It’s been a week full of Italian music thanks to Festival di Sanremo 2023. It all comes to a close on Saturday night, where one of the 28 competing acts will emerge as the winner and be given first refusal to represent Italy at Eurovision 2023.
We opened a flash poll on Friday to gauge who our readers are rooting for in the competition.
After counting a total of 2,226 votes, we can now reveal the result.
Marco Mengoni is a favourite to win Sanremo 2023
The winner of the poll is Marco Mengoni. His song “Due vite” (“Two lives”) was awarded 506 votes — that’s 22.73% of all those cast.
Having previously won Sanremo in 2013, the Italian star is back a decade later and aiming to do it all again. It seems y’all are in favour of this happening.
Second place is taken by Madame. Her entry “Il bene nel male” (“The good in the bad”) has quickly become a fan favourite, securing 382 votes (22.73% of the total).
Rounding out the top three is Lazza. It’s the Italian rapper’s debut appearance at the festival, but that hasn’t stopped him from catching people’s attention. In the poll, “Cenere” (“Ash”) was given 202 votes (9.07%).
Full results: Who should win Italy’s Sanremo 2023?
- Marco Mengoni – “Due vite” – 22.73%, 506 votes
- Madame – “Il bene nel male” – 17.16%, 382 votes
- Lazza – “Cenere” – 9.07%, 202 votes
- Elodie – “Due” – 8.49%, 189 votes
- Mr. Rain – “Supereroi” – 6.69%, 149 votes
- Rosa Chemical – “Made in Italy” – 5.39%, 120 votes
- Colapesce & Dimartino – “Splash” – 4.94%, 110 votes
- Ultimo – “Alba” – 3.86%, 86 votes
- Paola & Chiara – “Furore” – 3.32%, 74 votes
- Tananai – “Tango” – 2.88%, 64 votes
- Anna Oxa – “Sali (Canto dell’anima)” – 1.89%, 42 votes
- Olly – “Polvere” – 1.66%, 37 votes
- Gianmaria – “Mostro” – 1.66%, 37 votes
- Mara Sattei – “Duemilaminuti” – 1.21%, 27 votes
- Levante – “Vivo” – 1.17%, 26 votes
- Leo Gassmann – “Terzo cuore” – 1.17%, 26 votes
- Coma_Cose – “L’addio” – 0.94%, 21 votes
- Colla Zio – “Non mi va” – 0.94%, 21 votes
- Will – “Stupido” – 0.72%, 16 votes
- Ariete – “Mare di guai” – 0.72%, 16 votes
- Sethu – “Cause perse” – 0.63%, 14 votes
- Shari – “Egoista” – 0.49%, 11 votes
- Modà – “Lasciami” – 0.45%, 10 votes
- LDA – “Se poi domani” – 0.45%, 10 votes
- Giorgia – “Parole dette male” – 0.40%, 9 votes
- Gianluca Grignani – “Quando ti manca il fiato” – 0.36%, 8 votes
- Cugini di Campagna – “Lettera 22” – 0.36%, 8 votes
- Articolo 31 – “Un bel viaggio” – 0.22%, 5 votes
Total Votes: 2,226
Grand final show details
The final night of Festival di Sanremo 2023 takes place over two rounds. All 28 acts will perform their songs once again. The public televote combined with the results from the four previous nights will determine which five acts move onto the superfinal.
In the superfinal, the voting is wiped clean. The winner will be chosen by a combination of: 34% televoting, 33% press jury, 33% demiscopic jury.
Set your alarms for 20:40 CET, as that’s when the show will start. Expect it to run until the early hours of Sunday morning.
Do you agree with the results? Do you hope Marco Mengoni will go to Eurovision if he wins Sanremo 2023? Let us know in the comments below.
My favorites this year are Madame, Lazza and Colapesce Dimartino, I also have a soft spot for Tananai’s entry too.
Unfortunately, I think Marco will be the winner. The song is average, but I must admit that his voice elevates it. Still, people are overreacting to it xs
please no.
Fully rooting for Colapesce Dimartino tonight. Lazza would be another pick for me.
LAZZA
Would be a good entry, although I’d expect more from Italy. I’m not wowed by any of the sanremo’s songs this year, so if he goes to Eurovision, fine by me.
I don’t know why he is just so underrated (i understand that many say that they are irritated of his big fanbase and they are not seeing the beauty of his song), but personally i really enjoy his entry the most. I would be happy if he eventually won.
After the performance of yesterday with “Let it be” who showcases the incredible vocal skills of Marco Mengoni, any other result of him winning, will be undeserved. And as Italian we don’t care even if in Eurovision he will have zero points overall. His voice is just fantastic. No other can beat him among all the other artists of Sanremo 2023.
