Music and much more

The 65th edition of Sanremo kicks off today, with a good mix of artistes, music genres – from rock to rap to classic ballads – and a myriad surprises.

Some well-known names in the Italian music industry, like Raf, Alex Britti, Gianluca Grignani and Nek will vie against singers fresh from talent shows like Dear Jack, a rock band that became popular in the last edition of Amici; Moreno, the rapper who won the same show in 2013; and singer-songwriter Lorenzo Fragola, who was crowned the victor of the last edition of the Italian version of The X Factor.

Children’s talent programme Ti lascio una canzone was the launching pad of Il Volo, an operatic trio who are also participating for the first time in the festival. Since their debut in 2009, they have toured worldwide, from the US to Taiwan to New Zealand and can count Barbra Streisand, Placido Domingo and Anastacia among their friends.

This year the festival returns to its original format

Other former talent show stars, who have already performed at Sanremo, are Annalisa, who had participated in the 10th edition of Amici, and Chiara, who rose to fame after winning The X Factor in 2012.

Standing out among the rest of the female participants are the popular Irene Grandi, Anna Tatangelo, Nina Zilli and Malika Ayane, who this year will perform with braces.

Making her debut on the Ariston stage is the Belgian-born Canadian singer Lara Fabian, who has won multiple awards around the world since she represented Luxembourg in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. Fabian, who was born to an Italian mother and Flemish father, sings in Italian, French and English.

The festival sees the welcome return of Marco Masini, who won the festival in 2004 with L’uomo volante. He said in an interview that he is no longer “as angry” as he was in the 1990s, something which was reflected in the lyrics of his first hits.

Surprise acts are surely those of comic duo Fabrizio Biggio and Francesco Mandelli, best known for the TV comic show I soliti idioti, and the teaming up of Grazia di Michele, known among the younger generations for her role as tutor in Amici, and Mauro Coruzzi, aka Platinette, the opinionated drag queen.

This year the festival returns to its original format, wherein the 20 established singers will compete with one, not two songs. They will present their entries over the first two nights of the festival and the eight newcomers will perform on the second and third nights. Thursday’s show is dedicated to cover versions of famous Italian songs.

The winner of the newcomers’ category will be announced on Friday, while the winner among the established singers will be announced on Saturday. Voting is done by a panel of judges and televoting.

One of the novelties this year are the hosts: Rai presenter Carlo Conti will be flanked by singers Emma and Arisa and Spanish actress Rocío Muñoz Morales.

Emma, a winner of Amici herself, triumphed at Sanremo in 2012 with Non è l’inferno, while Arisa won the newcomers’ category with Sincerità in 2009 and won the main category with Controvento in 2014. Muñoz Morales is best known for her role in the TV series Un passo dal cielo and is the girlfriend of actor Raul Bova.

As always, the festival will not be shorn of star power. Among the guest singers are Al Bano and Romina Power who will perform on the Ariston stage for the first time together in 24 years; Tiziano Ferro, Imagine Dragons, Ed Sheeran, Gianna Nannini and Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst.

Charlize Theron and Will Smith will bring some Hollywood glamour. Other guests include pianist and composer Giovanni Allevi and French deep house and electro music producer The Avener.

Newcomers

Amara, Credo
Serena Brancale, Galleggiare
Giovanni Caccamo, Ritornero da te
Chanty, Ritornerai
Kalligola, Oltre il giardino
Kutso, Elisa
Enrico Nigiotti, Qualcosa da decidere
Rakele, Io non lo so cos’è l’amore

Main category

Newcomers

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