This year’s highly anticipated Sanremo week has concluded, crowning Angelina Mango as the
festival’s winner and Italy’s representative to Eurovision. Sanremo is a week-long affair;
however, did you know that the festival’s fourth night is quite different from all the others? Let
me tell you about it!
On the fourth night, contestants perform covers of other songs and can invite guests of their
choosing. This night has become my absolute favorite because we get a little reprieve from the
same songs we have been listening to all week, and that start playing in your head at random
intervals.
Inspired by flowers, I must say this year’s stage was nothing short of impressive. Hosting the
show was the legendary Amadeus, who’s been the artistic director for last five years. Amadeus
has been praised for making Sanremo exciting again, attracting a younger audience and
breaking the stereotype of “a festival for the elderly”. The numbers don’t lie - this year’s edition
in particular has broken all past viewership records.
The show ran until the early hours of the morning, for what seemed like an eternity, with 30
acts performing (not including the guest artists). The host remarked that there were 171 artists
backstage and even joked: “If you tried opening Spotify now, it will say “Closed” because all the
Italian artists are here at Sanremo.”
These are the performances that stood out to me the most:
Annalisa sang Sweet Dreams (with La Rappresentate di Lisa), giving us incredible vocals
and an energetic performance.
http://tinyurl.com/2zyma8mz
Ghali started off in Arabic, with Bayna (from his 2022 album), an homage to his
Tunisian origins, and transitioned to Toto Cutugnos’s classic “Italiano
Vero”. His message was that you can be Italian even if you have other
origins. Ghali later mentioned this was the only Italian song his mom used
to sing when he was a kid, and it was the last memory he had of his
parents together.
http://tinyurl.com/ptmkbkcv
Angelina Mango sang “La rondine”, an homage to her late father Mango, a famed Italian
singer who died from a heart attack in 2013 when Angelina was just 13 years old. It was
an incredibly moving performance, receiviving a long standing ovation. There was not a
single person in the audience without a tear in their eye.
http://tinyurl.com/32b3x3vf
When the covers night winner, Geolier, was announced, the audience would not stop booing.
While Geolier did win the televote, Angelina won the jury and press votes and came in a close
second.