His voice is good but his song is really boring; do Italians always like boring ballads?
When Duncan Lawrence won did you wrote it was a boring ballad? When Amar Pelos Dois from the portuguese guy won did you wrote it was a boring fado-like song? It you don’t like ballads it’s your problem. Not everybody loves the hyperproduced songs with autotune or voices that don’t show any extension or skill. That’s it.
It is a ballad. Not a boring ballad. Stop generalise about Italians. Thank you!
Posso avere la preferenza di amare la sua canzone semplice e non quelle iperprodotte di Madame (la novax pentita), Lazza (che se è bravo ha tempo di farsi conoscere e vincere)? A me la canzone di Mengoni piace. Ha vinto Duncan Lawrence con un’altra ballad stracciamaroni. Non vedo perché Mengoni non possa vincere o arrivare nei primi 5. Che poi con sta menata che solo le canzoni iperprodotte possono vincere l’Eurovision avete anche rotto i cosiddetti. Amar Pelos Dois era una canzone semplice, ed ha vinto col più alto televoto di sempre. Quindi basta rompere le balle. Ti piace Madame… Read more »
Speak for yourself and not for all Italians. Thank you!
I am speaking for myself. But I can tell you I have a long stream of hits in determining who will win Sanremo and Eurivision after only one listen.
Probably you are illitterate and cannot read when I write “Italians choose quality” because we chose the song to win Sanremo. Non to win Eurovision. Because we all know Nordics will never give us 12 points, like UK. Even if we bring Beatles, UK will not give us 12 points. Denmake didn’t gave even 1 point to Måneskin, a band with a danish name. So you can bring whatever hyperproduced track you may like, but either it is so good as Måneskin, or you loose all the votes of the countries who vote for us because they appreciate the quality… Read more »
Sorry Vale, I misunderstood your sentence. I thought you were referring to me. Unfortunately of this stupid site it’s impossible to cancel mistakes or wrong comments. Same for my additional comment below.
My entire top 3 can probably make the superfinal last 5, but I don’t think any of them are beating Marco
I find it very hard to judge any of the Sanremo entries. They all sound very samey and the fact that they hardly have any staging makes it even harder to see which one stands out. Most of them seem standard Italian ballads. Madame, Elodie and Ultimo did manage to catch my attention, none of the others did really. I’m not that keen on Italy winning again anyway.
Really? Why not? I don’t think they have sent a single dud since they have returned. Sure, there were years when I wasn’t super keen on their entry, but it was always quality, wouldn’t you agree?
Yes I agree, Italy always sends great songs, but it mostly has to do with the way RAI organised the show last year. I thought it was one of the least enjoyable Eurovision shows I can remember. So I should say I’m not to keen on RAI hosting again.
Okay, I see, I didn’t think it was that bad, but then again, for me it’s mostly about the songs anyway, I rarely pay attention to the green room talk or the interval acts.
You are very democratic I see. Just because the stupid sun was not turning in 5 seconds, or the hosts were not the ones of your incredible country (I imagine a Nordic one, considering your name) or there was a rail camera cable breaking or some bad camera cut or some steadycamer visible on stage, then Italy cannot host anymore? Very democratic. Probably you don’t even know the reason why Eurovision has been created and that the idea comes from Sanremo and it was an Italian having the idea of the Eurovision. May I kindly send you to hell? Thank… Read more »
Congratulations from Ireland Vincenzo on a beautiful winning song from Marco. I love Sanremo and Italian music. It is written from the heart. I hope Elisa comes back next year. I want her to win in the future. I loved Michael Bravi’s song from last year too. It was awesome.
Maybe because they are in Italian and not in English like 75-80% of NF songs! Staging is not important in Sanremo. Get over it!
No, he is a Nordic. So he believes only Nordic country has the right to win Eurovision, to host it. That’s why they are voting between themselves each time. And they come here to teach to Italy how to organize a show. Them who always sing in English because, otherwise, nobody would ever vote for them. They are even not proud of their language and they are criticizing Italy and RAI.
I’m Dutch actually, and very happy and proud that my country sang in its own language last year. I’m sorry I have offended you, but I’m not going to enter in any discussion with you any further.
Yes, I know that Sanremo is geared towards the Italian audience. For me, who doesn’t speak Italian and doesn’t know the artists, it’s not very much fun to watch because I do not really distinguish a lot of variety in styles. And staging is not important but that gives me as a viewer less to grab onto. Besides that, I loved entries like Soldi and Zitti e buono, but I have not heard anything I liked that much in this year’s lineup
Zitti e buoni of course, damn autocorrect
I love Marco as an important member of the ESC family but I really hope that Ultimo or Lazza win. They need to see through for the song and not the name. Just as it was when he won the first time. Last year was the same. The songs from Irama and Michele Bravi were way better but the names and the tropes were stronger.
