RAI reveals Festival di Sanremo 2018 artists

Italian broadcaster RAI has revealed the twenty competitors in the Big Artists category of the Festival di Sanremo 2018. Among the list are some familiar faces, both to Eurovision and Sanremo fans. No less than three former Eurovision participants will enter the Sanremo stage once more.

Eurovision experience galore in Sanremo 2018

Two stars of the 1980s Eurovision Song Contests are appearing in Sanremo 2018. Riccardo Fogli will make his return, having last participated in 1996. He won Sanremo once, in 1982 with Storie Di Tutti I Giorni. He then went on to sing at the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, where he performed Per Lucia. In 2018, 70 year old Fogli will team up with another veteran, Roby Facchinetti, to perform Il Segreto Del Tempo.
Luca Barbarossa is also on the list. He won Sanremo in 1992 with Portami A Ballare, four years after taking part in Eurovision. He then finished in twelfth, singing Vivo (Ti Scrivo). His 2018 entry will be titled Passame Er Sale.
The final, and probably most notable for us Eurovision fans, former Eurostar is Nina Zilli. Zilli is absolutely no stranger to the Sanremo stage, with no less than four participations in the past eight years. In 2012, RAI chose her as the Eurovision entrant for Italy after a special committee had selected her. Her Sanremo entry Per Sempre was ditched and L’Amore È Femmina went on to finish ninth in Baku. Her latest Sanremo adventure was in 2015, when she also finished ninth. Can Senza Appartenere give her another ticket to Eurovision?

Famous in Italy, but will they conquer Europe?

It’s safe to say that Sanremo usually manages to line up the big names in the Italian music scene. Some notable names appear on the list that we might want to take a look at.
First up, there’s Noemi. She’s made it quite the tradition to participate every second year: 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 so far. Her results so far are impressive: fourth, third, fifth and a slightly disappointing eighth place. She’ll be hoping to make a final push with her typical Italian style and raspy voice.
Elio E Le Storie Tese were a minor surprise to many. The band has announced to be disbanding in the course of 2018 and apparently want to make one final push and go out with a bang. Arrivedorci is promising to be quite an adventure, as the group usually delivers a satirical (or joke) entry.
Continuing with promising names, there’s Annalisa. Annalisa seems to be one of those Italian singers who could be quite eager to do Eurovision. The 32 year old is quite successful in Italy and has a remarkable voice and style. It’s all rather subtle what she does. Will it be enough to push on and win Sanremo 2018?
Recent Sanremo success comes from both Giovanni Caccamo and Ermal Meta. Caccamo finished third in the 2016 Sanremo, together with Deborah Iurato and Via Da Qui. Meta finished third last year with Vietato Morire. For 2018, Caccamo is going solo, whereas Meta teams up with Fabrizio Moro. Moro finished seventh last year with Portami Via.
The last remarkable face we must discuss is the typical Italian music legend. Every year, there’s one of those music stars, well in their seventies or eighties, taking part in the Festival di Sanremo. This year, Ornella Vanoni is making another appearance. Together with Bungaro and Pacifico, the now 83 year old will sing Imparare Ad Amarsi.

Full list of participants

Below you can find the full list of participants in Sanremo 2018:

• Annalisa – Il Primo Mondo Prima Di Te
• Decibel – Lettera Dal Duca
• Diodato & Roy Paci – Adesso
• Elio e le Storie Tese – Arrivedorci
• Enzo Avitabile & Peppe Servillo – Il Coraggio Di Ogni Giorno
• Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro – Non Mi Avete Fatti Niente
• Giovanni Caccamo – Eterno
• Le Vibrazioni – Così Sbagliato
• Lo Stato Sociale – Una Vita In Vacanza
• Luca Barbarossa – Passame Er Sale
• Mario Biondi – Rivederti
• Max Gazzè – La Leggenda Di Cristalda E Pizzomunno
• Nina Zilli – Senza Appartenere
• Noemi – Non Smettere Mai Di Cercarmi
• Ornella Vanoni, Bungaro & Pacifico – Imparare Ad Amarsi
• Red Kanzian – Ognuno Ha Il Suo Racconto
• Renzo Rubino – Custodire
• Roby Facchinetti & Riccardo Fogli – Il Segreto Del Tempo
• Ron – Almeno Pensami
• The Kolors – Frida

The Festival di Sanremo will be held between 6 and 10 February 2018. The mother of all song contests, which first aired in 1951, will consist of five nights as always. After Carlo Conti’s resignation, Claudio Baglioni has now taken over the lead of the contest. Last year, Francesco Gabbani won on his first Sanremo attempt. Occidentali’s Karma finished sixth in Kyiv, despite being the big favourite to win.