"But who are they? Who knows them?" No sooner had the name of the thirtieth big name competing in the next edition of Sanremo been announced than social media was already going wild with the most popular and beloved national sport: complaining. Young and old, fans from the first hour to the last, no one seems happy with this cast, swollen from 26 to 30 due to a minor rule change "based on unquestionable artistic and editorial judgment."

Of course, this time more than ever, the somewhat casual use of the adjective "big" is debatable : does making a splash with a single song on TikTok make you "big"? Or are big, sometimes gigantic, just the numbers? And let's look at it the other way around: do you stay big indefinitely even after a long absence from the music scene, or do you become big by churning out records and selling out?

Carlo Conti shrugs off the controversy like dust from a jacket: "I'm not very social, I don't read anything and I don't watch anything," he says in an interview with RTL 102.5. But you can bet his ears are burning, and, updated on the ongoing storm, he philosophizes: "Big or not big, it's all relative." His mother-in-law, for example, "doesn't know who Samurai Jay is, but she knows who Patti Pravo is. Conversely, maybe there's a kid who doesn't know who Patti Pravo is and knows Aka7even very well." And then there's the phenomenon Lucio Corsi: "Look what he's managed to do." In short, the goal is to "expand as much as possible to different generations" with "a cross-section of what, at the moment, is the musical offering in our country."

Of course, ten out of thirty debuts are a lot, and it's disappointing that the only "famous" newcomer is Tommaso Paradiso. All the others are rising stars, like Tredici Pietro, Sayf, Eddie Brock, or the aforementioned Samurai Jay , or lesser-known to the general public despite several years of career, like Luchè, Nayt, Chiello, or the Milanese Bambole di Pezza. As for the remaining twenty , they're hardly surprising, including buzz-worthy pairs like Fedez and Marco Masini, longtime Festival friends like Malika Ayane and a resurgent Raf, and former winners like Arisa, Francesco Renga, and Ermal Meta. And others who, despite being temporary, haven't left an indelible mark, like Michele Bravi, Mara Sattei, and Enrico Nigiotti. There's no denying it: there's a lack of stadium-level artists, first-timers worthy of the name.

Rumors of a possible departure from Sanremo are becoming increasingly insistent, a relentless pursuit of mega-visibility that demands an ever-increasing price. But Conti rejects this theory: the thirty songs he chose are, in his opinion, the best of the (nothing) 270 submitted. We can only trust him.

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