Also, any of them were more eager to take part of Eurovision than Blanco
I feel it’s pretty done deal for Marco so just let be pleasant suprise if it doesn’t happen.
That open 5th spot might be so crutial. That’s the only element that may shake i dunno
Marco’s song isn’t a winner, it’s an inoffensive classic Italian ballad, nothing new!
Madame is a potential Eurovision winner. I can see Gen-Z falling in love with her androgynous aesthetic and house/electronic track that has some rap elements, she’s literally the perfect representative. Italy, vote for the song and NOT the name!
I completely agree. Italian audience votes for the name, Marco Mengoni’s song is typical normal ballad; nothing special.
I want Lazza or Madame to win but it’ll probably be Marco.
Ultimo 🙂
Ikr. He delivers beautifully and is actually doing fine with the popular vote and demoscopic vote.
Probably the press room and the demoscopic jury will not align in favour of Ultimo.
It happened also in 2019 and Ultimo was clearly disappointed and called Mahmood as “the boy who won”.
Out of context: the camera job at Sanremo was SO BAD. It is making each songs less enjoyable… Extremely disappointing
Yes. We could see the whole crew before, during and after the acts. And there have been technical issues with the sound or communication in the first night. All singers sounded much better in the third night.
Marco’s song, especially live, is pleasant, but the reactions and cheers he collects from both the public and the press are way too dramatic. This convinces that he is overhyped for the wrong reasons, hence why he will likely win.
I believe that both Lazza and Madame’s tracks are way more complex and better produced; indeed their are outperforming Marco on streaming platforms.
Did you check his performance on “Let it be” yesterday night? Sincerely, I don’t give a fu*k for a better produced song. I would stare listening to his voice jamming vocally with the gospel choir like he did yesterday. Marco Mengoni will win Sanremo 2023. You better cope with that.
Sorry but in my opinion Marco is quite average. I prefer Madam or Lazza for Liverpool.
Marco average with that voice? You understand of music like my dog.
Lazza for Liverpool!
Mengoni’s performance is top ? but as italian I prefer Madame’ song ?????????
Madame for me.
Are people really this thirsty?! He’s great and his song is nice but is far from a masterpiece everyone’s bending backwards to convince themselves that it is.
You think so? I haven’t read a lot of comments stating that it’s a masterpiece. The reactions on the thread of the first night were rather subdued, I’d say. Or are you talking about the Italian press?
I was talking about the Italian press and all those who keep voting for him.
If the above two videos are anything to go by i’d be happy with either selected. Songs with melody great.
As long as it’s not Ultimo, Italy will do great.
If it comes down to the super top 5 we have Lazza and mr rain being the public favorites on spotify.
your readers will have their wish granted, we knew marco would win in the moment the names were revealed. i reckon he’d do well at esc, this is a standard italian ballad that people abroad expect from us and enjoy. not a fan of the song personally, so i’m open to a non-ultimo surprise winner.
As the biggest Marco fan here.
Do I think Marco has one of the best songs this year? Yes, with Ultimo, Mr. Rain and Madame
Do I think Marco has better songs in his catalogue? Also, yes. I could hear Mille Lire on a loop and never tire of it.
But I do think Due Vite would be a good entry for Italy if it gets selected. Even when I also think that an adult version of Supereroi would be a more impacting staging in Liverpool.
Neither juries nor the public would vote for Due Vite because the song is nothing special.
Mr. Rain and Madame are my favourite. Would love to see them in the top5 at least. Madame’s song could do really well at ESC and Mr. Rain is just such a nice guy, I wish we all had that positive attitude in life!
Really agree with this, think either would make good winners. Problem is if Mr.Rain wins, the children will not be allowed to perform in Eurovision. While Marco is an excellent performer the song is really a very standard Italian ballad and nothing special imo.
My favourite is Tananai , but i didn’t get the message of his song. It’s a slow song and the music video contains some footage from Turkey and Ukraine. I didn’t get the lyrics and i’m very curious what the song is about.
My top 5
Je sais qu’ils ne gagneront pas, notamment grâce/ à cause des fanbases d’Ultimo et de Mengoni, mais qu’est-ce que j’aime l’univers de Colespesce e Dimartino . Pourtant, je n’aime pas trop le vintage mais entre les textes, les clips et les collaborations réussies avec des rappeurs comme Fabri Fibra ( Propaganda) . C’est pour cela que j’aime suivre les sélections, c’est aussi pour découvrir les artistes d’autres pays même si ces derniers ne sont pas présents à l’Eurovision.
100% d’accord. J’adore leur “son” et l’originalite de leurs textes!
He’s alright. I find myself listening to Elodie’s and Madame’s songs more, though.