"Good evening, welcome to the Italian Song Festival, welcome to the Sanremo Festival." The 76th edition of the Italian song festival opens in the name of Pippo Baudo, as it couldn't be otherwise. The emperor of the thirteen Sanremos blesses the week with his unmistakable voice on the notes of "Perché Sanremo è Sanremo," the song by Pippo Caruso and Sergio Bardotti that symbolizes the Baudo Festival.
"He invented gossip and discussions," recalls Carlo Conti, who, however, of all the dictates of the host from Militello, chooses only one: sobriety, with a capital S, without risks and hazards.
Olly, the 2025 winner, takes the stage, repeating "Balorda Nostalgia" because "it's nice to start where we left off." Baudo also introduces Laura Pausini, recalling that first time in 1993. The "girl from Solarolo," a delightful improviser, passes her co-hosting test with flying colors: "I'm afraid of making a mistake, but I feel at ease. I'm at home, I'm with you." For her first test, Laura, elegant in an Armani suit, nailed it. And so did her perfect second version, impersonator Vincenzo De Lucia: "I'm the one hosting this village festival."
The other fitting tribute is to Maestro Peppe Vessicchio, who "conducts the orchestra," introduced by Mike Bongiorno, Fabio Fazio, Raffaella Carrà, Pippo Baudo, Gianni Morandi, Amadeus, and Carlo Conti himself, in an imaginary overview of the history of Sanremo. "A man, a husband, a father, a wonderful friend," says Pausini. A gentle presence capable of entering Italian homes on tiptoe. But in Sanremo, that's how it works: if you remember one, you remember them all. And so Angela Luce, Tony Dallara, Sandro Giacobbe, Gianni Pettenati, and Maurizio Costanzo, who died exactly three years ago. And then Ornella Vanoni: "Camilla Ardenzi, her granddaughter, will be here with us on Wednesday to give us her version of 'Eternità'."
Promotion aside, the choice of co-host Can Yaman remains a mystery. He enters the scene to the tune of "Sandokan," of which he stars in the Rai remake, and then disappears. The Turkish actor's on-screen presence can be counted on one hand: he gets Laura Pausini to sing in Turkish to the tune of "Kuzu Kuzu" by his compatriot Tarkan. And then he plays along in the "carrambata" with Kabir Bedi, the "real" Sandokan from Sergio Sollima's TV series, which is now turning fifty. A tense confrontation complete with a bloody challenge with the tiger, "neither of which was harmed."
The special guest is Tiziano Ferro, celebrating twenty-five years of his career. The singer-songwriter from Latina, six years after his last performance at the Ariston and twenty years after his duet with Michele Zarrillo, performs his most beloved hits: "Ti scatterò una foto," "La differenza tra me e te," "Lo stadio," and "Xdono ": "This quarter century of mine is worth five centuries more, everything has happened to me." Fame, of course, but also a lost love. The Ariston warms him up, as does Max Pezzali in a quick medley from the ship anchored on the Riviera.
A standing ovation instead for the true "guest of honor of this festival" : Gianna Pratesi, 105, from Chiavari, who in 1946, like all Italian women, was called to vote for the first time. "In my house, everyone was left-wing, I voted for the Republic, finally women were voting!" exults Gianna (so much for the Meloni festival), who reads "three newspapers every morning without glasses." Conti calls for applause: "Her testimony must be an example for younger people, because what we have today is the achievement of so many people, who even lost their lives for us." It's all beautiful, except that the Ariston theater's graphics mistakenly transform La Repubblica into "Repupplica."
The stage features an endless, very long parade of the 30 Big names in the competition, subject to the vote of the Jury of the Press Room, TV and Web. It's difficult to get to the end: those making the top 5 are (in "random" order) Arisa, Serena Brancale, Fulminacci, Ditonellapiaga and Fedez and Masini.
But another response awaits the Festival: that of the Auditel ratings. Conti knows full well that this year is tough, between the Champions League play-offs and competition from other networks, which this time have been less forgiving than usual. And in fact, he's prepared: "The scenario is different, we've moved up two weeks, the competition is different, there are football matches." The figures will be cast in a few hours.