The ratings reward the show.
The Sanremo 2026 cover night was watched by 10.8 million viewers with a 65.6% share. This is still lower than last year, however, when the episode was watched by 13.6 million viewers, equal to a 70.8% share, according to the Total Audience released by Auditel.
The first half, from 9:43 PM to 11:37 PM, was watched by 14,39,000 viewers with a 64.4% share. The second half, from 11:42 PM to 1:41 AM, was watched by 7,519,000 viewers with a 67.9% share. The peak audience was at 10:08 PM with 15,800,000 viewers, and the highest share was at 1:24 AM with a 73.3% share. "Sanremo Start" – from 8:42 PM to 9:38 PM – attracted 12,506,000 viewers with a 51.9% share. The final episode, "DopoFestival," aired from 1:41 AM to 1:59 AM, was watched by 2,654,000 viewers with a 58.7% share. “PrimaFestival”, from 8.33pm to 8.41pm, had an audience of 7 million 836 thousand viewers with a 36.8% share.
To my successor I leave a festival "in excellent health," says Conti: "And I'm not the only one leaving it: Amadeus is leaving it, Claudio Baglioni is leaving it, and I'm leaving it. But Sanremo is moving forward on its own, with its queens, its knaves, and its kings." And regarding next year, he shocks the press room: "I could stay." "But I've had authorization from the RAI top brass to say it only tonight. We'll say it tonight, but not too late."
Tonight's lineup
On stage for the grand finale was co-host Giorgia Cardinaletti, a prominent figure on Tg1. The special guest was Andrea Bocelli, whose presence at the festival, seven years after his last appearance, ideally concludes the tribute to Baudo: it was Supergoofy, along with Caterina Caselli, who first believed in the young Tuscan talent, giving him the Festival spotlight and launching an extraordinary career.
It's impossible not to think of "Con te partirò," which premiered at Sanremo in 1995 and has become one of the most beloved and recognizable Italian songs in the world. Bocelli, who also represented Italy at the last Milan Cortina 2026 Games, will also be celebrating 30 years of Romanza in 2026, the best-selling album of all time, with over 20 million copies sold.
The 30 competing singers return to the stage: they will be judged by the public through televoting (34%), the Press Room, TV, and Web Jury (33%), and the Radio Jury (33%). The top five songs in the rankings are announced in no particular order, and the results are aggregated with those from the First Night's voting and the combined results from the Second and Third Nights, thus determining an overall ranking.
The top five songs are re-performed and submitted to the three juries for further judging. The results are combined with the overall results from the previous rounds, thus determining the final ranking and the winner of the 2026 Festival. The other four top five positions are also announced.
On the stage in Piazza Colombo, Pooh celebrate 60 years of music, emotion, and success.