The annual showcase of Italian music returns today for its 69th edition. Popular singer Claudio Baglioni resumes his role as artistic director and presenter, and comedians Claudio Bisio and Virginia Raffaele will be his co-hosts.

As in previous editions, the festival will run for five consecutive nights but its format will be different this year.

Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo will perform as guest singers.

Whereas traditionally the competition was divided into two categories, one for established singers and the other for newcomers, this year there will only be one category featuring all the 24 competing acts.

These include the winners of Sanremo Giovani: Einar, one of the finalists of last year’s talent show Amici, and Mahmood. This competition was held in December to replace the nuove proposte category.

The line-up features a number of well-known artists, such as Arisa, Loredana Bertè, Simone Cristicchi, Francesco Renga, Nek, Daniele Silvestri, Negrita, Anna Tatangelo, Paola Turci and Il Volo, who have all participated in previous editions of the festival, with some of them proclaimed winners.

Other less familiar names include those of Irama, who won last year’s edition of Amici, and singer-songwriters Motta and Enrico Nigiotti.

There will also be a number of duets: Patty Pravo will perform together with Briga, Nino D’Angelo will be accompanied by Livio Cori and former Amici student Federica Carta will sing with rapper Shade.

The festival, in fact, will not just feature pop ballads, as various music genres will be represented. Completing the line-up are raggae group BoomDaBash, rappers Ghemon and Achille Lauro, hip hop singer-songwriter Ultimo, who won the newcomers category at Sanremo last year, indie pop group Ex-Otago and punk band The Zen Circus.

Various music genres will be represented

All the singers will take to the Ariston stage tonight. Twelve of them will perform again tomorrow evening and the rest on Thursday.

Friday night is duets night, where all the entries will be presented in a slightly different version alongside guest artists. Among the highlights are Cristicchi with Ermal Meta, Fabrizio Moro with Ultimo, Bertè with Irene Grandi, Nada with Motta, Tony Hadley with Arisa, Noemi with Irama and beloved children songstress Christina d’Avena with Carta and Shade.

The festival is renowned for hosting numerous Italian and international guests. Those announced so far include veteran presenter Pippo Baudo, Eros Romazzotti, Fiorella Mannoia, Marco Mengoni, Luciano Ligabue, Alessandra Amoroso, Andrea Bocelli, who will perform with his son Matteo, Giorgia, Elisa and Antonello Venditti.

The contest will come to an end on Saturday, when all the singers will perform for one last time. The winner, selected through three voting systems, will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel in May.

A lifetime achievement award will be presented posthumously to Neapolitan singer-songwriter Pino Daniele, who passed away four years ago.

Competitors and their entries

Arisa − Mi sento bene
Loredana Bertè − Cosa ti aspetti da me
BoomDaBash − Per un milione
Federica Carta e Shade − Senza farlo apposta
Simone Cristicchi − Abbi cura di me
Nino D’Angelo e Livio Cori – Un’altra luce
Einar − Parole nuove
Ex-Otago − Solo una canzone
Ghemon − Rose viola
Il Volo − Musica che resta
Irama − La ragazza con il cuore di latta
Achille Lauro − Rolls Royce
Mahmood − Soldi
Motta − Dov’è l’Italia
Negrita − I ragazzi stanno bene
Nek − Mi farò trovare pronto
Enrico Nigiotti − Nonno Hollywood
Patty Pravo con Briga − Un po’ come la vita
Francesco Renga − Aspetto che torni
Daniele Silvestri − Argento vivo
Anna Tatangelo − Le nostre anime di notte
The Zen Circus – L’amore è una dittatura
Paola Turci – L’ultimo ostacolo
Ultimo − I tuoi particolari