Sanremo 2023

The iconic Festival di Sanremo has returned to the Ariston Theatre this week, with 28 acts competing for the prestigious 2023 trophy.

Over the first three nights of the festival, we’ve been able to see all the acts perform their songs twice.

So now it’s time for you to have your say. Who has caught your attention? Which act do you want to represent Italy at Eurovision 2023?

Scroll down to vote in our poll

Sanremo 2023: Competing acts

You can remind yourself of all 28 entires below. Click on the song titles to watch their performances, or listen to all the songs in our Spotify playlist.

Poll: Who should win Italy’s Sanremo 2023?

Who did you vote for? Do you think any of these acts could give Italy another Eurovision victory? Let us know in the comments below.

85 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Tibor
Tibor
1 year ago

My very personal choice for the top 5 would be Levante, Elodie, Lazza, Colapesce Dimartino and then probably Sethu. I’m not really feeling Madame’s studio cut, although I love her live performance. I like “Alba” as a song, but not Ultimo as a performer. It goes without saying that any of these plus the actual front runner Marco Mengoni plus half of the rest would get Italy a more than decent result at Eurovision. I keep repeating it, a festival like Sanremo is just a very smart thing for a whole number of reasons.

Raf
Raf
1 year ago

For me it’s only Paula & Chiara! Great song, great live vocals and great live performance. Welcome back, Girls!

Jeroen
Jeroen
1 year ago

Splash is the only wise choice to make for a decent ranking in Liverpool. And is obviously my favourite.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Jeroen

Of course this is your personal opinion. As we have different tastes, you may be wrong. I believe that also Marco Mengoni can make a decent position. Not worse than the 7th place of 2013. None of us knows the taste of all the Eurovision fans. The only ones proving to be right were the famous betting companies in UK. They got the right winner of the last N years. So, believe me, I trust more their advice than yours

Michael
Michael
1 year ago

Hope that Lazza or Madame would win. Marco Mengoni’s song is really boring; typical ballad

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Michael

Arcade from Dancan Lawrence was a typical ballad, too.

Polegend Godnova
1 year ago
Reply to  Michael

i agree with you, but at the same time, the general public both in italy and abroad loves a generic italian ballad haha

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago

And that’s when we get votes from Albania, France, Greece, Israel, Malta, Cyprus etc.

Ria NL
Ria NL
1 year ago

Marco Mengoni and Moda are my favorites

Giorgio
Giorgio
1 year ago

i didn’t get to vote here but i will vote for Lazza tonight

lasse braun
lasse braun
1 year ago

anna oxa was phenomenal on the cover evening but still got no love.

winner?
is that real a question with dominator m.m?
but i would prefer madame,rosa chemical,lazza and anna oxa of course.
but that remains only a dream.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  lasse braun

I believe Anna Oxa is paying the years of crazy behaviour, polemics, totally out of mind statements she was saying. She has been claiming she was in danger, Italy hated her, paranoiac behaviour etc. I guess that’s the reason she is so underrated. She has one of the best female voices in Italy, together with Mina, Antonella Ruggiero, Giuni Russo and others. But she is too unpredictable. I would be more happy to see her top 10 or top 5. But she has to work on reestablishing confidence with the italian audience and act less as a diva.

Fatima
Fatima
1 year ago
Reply to  Vincenzo

She would have won Eurovision 1997 had Storie won at San Remo. And I’m from the UK

Jonny
Jonny
1 year ago

I like Ultimo’s Alba but somehow it reminds me of ‘Kuula’

Chris
Chris
1 year ago

Marco and Colapesce & Dimartino are my favorites

I think splash is criminally underrated

Jeroen
Jeroen
1 year ago
Reply to  Chris

Have to agree on Splash being underrated. Excellent lyrics by the way.

S?tham
S?tham
1 year ago

Marco have an amazing voice, but the song … so simple, it’s like I heard a song like that a 100 times, so Italian pls we need to see Madame in Eurovision, she’s ready !

