Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

The hugely successful and polar duo has left Sanremo after five years. Whoever follows them has to face a similar situation as UMK2024 artists had to do post-Käärijä. Nothing is good enough. Artic director and host Amadeus and co-host Fiorello, after celebrating Angelina Mango's victory on stage walked out of Teatro Ariston hand in hand, stepped into their Cinderella carriage with horses and drove to sunset, or as it was Sanremo final night to dawn. All that after scoring a record breaking 90,7% share in the viewing figures as nearly 9 million Italians were still clued to their tv-screens to see them off. Earlier in the evening they reached 18,259 million and 85% share at 01.56 when the Top-5 super finalists were announced. How can you beat that? And it's not only the viewing figures but his five years have also been hugely popular in charts as all those chart toppers, multi platinum selling singles prove. Mahmood winning in 2019 was a shock and a start of something new in the ...

  Here are the Eurovision veterans: MAHMOOD - TUTA GOLD His third time among Big after winning in 2019 (Soldi) and Brividi (with Blanco) in 2022 placing 2nd and 6th at Eurovision. Before that he did Newcomers twice: 2016 he placed 4th behind liked of Francesco Gabbani and Ermal Meta, and in 2018 he won the ticket to 2019 festival. Before the start he's 8th in the odds. EMMA - APNEA Emma came 2nd in Sanremo 2011 with Modà and Arriverà, and won the year after with Non è l'inferno. In 2022 she was 6th with Ogni volta è cosi. In 2014 she was chosen internally by Rai for Eurovision scoring Italy's worst placing ever with La mia citttà, 21st. Emma is 9th in odds. IL VOLO - CAPOLAVORO Il Volo returns for their third Sanremo after winning with Grande amore in 2015 and placing 3rd in Eurovision (after winning the televote). in 2019 they came 3rd with Musica che resta. Il Volo is 11th in odds. DIODATO - TI MUOVI Unfortunate Duiodato won Sanremo 2020 with Fai rumore, and thanks to pan...

A special epilogy to this series for Diodato , Sanremo 2020 winner with his Fai rumore . A song that became a symbol for hope during Covid-19 pandemic and served us the most touching performance during the cancelled Eurovision song contest 2020 celebration show. One can only wonder how well it would have done in Rotterdam...... In my books one of the very best entries from Italy. Period.  Fai rumore, or Make noise is exacrly what Italy did at Eurovision the year after and.... well, you all know how it ended!

Last night the huge tribute event took place in the Arena di Verona with 50 artists to honor and commemorate late Franco Battiato. Originally the plan was to tribute his La Voce del padrone album, released 40 years ago and one of the most sold albums ever in Italy. Twist of fate and everyone was there but the maestro himself. His closest collaborators had created his songs in their original arrangements played live and the singers who worked with him like Alice and Juri Camisasca, and singers who wished to work with him but didn't make it in time like Diodato and Mahmood along with singers who had covered his songs or simply considered him a real idol. The four hour long event was a celebration of life and his art that goes well beyond music rather than a mourning. When his latest song Torneremo ancora (We will be back) was played at the end of the show with a lonely spotlight on stage indicating where he would have been one could only think "He is still here". Indeed, ...

Franco Battiato has crossed the world of pop music enriching it beyond measure, intercepting many listeners as well as many artists from different paths, but always close to his sensitivity. They will once again reaffirm its value on an important stage such as the Verona Arena, on 21 September, starting from his most radiantly pop album, La voce del  padrone   released forty years ago on that very date. Franco Battiato's artistic strength has always been its vastness and trasversality. Not only that of the genres he has crossed, from experimental music to avant-garde pop, from melodrama to electronics, from references to other cultures with a curiosity without preconceptions, but above all that of open, adventurous compositions. Invito al viaggio will unite figures from the world of entertainment with an orchestra formed by the Filarmonica dell'Opera Italiana Bruno Bartoletti, Carlo Guaitoli to conducting and piano, Angelo Privitera to keyboards and programming, Osvaldo Di Di...

