Last February, Milanese singer Mahmood won the Sanremo Festival for the second time, this time alongside Blanco and with the exciting ballad Chills. A year earlier they had made Måneskin, who already made history after winning Eurovision in 2021.
In 2023, a new edition of the great Italian music festival will be held again, which should also serve to choose Italy’s next representative in Eurovision. We already know the dates of the event, which will again be hosted at the mythical Ariston Theater.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Sanremo Festival 2023.
What is the Sanremo Festival?
The Italian Song Festival, better known as the Sanremo Festival, is a music festival that has been held in the Italian city of Sanremo since 1951. Every year, great figures of Italian music meet there.
Being one of the oldest and largest music festivals in the world, it’s no surprise that it has inspired other similar competitions as popular as the Eurovision Song Contest itself. The Benidorm Festival (now Benidorm Fest) is also inspired by it.
The winners of Sanremo receive the “Leone di Sanremo”, a very prestigious statuette in the world of music, especially in Italy. Those who get it also have the opportunity to present the winning song to all of Europe during Eurovision.
When and where will the Sanremo Festival 2023 take place?
At the beginning of May, Amadeus, the presenter of the last editions of the festival, made public the dates of the five evenings, the five galas which take place five evenings in a row to designate the winner. The festival will begin on February 7
- Prima serata (“First night”): Tuesday, February 7, 2023
- Seconda serata (“Second night”): Wednesday, February 8, 2023
- Terza serata (“Third night”): Thursday, February 9, 2023
- Quarta Serata (“Fourth Night”): Friday, February 10, 2023
- Fifth Serata/Finale (“Fifth Night/Final”): Saturday, February 11, 2023
How could it be otherwise, the event will take place in the history Ariston Theater from the town of Sanremo, where the Sanremo Festival has been held since 1977.
Which artists will participate in the Sanremo Festival 2023?
It is too early to know which artists will decide to apply for the Sanremo Festival next year, and even sooner to know which ones will be chosen to compete for the prize. We should know the list of participants by the end of this year.
How is the winner of the Sanremo Festival chosen?
The Sanremo Festival is celebrated for five nights, known as the evenings in Italy.
During the first night, half of the artists present their songs. The press present at the festival (33.3% written and television media, 33.3% web, 33.3% radio) rates them and provisionally classifies the participants.
The second night, the remaining artists perform their songs and the press also ranks them according to their ranking. That night, the final classification according to the journalists is also proposed.
All artists return one third night to re interpret their songs. In this case, it will be the public who will value the performances. They are divided between a demographic sample (50%) and televoting (50%).
In the fourth night, artists perform covers of songs by other artists. They can choose which theme to sing and also if they want to do it as a duo or do it alone. The results will be an average of the votes from the press (33%), the demographic sample (33%) and the television vote (34%).
Finally, the fifth night This is the grand finale, in which we re-listen to the participating songs and the winner is chosen. First of all, a first vote is carried out by televoting with which, by averaging the scores of the evenings above, ends up determining three semi-finalists.
Then there is a second vote in which only these three semi-finalists are measured. In this case, both the press room (33%), the demographic sample (33%) and the televoting public (34%) vote.
Will the winner of Sanremo 2023 go to Eurovision?
The winner of the Sanremo Festival is usually after the Italian representative at Eurovision. The winners are asked if they want to defend the same song in Europe and must formally accept before participating in the European contest.
Despite being practically the rule, there are exceptions. In 2016, for example, the winners, Stadio, decided not to participate in Eurovision because they already had a tour scheduled for the same dates. On this occasion, the lucky winner was the second classified, Francesca Michielin.
On the other hand, the winner of Sanremo 2020, Diodato, could not participate in Eurovision that year when the edition was canceled due to the coronavirus. And, while most countries ended up sending 2020 hopefuls to Eurovision 2021, in Italy they bet on the winners of Sanremo 2021, rock band Måneskin.
In any case, it is very likely that the winner of the next edition of Sanremo will also be the one who will defend Italy at Eurovision. Italy are also on a hot streak at the festival, having finished in the top six (including one win and one silver) in the past five years.
How to follow the Sanremo Festival 2023 live
The Sanremo Festival is a festival organized by Rai, the Italian public television, so it should come as no surprise that they are the ones who broadcast it exclusively. But don’t worry if Rai 1 is not tuned to your TV, because you can follow all the evenings
The television platform Diffusion of Rai, RaiPlay, is in charge of broadcasting the five galas every evening in line, but you’ll soon realize that streaming is only available if you’re in Italy. This is quickly solved with a VPN like NordVPN or ExpressVPN.
The operation of this Software it is very simple. You will need to connect to a server located in Italy and therefore use an IP address located in that country. The internet will understand that you are physically there and allow you to access restricted content without any geolocation blocking.
To be able to follow the RaiPlay broadcast from the TV, we advise you to connect your computer or your smartphone to the TV using an HDMI cable or a Google Chromecast. If you have any doubts about how to do it, do not miss our advice whether you use a laptop or a mobile.
Alternatively, RTVE Play could once again choose to broadcast the grand finale, that is, the fifth and final night in which the winner of the Sanremo Festival is decided.
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