Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

The 70th Sanremo festival will take place in Teatro Ariston on February 4-8, 2020. That is all that is known from the meeting between RAI and the city of Sanremo officials earlier this month. Since Claudio Baglioni stepped down as the artistic director and the host of the past two very succesful editions no one seems to know who will be given this job, or will there be separate artistic director and host. Many names have been rumored, denied and dismissed as the possible artistic director from the return of Carlo Conti to Mina to Andrea Bocelli and lately Lucio Presta, while for the hosting job Amadeus and Alessandro Cattalan have been the most gossiped ones but Baglioni could also be an unlikely but possible last minute call to act as both again, or the eternal other choices Fabio Fazio or Paolo Bonolis. Bonolis however has often stated he would do it once Sanremo moves out of the tiny theater and he could make it a big scale show like Eurovision in some arena. Meanwhile Sanremo ...

  So it seems. According Italian media but still waiting or the official confirmation. Besides being the Artistic Director Claudio Baglioni will also be hosting the 68th festival of Sanremo in February. But he won't be alone but will have a different co-host(s) every night, and most likely they all will return for the Grand final.  If I have some doubts about Baglioni as Artistic Director - makes me think that his musical taste and line of selection will be more like: "Al Banos in, Baby Ks out" - but I hope he will surprise me and have a valid and varied cast of old and new artists, very popular and some less popular ones to create a nice mix of ballads and uptempo.  To follow up Carlo Conti's three succesful years won't be easy. Not only did Conti present a string of hits and worthy Eurovision entries (nothing has been officially yet said about the Sanremo winner once again going to Eurovision, but Rai has confirmed Lisbon 2018), he also managed to inc...

  It's almost September and Rai still hasn't decided nor let us know who will be hosting the Sanremo festival next year. If you think it's not important who it is, you are wrong. It is crucial. For the viewing figures and most of all for us following - would you like to spent five loooooong nights with someone you don't like or can't stand? Didn't think so. Sanremo already is a five long nights affair and if spent in a wrong company it just seem to drag on ever longer.... After various Mika s, Antonella Clerici s, Massimo Ranieri s and lastly Amadeus after Fabio Fazio and Fabrizio Frizzi are certainly out (phew) the past days has been all about speculation it will be Carlo Conti again for the fourth year in a row. The rumor is he will have next to him another figure from competing channel, Mediaset's Silvia Toffanin . If this year he had the Queen of Mediaset Maria De Filippi, Toffanin is the wife of Silvio Berlusconi's son and Mediaset'...

The gossip mill of the possible host for the next Sanremo festival is summer's favorite topic and it's heating up ahead of the RAI's decision and announcement. After two years with Fabio Fazio and three with highly succesful Carlo Conti RAI needs something special to secure the newfound popularity of the festival.  In past days veteran hosts Fiorello and Amadeus have been named, as well as Fiorello's actor brother Beppe . Fazio was mentioned earlier but it seems now his new contract, even with the option for Sanremo included, will be just too busy for the 2018 edition. Paolo Bonolis has said apparently yes, but with conditons that won't be doable for the 2018 (and his schedule with the new show Music is also very tight): new venue, new modernized project altogether. MIKA has been in the air since the last notes of Occidentali's Karma echoed away in Teatro Ariston this spring, and despite him commenting he would never do it, his name is insistent: w...

Francesco Gabbani returned  home and finished straight to Fabio Fazio's Che tempo che fa show where he performed live Occidentali's Karma and Amen. Visibly tired (he confirms he hasn't slept since Sanremo)... but ever smiling Gabbani had brought his Marcel Bezencon award with him and Fazio thanked him for bringing almost forgotten Eurovision, or the good old Eurofestival, back to Italian living rooms and minds. He and his family gathered infront of their tv like in the old days to support him in Kyiv - and indeed he was right, Eurovision did the best ratings since Italy's return and beat the competition of the other channels on Saturday night. Then he goes confirming "for us it is like if you won!" and comparing Eurovision to football World Cup. Thank you Fazio, you have understood it all! Oh no, not quite. He goes mumbling how diffifult the name is (and Gabbani confirms he thinks the competition is who manages to pronounce it right....) and wonders why ...

The final of Sanremo festival was watched by fewer people than ever in the history of Auditel or since 1987. "Only" an average of 9.348.000 people turned in. A far cry if compared to last year for example when it was 12.997.000. With the same hosts and team behind it. Sanremo is Italy's Melodifestivalen only that MF drags on for 6 weeks, Sanremo 5 days. Both have faced serious problems this year.... time for a change for both? But happier news in iTunes. Today around midday Arisa is in the lead followed by Francesco Renga at no 2, then Rocco Hunt at no 3, Noemi no 5, Giusy Ferreri no 11, Perturbazione no 16, Sinigallia no 18, Gualazzi no 22, Frankie Hi-Nrg Mc no 24, Renzo Rubino no 25, Zibba no 27.... 16 other songs have made the top-200 so far... Time will tell who stay and climbs, who drops and vanishes.  The only official compilation album will be out Tuesday with TV Sorrisi e Canzoni-magazine and includes only the final songs of the Big + all the Newc...

