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SANREMO 2015: PRIMA SERATA - THE LIVE BLOG


00.41 We are back again after advertising and it's time for the partial results. The names were given out one by one and those in blue are in top-6, those in red are in bottom-4 and in risk of elimination before the final. And that's all for tonight. Join me again tomorrow!
00.33 Stop al televoto! And some jokes and autoirony by the trio, some funny. Some not so.
00.27 We visit press center next. Half of tonight's votes come from there, the other hald from the televoters. There are over 1300 accreditated journalists present.
Emma gets visibly touched by this memembering the great, the last free being Giorgio Faletti, Mango and Pino Daniele, three great loss for Italian music the recent times....
00.22 We are back after short tv-news. Back to 65th edition of Sanremo and Carlo remembers some of the persons who have made Sanremo what it is. Arisa and Emma finally get a chance to sing, too.
00.13 Surprise! It's Michael Bublé! It's not...Humour. Apparently.
00.00 Carlo and Rocio present the Imagine Dragons. Demons. Surprisingly nice. I bet my life.
23.53 Time for recap and televote open for everyone again. Chiara, Malika and Nek my top-3 no doubt. Annalisa the outsider. Such joy to see Nek back in the saddle! Pubblicità!
23.47 And it's time for the last Big tonight. It's Nesli and Buona fortuna amore. Rapper turns melodic. The result is rather mediocre. Makes me think of Jovanotti but not in a good way. A summer song, me thinks. Not in a good way. Eurovision? No.
23.42 Time to sit down and have a press conference. Sort of.... lol
23.38 Annalisa with Una finestra tra le stelle. She's in a simil military outfir, well sort of. Another piano ballad in classic Italian way. I like her voice. Quite Eurovionesque, but not very original I guess. Not bad though. Needs a second hearing to see where this goes.....
23.37 Returns Emma and Carlo and it's time for the second last entry tonight.
23.31 Now the obligatory serious part. A professor or something talking about Ebola and such, it seems he was in Sierra Leone, got infected and survived. I admit I lost most of it as I had to pee. And visit kitchen for something to eat.... ;-p
23.27 Next is Grazie Di Michele and Mauro Coruzzi (known better as drag queen Platinette) with Io sono una finestra. This is more like a cabaret chanson. Important lyrics about being a woman in man's body and so on.  But not my cup of tea really. Or Vienna's.
23.25 Rico and Carlo are back and it's time for the next entry....
23.20 After this breeze of fresh air called Nek it's time for some adverstising again. Good. Now I need a moment to think over was it that good it seemed? Hmmm....
22.14 Time for Nek. Back in Sanremo after 18 years. Since then he has followed many other artists to charts in the Latin America and Spain, as well as in Italy of course. Fatti avanti amore is his song. And yes, he's in black, too. This is the first uptempo song tonight. I have always liked Nek and this one's good. Never thought about him for Eurovision really but I do now. I hear some awesome remixes of this song. This could become his new Laura non c'è. Nek for Vienna!!
Albano and Romina are awarded with a sign to honour their status as ambassadors of Italian music in the world, handed to them by Emma and Arisa.
22.56 After 24 years missing from Teatro Ariston together here they are: Albano and Romina Power singing medley of their hits. Romina seems to be stealing the show. She has stated this is her best festival ever as she's not in competition that she never felt comfortable with. And indeed she seems to enjoy it much more than Albano (who propably would prefer being among the Big tonight, lol) Standing ovation for them as well. The most loved Italian couple back again. At least for tonight. Felicità! Conti tries to get them give a kiss and we witness some akward moments.... after they pull themselves together again Romina confirms this is her best festival. Ever. And then Albano gets his solo moment with La mia vita....
22.53 Returns Rocio with a new dress, again red. Carlo jokes with her about the Italian and Spanish proverbs and how they make (no) sense. Albano and Romina coming next but first some advertising.... Rocio seems to be the ad magnet.
22.46 And we are back again and the competition continues. The televoting is open only while the artist in question is on stage. Next is Lara Fabian with Voce.  She takes us to the 1990's where she stole an old Spagna song from Sanremo. Overjoyed performance in the American way, all smiles. Great voice, no doubt about that, but the song isn't that great I'm afraid. Word pleasant comes to mind. And fake. Toothpaste ads....
22.22 The musical rhythm has been lost. It's time for the comic Alessandro Siami from Naples. Always something dubious about comedians who giggle at their own jokes, sometimes more than the audience.... Yawn.... But in the end there's an hommage to late Pino Daniele. He is forgiven. Now who will remember Mango and how during this Sanremo?
22.17 And here we go again. Dear Jack and Il mondo esplode tranne noi. Oh well, I can say it. I'm very disappointed. I have liked some of their songs and expected an Eurovision worthy effort but this is nothing. Washed down pop that is not saved by pretty faces, despite the screaming fans in the theater, This had zero energy, weak vocals. Off you go from my possible Eurovision list....
22.14 After Tiziano it's time to have a break and check out the videos that I have added in this post. Just click the song title and enjoy!
21.58 And we are back with Tutti amano Sanremo, Everybody loves Sanremo. And then the first superguest, Tiziano Ferro. One of those Italian artists who have sold millions all over the world like Ramazzotti, Pausini, Bocelli... only that he was never accepted to Sanremo and had to find another way to make it. Like lose weight and autoproduce himself. Who laughs last laughs best.... on the way to bank! He performs a medley of his hits. In a very relaxed way. He must be having the time of his life on that stage! And standing ovation. And after some smalltalk about his triple platinum selling greatest hist album and sould out tour in stadiums this summer it's time for his latest, Incanto.

