Stefano De Martino, the new artistic director for Italy’s Festival di Sanremo, announced important changes in the format of the Italian festival, including the previously-rumoured “Eurovision night” to direcly select the country’s representative to the Contest.
A direct selection method for Italy’s Eurovision act
A change in format
These last few years, the format of Sanremo had been pretty regular, taking place from a Tuesday night to a Saturday night, over five shows. During the first three evenings, artists performed their song twice (with one evening having everybody perform, and the two others having only half of the artists), then they performed a cover of another song with another artist, generally a guest, on Friday night, before the Final night on Saturday, where all songs were performed again. The cumulative votes of all five nights selected a top 3 or top 5 that would advance to a “Superfinal”, from which the winner was selected.
Stefano De Martino, who took over the role of artistic director after two years of Carlo Conti at the helm, announced that there would be changes to the format. The main on for Eurovision fans is the appearance of a “Performance Night” to select Italy’s Eurovision representative. Until now, the winner of the Festival was then given the first right of refusal to go to Eurovision, and most of them accepted to go.
A “Performance Nigh” that does not replace the “Cover Night”
There were rumours about the idea back in May, with the Italian music industry apparently pushing for a specific Sanremo show for Eurovision selection, possibly on the Friday evening. Stefano De Martino has now confirmed it, but it will not replace the traditional “Cover Night” show either. Instead, the Festival will take place with the following schedule :
- Night 1 (Tuesday, March 16) – All artists perform their song
- Night 2 (Wednesday, March 17) – All artists perform their song again
- Night 3 (Thursday, March 18) – Cover Night, all artists perform a cover of a song of their choice
- Night 4 (Friday, March 19) – Performance Night or Eurovision night
- Night 5 (Saturday, March 20) – Final night, all artists perform again and the winner is crowned
The songs in competition for Eurovision will not be different from those in the main competition, but the idea is that the winner of Night 4 may not be the winner of the whole Festival. The show is coined “Performance night” because artists will be expected to deliver a different staging, focused on “live performance”.
The artists will have the opportunity to stage their performance according to their creativity. And I believe this will already be a small step towards the Festival’s international reach.
Stefano De Martino about Sanremo 2027’s Eurovision Night
This will not replace the Cover Night though, which will take place on Night 3. This means the end of having evenings with only 50% of the line-up: the first two evenings will have all the artists perform their entries, although the number of participants will be reduced compared to the previous few years.
A push towards international reach and Måneskin’s reunion
De Martino sees this as one element, among others, of a more international Sanremo. He will also strive to bring more foreign co-hosts and acts to the show, and has ambition to organise a reunion of Måneskin, the legendary band that won Sanremo 2021 and Eurovision that same year, with “Zitti e Buoni”.
How do you feel about this new format for Sanremo? Is it the right choice for Italy, or should they stick to their “first right of refusal format”? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media!
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