After four nights of disappointing viewing figures Sanremo comes to its final. I must say I have enjoyed the show; Fabio Fazio and Luciana Littizzetto are a great couple. There are useless moments and intervals but we have experiences far worse in the past. Do we miss the huge divas like Madonna, Celine Dion and likes to steal the show? The models pretending to be presenters without even speaking Italian showcasing some 4-6 haute coiture dresses per night? Not really. If they only manage to tighten the script, reorganize the running order - start with a guest, let the competing singers sing and after do as many interval acts you want to until the early hours - it would be great. Apparently Fazio will do also Sanremo 2015 if he only wants to. Luciana has said this is her last Sanremo, but she said the same last year. We will see. After all, just like RAI pointed out today in the press conference, the viewing figures have been lower than expected but getting better night after nigh...

Tonight the 62nd festival of Italian song aka Sanremo kicks off in Teatro Ariston in Sanremo. It's the first time the public will hear the songs of the first seven Big, and due to strange events the first time the press will hear the songs by Giusy Ferreri: She was absent of the presentation event due to matters in family, and absent of the rehearsals due to a flu, it seems. Each Big will present two songs and one of them is voted out by the 50-50 vote by the journalists in press center and the televoters at home. They are: ARISA: Lentamente / Controvento FRANKIE HI-NRG MC: Pedala /Un uomo è vivo ANTONELLA RUGGIERO: Quando balliamo / Da lontano RAPHAEL GUALAZZI & THE BLOODY BEETROOTS: Liberi o no / Tanto ci sei CRISTIANO DE ANDRÉ: Invisibili / Il cielo è vuoto PERTURBAZIONE: L'Unica / L'Italia vista dal bar GIUSY FERRERI: L'Amore possiede il bene / Ti porto a cena con me Sanremo wouldn't be Sanremo without countless guests. The Big artis...

Raphael Gualazzi will release a digital EP Rainbows on October 29, 2013, but only in Italy! This EP - second in his career following the self titled one in 2010 - incudes four tracks: Rainbows , that is the title track of hugely popular talk show Che tempo che fa hosted by Fabio Fazio, who will also host Sanremo 2014; Svalutation , a cover of a Adriano Celentano song; Il mare , a cover of Charles Trenet's La mer ; and Legba , a new unreleased song by Raphael. Raphael continues to enjoy international success and has so far released three albums: Love outside the window (2005), platinum selling Reality and fantasy (2011) including his Eurovision runner up Madness of love , and Happy mistake in February this year. Here are some other songs by him: A three second breath , Sai ci basta un sogno , Love goes down slow , Reality and fantasy , Senza ritegno , Don't call my name , Un mare in luce .....

The 64th festival of Italian songs, aka Sanremo 2014 will take place from February 18 to 22 in Teatro Ariston. Last year's conducting team Fabio Fazio and Luciana Littizzetto are back, as is the formula of two songs for each Big artist, that should be 14 again but it hasn't been yet confirmed. The Friday night, when the Newcomers (most likely 8 again)  have their final the Big artists will this time interprete Italian classics written by singer-songwriters. All through the festival there is a mixed voting by a jury, the press and televote but not all three of them at the same time but mixing these three parties in different ways in different occasions.... More information - also concerning Eurovision - will be given in due time and let the guessing the artists of the 2014 edition begin! Tuesday 18 : Half of the Big will sing their two songs. One song qualifies Wednesday 19: The other half of the Big perform and qualifies with one song.         ...

The 63rd Festivale della canzone Italiana is about to begin. I will blog the main things if only RAI shows it online :-) Seven of the Big category will present their songs and one will be voted for the Saturday's final. The eight Newcomers will be also presented but not voted, Toto Cutugno will be the guest star of the Golden age and much more to come. Also Verdi will be remembered... Stay tuned! 20.55 enter Teatro Artiston co-host Luciana Littizzetto, in a grand way! Like Fazio said, a mix between Sleeping Beauty and Crudelia De Monn! And she's fabulous! Only that non-Italian speakers surely found her totally annoying but then this show is made for Italians, not foreign Eurovision fans.... and Italy she's HUGE. A real comedian who says all sort of things...   She's having a long monologue about most everything, Vatican and Italian politics and elections obviosuly highlighted and making fun of Berlusconi (no wonder he wanted to move Sanremo after the electi...