From Marisa Sannia to the Tenores di Bitti with Mahmood: all the Sardinians who sang at Sanremo

The thousand-year-old sound of the Island celebrated last year by Mahmood and the Tenores di Bitti still resounds at the Ariston. And that's a good thing because this year, but here we're only talking about the competition, we'll have to settle for echoes.

Sardinia in the 75th edition of the Festival will not see big names on stage but will be represented by Mahmood himself , who with Blanco signs Noemi's piece "Se t'innamori muori" and will certainly sing during the co-hosting on Friday, when he will share the stage with Geppi Cucciari and the host Carlo Conti. Even further behind the scenes there will be Slait, a producer from Olbia born in '87, aka Iacopo Pisano, who took care of the production and arrangement of Giorgia's piece "La cura per me", one of the favorites for the victory.

The history of the Island at the Festival began precisely sixty years ago, 14 after "Grazie dei fiori" by Nilla Pizzi, when the 23-year-old bricklayer from Telti Vittorio Inzaina sang with the Malagasy group Les Surfs Si vedere in the Ballroom of the Sanremo Casino and came in second behind Bobby Solo.

In 1968 Marisa Sannia made her debut at the Festival : just 21 years old, the singer from Iglesias, paired with Ornella Vanoni, captured the audience with Casa Bianca, written by Don Backy, and won a silver medal. Sannia returned to the Festival three more times until 1984, enough to see fashions, music and the transition from black and white to color change.

In 1970, the Galluran Angelo Sotgiu of Ricchi e povero, with Angela Brambati, Franco Gatti and Marina Occhiena, debuted at Sanremo with La prima cosa bella and won in 1985 with Se m'innamoro. The 13th participation in 2024 was very lucky: the two Angels, wearing ribbons and always coordinated, hit the jackpot with Ma non tutta la vita, also published in Spanish, which went viral on TikTok and was very popular on Spotify and YouTube.

In 1977, in Sanremo, the first of four times for the Collage from Olbia: Masino Usai, Piero Pischedda, Pino Ambrosio, Tore Fazzi and Piero Fazzi won second place with Tu mi rubi l'anima.

Fiordaliso, from Emilia but with a father from Quarto, participated nine times. Her best placement was fifth place in 1984 with the hit Non voglio mica la luna.

In 1988 it was the turn of the Sassari-based band Ice (Andrea Desole, Massimo Cossu, Uccio Soro, Giancarlo Longoni and Paolo Zannin): they brought to Sanremo in the Nuove Proposte section Mama, the first song in limba of the Festival, written by Piero Marras.

In 1991, finally, Tazenda (Andrea Parodi, Gino Marielli and Gigi Camedda). The Italian version of Disamparados, with the special touch of Pierangelo Bertoli, becomes Spunta la luna dal monte. The song wins the Targa Tenco and is still one of the most beautiful in the history of the Festival. The following year, in 1992, they return to the Ariston with Pitzinnos in sa gherra, also written by Fabrizio De André.

In 1993 Maria Grazia Impero, from Calangianus, sang Tu con la mia amica, while in 2001 Isola Song – Tore Melis, Rocco Melis, Giuseppe Melis and Massimiliano Podda – arrived among the New Proposals with Grazie.

In 2005, Francesco Renga, father of Tula, wins by a landslide with Angelo. And we come to 2009: Marco Carta from Cagliari, fresh from his triumph at Amici, triumphs with La forza mia, a song that stays in the Top Singles for 6 weeks. The crown passes the following year with Per tutte le volte che... to Valerio Scanu from La Maddalena, who came in second at Amici in 2009. The song is certified platinum, with over 30 thousand digital sales. Scanu will try again in 2016 with Finalmente piove.

Also in 2010, Ambra Pintore sang some verses in Sardinian from Nino D'Angelo's song Jammo jà at Sanremo. In 2013, among the New Proposals, there was Ilaria Porceddu from Cagliari: with In equilibrio, a text inspired by Federico Fellini's La strada, a chorus in limba, she ranked second behind Antonio Maggio.

Two Festivals for Bianca Atzei , born in Milan and originally from Siamanna. In 2015 with Il solo al mondo, in 2017 with Ora esisti solo tu. In 2019 with Shade it is the turn of Federica Carta, star of Amici con parenti di Bonorva.

In 2024, Alessandro De Santis of the duo Santi Francesi arrives at the Festival, proud of a mamuthone tattooed on his arm: a tribute to Burcei's grandfather, who emigrated to Piedmont at a very young age and then returned to Castiadas many years later.

Finally Mahmood, Egyptian father and mother from Orosei, who in 2019 was first with Soldi and second at the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2022 the encore with Blanco and their Brividi. Last year Tuta Gold, written in the summer in Orosei, won sixth place and the first, overall, among the most listened to pieces on Spotify in 2024.