"From eternal boy to eternal rest it is a moment".

Gianni Morandi, 77, a glittering career and a very close relationship with the Festival, jokes at a press conference from Sanremo about his age. Yet the energy he releases on the stage where he climbs for the seventh time as a competitor (in 1987, among other things, he won with Enrico Ruggeri and Umberto Tozzi with "You can give more") and where he was host in 2011 and in 2012, it manages to be one of the freshest and newest of all.

"The secret - he reveals - is trying to reinvent life every day and be happy to face the new day".

The song, "Open all doors", written by Jovanotti and produced by the German musician of Turkish origin Mousse T. (with whom Morandi will play a medley on Friday's cover night) is fifth in the general press room ranking. The sonic impact follows the soul and funky style of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. “When I received it - says Morandi - I started singing it 10-15 times a day. There are so many difficult words and phrases that you have to chew over and over to make them yours. Now I can honestly feel it on me and it gives me energy ”.

Only a few weeks ago he risked exclusion from the race for having published (due to the brace in his hand after a domestic accident ) a small part of the song on social media. Rai has decided not to penalize him but the relationship with social media remains very important for Morandi: "I discovered that they are an extraordinary means if you use them well to keep in touch with people". The insults to which he is exposed as unfortunately all famous people do not scare him, far from it: “I think it is necessary to be nice to everyone, even to those who are rude. If you answer with irony maybe you make him change his mind ".