candidates, Michelle Hunziker, Alessandro Cattelan, Federico Russo, Victoria Cabello and the old icons Raffaella Carrà or Milly Carlucci. I would have suggested also Mika, who has worked for italian TV and had an iconic show on his own. Or Måneskin themselves, especially Damiano and Victoria (if she’s able to control the bad words). But they are too young and inexperienced. There aren’t too many TV hosts in Italy speaking a perfect english.
Ciao a tutti. ..My favourite quartet is : the iconic Raffaella Carrà (she passionately wanted the return of Eurovision in Rai), Laura Pausini, the actor Alessandro Borghi, Alessandro Cattelan (he has just signed the contract in Rai).
Raffaella Carrà must be present, at least as a guest star: I imagine her that sings ” A far l’amore comincia tu”, at the beginning of Gran Final, in four languages (italian, spanish, english and french).
I don’t know if Raffaella Carrà has the strenght and physical stamina to manage 12 shows (between dress, jury, family and live exhibition). I would see her as a joker on the stage or in role like Nikkie de Jager. Maybe talking of look, or old songs, eurovision history or interviewing singers, and eventually singing a medley on the final, as you say. Mika would be a dream to have. He speaks english, french, italian, spanish and could easily participate in the interval act as singer. I don’t think RAI will choose him as he is not Italian. Don’t know… Read more »
Raffaella Carrà has a lot of energy, ….I think she has to be there, anyway. … as gueat star, as godmother. I can’t imagine that Coletta (that adores Raffaella Carrà)doesn’t invite her at Eurovision2022. She’s the only one that supports Eurovision in Italy since 2008 in her RAI show Carràmba, che sorpresa! ,in 2011 when Italy is back at the contest and also in Spain on TVE (Salvemos Eurovision) .
ok Roberto Bolle, an italian excellence.
other options: Valentina Cervi, Gabriella Pession, Lorenzo Richelmy, all italian actors that speak fluently English.
Who knows !!!
I can totally see Alessandro being one of the hosts.
For green carpet, green room or also moderation of the interviews in the conference room, but also as one of the co-hosts, I can also see Livio Bechir. He is the right man, already experienced in interviews and hosting a show, because he has mixed origins, as he is half Egyptian and half italian. Very cute man and speaking english and french, too. I also thought or Tiziano Ferro, for the gay community. I would put two men, one straight and one openly gay. Then two women.
Tiziano Ferro for the gay community? Are you joking? Tiziano Ferro is for all, not only for the gay community, as you say…. and, the male hosts, one straight and one openly gay? are you serious? It doesn’t matter the sexual orientation of the hosts. they may be bi-gay- lesbian-trans-straight…
Livio Beshir ok !
I agree. I only wanted to say that I hope RAI will be openminded and give a chance to anybody. I presume you are Italian and you perfectly know which party has selected then actual management of Italian broadcaster. And the lawsuit filed by RAI against Fedez for the Zan Law speech at the 1st of may concert. I only want to say the candidatures as host will be open to any sexual orientation. But, as you know, I still see it difficult, in Italy and under this management, to have a Nikki De Jager hosting the show. Do I… Read more »
It seems someone on Facebook wrote Mika has criticised ESC in the past. Cannot confirm if he is true.
currently it seems that Milan has proposed to carry out Eurovision in the “Palazzo delle Scintille” complex ….. link below
There is not enough space for the required conference room, press room, etc. Also the required 26 dressing rooms, sound check, rehersals, etc. Everhything shall be built temporarily outside the venue.
http://www.imprese-lavoro.com/2017/11/29/commercio-apre-a-milano-il-citylife-shopping-district/
TURIN OR FLORENCE FTW!
As always, quite a few cities that wouldn’t really work (small venues, not enough hotel capacity, no major airport) are trying to join. I imagine this list will be reduced quickly.
I love the idea of San Remo, but I imagine they don’t have a suitable venue. I’m not sure about hotels/airports – can anyone elaborate? 🙂
I wonder if larger halls might come into play under Martin Österdahl’s reign. The contest moved into smaller venues after Jon Ola Sand took over the job, I would be quite happy to see bigger arenas come back.
Already answered. Sanremo would be a NO GO by EBU. The closest airport is nice, km away. Genova airport is 150km away. So it’s only in the wicked mind of the governor Giovanni Toti to propose Sanremo.
One thing they atleast won’t have to worry about is postcard locations. They can throw darts blindfolded on a map of italy and still get 39 suitable locations xD
Exactly.
I hope that the postcards will be shot in some of the unknown, but astonishingly beautiful small villages scattered all over Italy. They deserve to be promoted for international tourism.
Dare to dream, Sanremo.
I think it is going to be between Turin , Milan and maybeeee Rome or Florence
Torino/Turin, Firenze/Florence, Milano/Milan, Napoli/Naples, Roma/Rome…there are so many cities that I’d love to see hosting Eurovision!!
I’m rooting for Rome or Napoli <3 More towards Napoli because it would be a great excuse from them to get an actual investment from the government to improve some areas of the city. It has venues and infrastructure.
I’d hope the federal government would invest in improving Napoli even without ESC!
Manifesting #Turin2022
Hell yeah!!!
Anyone game for a Torino manifestation sit in at Centro di Produzione Rai via Verdi??? 🙂 Only half joking.
Any one of those candidate cities would be amazing. Every Italian city has it’s one beauty. Ughh, such a country with lots of beatiful cities and lots of arenas. We deserved this kind of a city selection I guess.
FORZAAA MILANOOOOO
It’s going to be the Mediolanum Forum in Assago. Perfect size, next to a metro station with access to the arena. Plus, you can get flights from just about anywhere between Milano Linate and Malpensa airports. It’s the definition of a no-brainer.
The external look of the Forum di Assago is awful, not iconic at all. And if you put a green room and a stage, in the arena, the seats available risks to fall belowks 10000. It seems that also the height of the ceiling is a problem, being 16,5 meters instead than 18 required by EBU..
according to an Italian fan site eurofestivalnews, only four cities are eligible to host Eurovision next year, which are Rome, Milan, Turin and Bologna. https://www.eurofestivalnews.com/2021/05/23/eurovision-2022-requisiti-citta-ospitante/
It doesn’t include some of the cities that more recently have thrown their hat in, like Napoli or Firenze.
The article doesn’t talk about which cities want to host but those that respect the criteria from EBU to host. The arenas in both Florence and Naples are too small. Milan, Turin, Rome and Bologna are the only ones that have an arena for 10,000 people, at least an international airport nearby and enough accommodations.
florence is an underrated choice. one of, if not the most, beautiful city in italy
*in the world
I think Florence has immense historical and cultural value but does it have the suitable infrastructure to host?
The Nelson Mandela Forum can hold just 8,000 people
Not enough for ESC.
Manifattura tabacchi in Florence would be perfect