The 71st Sanremo festival will take place next week against all odds and even if it will be for the very first time without audience in Teatro Ariston there will be an endless list of guests and co-presenters and all the extra we don't even know yet. Amadeus has promised five nights, five hours each of resurrection of entertainment and music after the year of pandemic.  This blogger will keep an eye as always but maybe I'll be blogging less than usual until the Friday's Newcomers final and the Grand final on Saturday. But over the week we will have a string of Eurovision veterans performing in both competition and as guests. First of all Diodato will open the week on Tuesday evening re-performing his winning entry Fai rumore from last year, Il Volo will be performing in a tribute to late legendary Ennio Morricone with his son Andrea Morricone. Francesco Gabbani will duet with Ornella Vanoni in Un sorriso dentro al pianto , a song he wrote for her. Mahmood is the latest...

  RAI has made public the rules for the Sanremo 2021 festival and there's no change in the part that deals with the Eurovision song contest: The winner will be the one, if only the winner has signed the papers for it beforehand. If not, RAI will select whoever they please. That means it won't be Diodato, unless he decides to participate again and wins - or if whoever wins doesn't want to go and RAi picks him up IF he participates.  The major change comes in the Newcomers selection where there won't be those unfair direct duels anymore but half of them each night make the final and the final is between the four finalists. Other changes are in the voting system that now stands as listen here below, and the third night's covers: The First night the first ten Big will perform and are voted by both televote and the demoscopic jury. The ranking will be revealed. Also four of the Newcomers will perform and are voted the same way. Two of them will make the final. The Secon...

La Notte della Taranta is a big Italian festival of popular folk music of Apulia region (and not only) celebrating especially the pizzica folk dance of the deep south and music culminating in the big final concert with special guest stars. This year in Salento those were local hero Diodato, Mahmood and Gianna Nannini.  It was a perfect occasion for Mahmood to celebrate his Egyptian roots with a wonderful arrangement of an old song in Arabic, the very same he sings about in his hit Giovenu bruciata , that his father sung out of tune in the car when Mahmood was a kid: "Mettevi in macchina le tue canzoni arabe e Stonavi e poi mi raccontavi vecchie favole" The song's arrangement by Paolo Buonvino isn't exactly faithful to the original but mixes also pizzica elements and Italian feeling to it even if the Arabic influences are loud and clear.  Mahmood's next surprise is a duet with Andrea Bocelli.... stay tuned! Ps. Check out also Diodato ...

  Amadeus and his side kick Fiorello have been finally confirmed as the hosts of the Sanremo 2021 music festival that will be held a month later as in the recent years from March 2 to 6 . The 71th festival is supposed to go on as usual in its usual form and an extra month will give more time for the insecurities the Covid-19 has caused. However, as we all know, nothing is for sure these days, so there is also a Plan B, just like for the Eurovision song contest in the making even if the aim is to have the festival as close to its usual format as possible and never put the Plan B in action. These dates shouldn't cause any problem selecting the winner for Eurovision 2021 as well. If things go wrong there's always the option to send this year's entrant Diodato after all.  In best case the Covid-19 is under control then and Sanremo can and will be the grand opening of the big music events and comeback for the many artists who have had to cancel their tours this year and...

Lo vedi amico arriva un'altra estate e ormai chi ci credeva più che è stato duro l'inferno ma non scaldava l'inverno hai pianto troppo questa primavera See my friend, another summer arrives and who believed in it anymore it's been a hell and winter didn't warm us you have cried too much this spring time If Diodato's Fai rumore seemed to be perfect for the Corona virus pandemia by accident, now he has written another fitting anthem. Un'altra estate has been written during the lockdown when he like everybody else was locked in at home and just watched the life outside his window in Milan changing from winter to spring and his imagination making tricks on him, like all of sudden smelling the sea and dreaming of going to the beach. The song was recorded during phace 2 in distance with the musicians.  The song's available in his re-release of Che vita meravigliosa from May 22, 2020. 