Michael
Michael
1 year ago
Reply to  S?tham

I agree. The song is boring; nothing special ballad song.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  S?tham

Madame has the “little problem” of having cheated on the Covid 19 green pass, as, even with no vaccine, she got from a criminal doctor a fake covid pass, while other 40 o 50 millions of Italians complied to the rules. I don’t think she will top the televote. And if you don’t get a good position on televote, you cannot win.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
1 year ago

Who should win SanRemo? There’s about ten acts that would make excellent winners because there is quality throughout the top half of the selection.
In terms of Eurovision, any of those entries would instantly be in the top three of songs selected so far.

Ifty
Ifty
1 year ago

Let’s all take a minute to think about how it’s likely that the Sanremo winner will be a dude again this year, and if it would be the same next year also then it will close a full decade of only men winning the competition (last female winner was in 2014!). Also since 2016 Italy sent 9 men to Eurovision and only the Maneskin guitarist as a woman. And everyone seems to be cool with that. Meanwhile if Sweden sends dudes 3 years in a row everyone is outraged and some people won’t vote for them over that. Just say’n… Read more »

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Ifty

Victoria won Sanremo in 2021, but yeah, that’s not enough.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Ifty

We all now ladies in Sweden have more power than men. So maybe the reaction of a stream of male winner would cause a wave of complaints, more than in Italy. t’s a different culture. That said, I agree it is time a woman wins Sanremo. Stadio won Sanremo in 2016 and RAI sent Francesca Michielin to ESC. We will see who is the winner and if he will accept to go to ESC.

now that i see the light
now that i see the light
1 year ago
Reply to  Vincenzo

What do you mean ‘we will see who is the winner and if he will accept to go to ESC.’ ?
So they ask the winner after the show ? I thought participants decide if they would go at the beginning of sanremo

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago

Yes. But RAI will inform us only after the winner proclamation if the winner accepted to go to Eurovision or not. They don’t disclose this info before.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Ifty

Anyway I appreciate the toned balance of your comment, just expressing your preference. Not disrespecting Marco Mengoni or wishing him to perform badly or make a mess to loose the first position, as written here by other toxic fans who believe that only the music they like is valid. Concerning Marco Mengoni, I bet everybody appreciates his vocal skills, vocal expression, interpretation, etc. If he wins, he will not be an undeserved winner. Then if you don’t like the ballad, this ballad, find it bland or “déjà vu”, the lyrics, or whatever, or if only you have different tastes in… Read more »

EuroTiggESC
EuroTiggESC
1 year ago

My head says Marco Mengoni, my heart wishes Rosa Chemical.

Mbappe
Mbappe
1 year ago

Regardless of results, my winner of this year’s SR will always remain Madame, and also voted for the other ones in my current and possibly final top 5, Elodie, Colapesce + DiMartino, Coma_Cose (didn’t pay attention to C_C at first but the studio version is really nice) and Ariete.

Sabrina
Sabrina
1 year ago

Voted for Colapesce Dimartino, Elodie, Lazza and Madame.

Roro31
Roro31
1 year ago

My top 5 :

1. Marco Mengoni
2. Lazza
3. Madame
4. Mr Rain
5. Elodie

Ultimo its beautiful but so boring for Eurovision… Please Italian people …

Tommm
Tommm
1 year ago

Mengoni is overatted – Its Diodato 2.0 …

Michael
Michael
1 year ago
Reply to  Tommm

Completely agree; would receive few public votes if He was chosen to represent Italy.

mark dowd
mark dowd
1 year ago
Reply to  Tommm

insult to Diadato..

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
1 year ago
Reply to  Tommm

Such a weird statement. Are you trying to say that Mengoni has a masterpiece and would win Eurovision if selected?

Jay
Jay
1 year ago
Reply to  Tommm

Clearly you do not comprehend the lyrics. Marco is a performer, the very best

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Jay

He doesn’t understand anything on vocal skills and technique, too.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Tommm

Diodato presented a wonderful song and has a crystal clear voice with a perfect pitch and intonation. But what the hell do you understand of these “minor” vocal technique details. You just want your dance song to move your ass at the disco, and that’s it.

now that i see the light
now that i see the light
1 year ago

rosa chemical

Ricky
Ricky
1 year ago

Marco, Elodie and Most definitely Madame! Those 3 are by far my favorites! I think Madame could pull a Mahmood!

Thallo
Thallo
1 year ago

Madame, by a mile.