21.50 Enter Rocio Munoz Morales. The Spanish side kick this year. Also she sems to be having problems with the stairs in her red dress. And with her we go for our first break....
21.44 And we continue, phew. Malika Ayane for the fifth time in Sanremo. This time with Adesso é qui (Nostalgico presente). Platinum blond hair and simple red dress. She oozes elegance and grace. Very sophisticated and light arrangement for her ballad. Very Malika indeed. This would be a very classy entry for Vienna, but maybe a bit too difficult for Eurofans and general televoting public across Europe. But very, very good!
21.39 First step out of music. The most numerous family of Italy on stage. They have 16 kids and apparently no television. But God bless them all.....
21.35 Next is Alex Britti and Un attimo importante. He's a guitarist and you can hear it. The song takes ages to get going and results a bit boring I'm afraid. Not one of his best efforts me thinks. And he has had some very good songs in the past. He's also in all black with his yellow guitar for some colour. Eurovision worthy? No way!
21.33 Enter Arisa. In a flaming red dress and some difficulties with walking down the stairs in high heals. She's in good spirits and jokes around a bit remembering her last year's victory.
21.27 And quickly we go to the next artist, Gianluca Grignani and Sogni infranti. I admit, I have never been a fan of his except his very first hits some 20 years ago. This one does nothing to me, especially when his vocals are pretty weak tonight. He's in all back outfit tonight. Another typically Italian rock ballad. Eurovision? No way!

21.23 Enter Emma in a long white dress. Very emotional. She confesses she's more nervous than when singing and feeling like a princess. Down the memory lane with the night of her victory, what happened. The party went on very late, very very late.....
21.19 And with no time wasting the first artist is on stage, Chiara. Her song is Straordinario. Red hair, yellow dress and pink lips really sticks out from the blue stage. Piano intro, melodic. Typically Italian I would say. Good performance from Chiara. Beautiful. Eurovision worthy. Sticks out of the dozen similar thanks to her voice that is original. Vary good start for the evening!
21.15 Enter Carlo Conti after beautiful lighting up the stage that symbolizes a flower this year. He explains quickly the voting procedure, remembers the previous hosts from Mike Bongiorno to Pippo Baudo, Nunzio Filogamo and Fabio Fazio.
21. 14 Ok, here we go.....
It's time for the Red carpet... the show is getting near....
The artist also pick up the most significant lines from their songs to create some anticipation. This is really an appetizer, an antipasto we are getting here before the main course is served.....

The artists also tell how they reacted when they got the news they have been accepted. Most of them got to know it from TV really, just like all of us common mortals.
20.44 Here comes the Eurovision tune and here we go! We enter Teatro Ariston and then all the artists welcome us with their own way before they all tell in a few words "why they are here".... We also get to follow a bit backstage and the rehearsals, something very unusual for Sanremo really.  It looks like the singers are having a good time with each other and it's all relaxed and happy. Very Eurovisionesque indeed! Then they talk about their songs. Nice introduction really before the main course.
20.34 Albano and Romina back together again in Sanremo after 24 years! We are almost ready to start....

In an hour the live show will start from Teatro Ariston in Sanremo. The 65th edition of the mother of all song festivals, including Eurovision song contest, is more Eurovisionesque this year than ever. Conchita Wurst will be there (not tonight though), co-hostess Arisa doesn't miss an opportunity to express her desire to do Eurovision soon (even Vienna!), last year's entrant Emma is another co-hostess. Eurovision veterans Nina Zilli, Raf and Lara Fabian are competing while severals artists have publicly admitted their desire to win and do Eurovision from Chiara to Malika, from Dear Jack to Il Volo and even la Zilli is ready for a bis. The journalists talk about Eurovision..... so, it seems finally Italian music business has taken a liking to Eurovision! Or simply dropped their prejudices and realized what an opportunity it can be for an artist and visibility it gives for promotion. Hooray for that!

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