    So, here they are all together but let's have a look how I voted and felt that moment I did the ranking, if there are some adjustments to do. I gave a total of four 10s: Italy, Norway, Lithuania and Croatia and five 9s: Israel, Ukraine, Australia, United Kingdom and France The first semi-final is clearly better in my ranking and in fact and in fact 5-6 first semi entries drop out to make way to three second semi ones, if I take only the top-10 from each semi-final to the final... Poor Azerbaijan, North Macedonia, Malta, Belgium, Sweden and Ireland and lucky Portugal, Austria and Armenia who would qualify over them. But then again, there would have been changes during this week based on rehearsals and the live shows, last night's Youtube celebration already made me do some adjustments.... Check out the individual reviews below and the full ranking after the jump Finland Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, Iceland Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Georgia S...

San Marino - Senhit - Freaky! Not exactly a song I play in repeat but everytime I hear it it makes me happy and jamming along. Senhit is so full of positive energy and sells this so well. All was looking good for San Marino to reach the final for the third time most likely. I'm between 7 and 8 but as it is my second adopted home country I give 8/10 Italy - Diodato - Fai rumore I fell in love with this song during Sanremo, and in the end after hearing all the Eurovision entries in a long run it has climbed back to the top. Excellent song with a proper melody, sung in a good old fashioned way belting it out from the heart in a proper manner when due. No gimmicks, no today's trendy arrangements or production but a timeless classic. The pandemic has given this song another dimension. I want to think Italy would have won in Rotterdam if only.... 10/10 Albania - Arlena Ara - Fall from the sky As usual Albania revambed their song and translated it into Engli...

Antonio Diodato (38) started his adventure in the music business in Stockholm providing vocals to his distant cousin Sebastian Ingrosso (Benjamin's uncle). After his return to Italy he finished his studies of cinema, television and media. His self produced debut EP was released in 2007, his first real single in 2010, Ancora un brivido . His debut album liked by the critics follows in 2013 and he starts to get better and bigger gigs as well as MTV airplay. In 2014 he participates in Sanremo Newcomers with Babilonia being the runner up to the winner Rocco Hunt. Fast forward to present: After several awards, three albums, one Sanremo top-10 and a couple of major hits under his belt the past 12 months the momentum for Sanremo 2020 was perfect. Over the years he has also recorded a few classic covers like  Piove (Ciao ciao bambina) , Eternità , Amore che vieni, amore che vai 

  The 70th Sanremo festival with the victory of Diodato and his Fai rumore in the early morning hours last night. He left behind runner up and Eurovision veteran Francesco Gabbani and collected a few other awards besides the Golden Lion and Palmtree: Premio della Critica Mia Martini. Premio Sala Stampa Lucio Dalla and Premio Lunezia. The other awards went to Francesco Gabbani (Premio TimMusic), Rancore (Premio Sergio Bardotti for the best lyrics), Tosca (Premio Giancarlo Bigazzi for the best music and Premio Nilla Pizzi for the best song and performance) This festival has been an incredible success in every front: The record breaking viewing figures continued the last night with an average share 60,6% (highest since 1999) and a peak of 76,8%, or 11,4 million viewers. The Instagram stories registered over 23,3 million views, online service RaiPlay and Youtube channel got over 82,56 million views, Melodifestivalen who? And the total lenght of the five nights was almos...

Tonight's the night: the 70th Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo kicks off its five nights marathon of music, guests, comic and everything in between. Come Saturday we have a winner and most likely the Italian entry for the 65th Eurovision song contest in May in Rotterdam, too.  Amadeus is this year's host and artistic director and by his side he will have every night also singer Tiziano Ferro and comic Fiorello. And a string of ladies that keep changing every night. Tonight they are Rula Jebreal, is an Israeli Arab foreign policy analyst, journalist, novelist and screenwriter with dual Israeli and Italian citizenship, and Diletta Leotta. a (sports) television presenter.  Tonight's guests include Eurovision veteran Emma and the cast of film Gli anni piú belli , a film directed by Gabriele Muccino where also Emma makes her acting debut in a feature film. We will also have Eurovision veterans Albano e Romina Power and Jessica Notaro with Antonio Maggio....