Marco’s song is a typical Italian ballad and whilst there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s simply nothing special. Madame on the other hand, she’s different and so is her song, we haven’t had anything like that at Eurovision.

Nitzan
Nitzan
1 year ago
Reply to  Thallo

Madame is the new Soldi!

Michael
Michael
1 year ago
Reply to  Thallo

Completely agree. Mengoni’s songs is typical boring ballad; nothing special.

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
1 year ago

Mr. Rain with supereroi is beautiful. I think it could translate really well to the eurovision stage.

I feel like in these kind of polls previous contestants in eurovision or the selections always instantly reach the top 5 no matter the song.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Frisian esc

Mr Rain will not be able to have children on stage due to age limit. Another stupid rule of Eurovision. At least for a chorus. So the performance will loose a lot. The song without the children effect is average. There is also a problem for Sanremo in case he goes top 5. Children cannot be on live TV in Italy beyond midnight.

Sometimes
Sometimes
1 year ago

Marco Mengoni and Mr.Rain were only ones i wanted to listen more than once.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Sometimes

Problem of Mr Rain is the fact it will be impossible to bring the children chorus on stage. If you make it a recorded chorus it’s weaker. Problem for Mengoni is to cut the song by 40 seconds. Thus 3 minutes limit starts to be crazy, indeed. They should increase to 3:30 at least. It us 13 minutes more in the length of the final. Not a disaster.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Vincenzo

Norway’s song is only 2.29. I think they should lend Marco the remaining .31, because why not? If he goes.

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

That won’t be necessary. Ultimo only needs 29. But my guess is Norway will use their whole time wisely. They could make an intro or they might be shown longer afterwards so Alessandra say thank you in more languages. Douwe Bob got his silence break. No time will be shared.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Ari

If Marco wants to turn over his Liverpool slot to Ultimo as an act of charity, that would be very nice. I like Ultimo too.

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

Ultimo doesn’t need charity. He already won the real vote once and got robbed. He can’t get robbed of the people knowing he’s the best songwriter here and he doesn’t need a charity trip to Liverpool. Your arrogance is something he probably doesn’t need, either.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Ari

Okay. I’ll try to remember that it’s only funny when you do it. Thank you for the guidance.

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

The difference is when I do it I’m accurate. Suggesting an artist who writes his own music and has even more listeners than Marco Mengoni needs charity from anyone is simply insane. Charity is more what Sweden is doing when they are donating terrible WrethovBarker songs to everyone who needs one.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Ari

Charity I’ll call it an act of “generosity” instead. Is that better for you? Ultimo’s song is good, but Marco’s is better. Truth is truth.

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

Nope, still terrible and wrong. Your truth is not the truth.

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

Not to mention that I don’t even know if either one even wants to go to Liverpool.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Ari

I just want to remind you that Ultimo was not a songwriter on his 2018 televote winner, I know you would appreciate this fact. It’s very important.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

2019

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

He is the sole songwriter of the much better „Alba“ in case you haven’t noticed. And yes, I appreciate this fact. It shows he is not just a singer.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Ari

In summation…

I will be happy if Ultimo wins. I will also be happy if Levante, Elodie, Lazzo, Madame, Colapesce Dimartino or Rosa Chemical win. I will be happiest if Marco Mengoni wins. This is my truth.

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

Then your happiness is almost guaranteed. I’m happy that Alba exists and I can listen to it as much as I want. This is mine.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Jonas

Jonas, don’t bother. Ultimo fans are like this. As soon as you say you don’t like Ultimo’s song they change to “aggressive mode on”. Then when Ultimo, during the 2019 conference call after his runner up position behind Mahmood, he said “that boy who won” to avoid pronouncing Mahmood’s name, he clearly shows he is a little bit arrogant. I don’t think Ultimo will win this time, just exactly as he didn’t win in 2019, when he was first on televote but this was overturned by jury and press votes. It will happen the same this time.

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
1 year ago
Reply to  Vincenzo

You could always have an army of kids on the led background.

Or we ask the background singers of Daz Simpson back 😀

Sometimes
Sometimes
1 year ago
Reply to  Vincenzo

Honestly i would prefer it without children on the stage, it looked quite awkward on the stage.
Backing track would work well in eurovision with the new rules.

Zanoni
Zanoni
1 year ago
Reply to  Vincenzo

Is it typical for Sanremo songs to run over three minutes and then be edited down if they win? It seems like a lot of the songs this year run over.

Zed
Zed
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

Sanremo is not a song selection show for Eurovision, so no one cares about 3 minutes rule

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

Yes, they seem to always have to lose a good chunk.

Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  Zanoni

Yes. The 3 minute limit imposed by EBU is crazy.

Escfan
Escfan
1 year ago

Theres a number of songs I like which includes Madame, Lazza,Sethu and Rosa Chemical’s but I think Marco will win.

Kind of surprised he’s leading this poll, I thought from reading the comments of the last few nights that Lazza,Madame, Mr Rain were the main ones people liked and that people found Marco’s song a bit bland but he’s leading atm.

Daxo
Daxo
1 year ago

Rosa Chemical

Jghtl
1 year ago

Lazza and Colapesce & Dimartino are my favorites

Ari
Ari
1 year ago

Ultimo is the ultimate choice. Such a beautifully poetic song. My favorite of the entire season without competition. No matter how hopeless the music in the other countries is, Italy always manages to include at least one gem. This one. I love it. This is the difference between songwriters like Ultimo and song peddlers like Barker and Wrethov. They will never be able to do magic together with ten others the way true ARTISTS like Ultimo do by themselves.

Thanos
Thanos
1 year ago

Madame is my clear winner and I would love for her to be in Eurovision as well! I really hope she wins even if it’s not very likely as it seems. Colapesce & Dimartino are my second place, and I love Splash even more than their entry from 2021. Elodie, Lazza, Mengoni and Anna Oxa are all songs I like and would be worthy winners. I also have a soft spot from Leo Gassmann, LDA and Moda with the latter perhaps being close to entering my top 5 of Sanremo. Ultimo’s song is good yet far from being in top… Read more »

Edu
Edu
1 year ago

My only hope is Mr Rain but it seems is not the fav to win. Anyway, all the best for him!!

Grft
Grft
1 year ago

Madame please

TMay
TMay
1 year ago

Be prepared for Ultimo to end up winning. Apparently he won last night, both televote and overall, but he didn’t have enough point to overcome Marcos score from his night and yesterday.

Really hoping Lazzo wins this though. If not him, Marco or Madame

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  TMay

Well that’s perfectly alright because 1st place is the only place Ultimo‘s song deserves in this competition.

Andrea
Andrea
1 year ago
Reply to  Ari

A fun fact is that “Ultimo” means “The last one”.

Sometimes
Sometimes
1 year ago
Reply to  TMay

I feel that to truly appreciate Ultimo’s song you need to know the language,
as i don’t….it really does nothing for me…

Ari
Ari
1 year ago
Reply to  Sometimes

I must have magic powers then since I don’t speak Italian either and truly appreciate it.

Jonas
Jonas
1 year ago
Reply to  TMay

I think he might have enough dedicated fans to settle the grudge of 2019.

Matt
Matt
1 year ago
Reply to  TMay

In fact Mr. Rain has won 3rd night by far.

sucof
sucof
1 year ago

The Black Eyed Peas fell in love with the scenography of Sanremo and in the future they could collaborate with Maria Chiara and Gaetano Castelli. It was Amadeus who revealed that the American group wanted to meet the set designers of the Festival during last night’s live broadcast: but what happened to the Ariston and what did they say during the meeting? “Their rehearsals were behind closed doors and they wouldn’t let us in. So my collaborators and I left the theater for lunch and when I was in Piazza Colombo, one of the authors of the Festival, Alessio De… Read more »

sucof
sucof
1 year ago
Reply to  sucof
Vincenzo
Vincenzo
1 year ago
Reply to  sucof

Bravo Sucof. Ma pensi che i trogloditi qui capiranno? Continueranno a ripetere nei secoli “broken sun, broken sun”. Ho visto alcune altre national finals ed una scenografia come Sanremo se la sognano. Anche quella di Liverpool è piatta ed anonima.

sucof
sucof
1 year ago
Reply to  Vincenzo

I like to instigate trolls 🙂