Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  The success continues as the second night scores a share of 64,5% or 11.700.000 viewers. That's best since 1995 for the second night's share and best since 2000 for the number of viewers. The night's top-5 ranking is basically the same as the first night as Achille Lauro, Lucio Corsi, Giorgia and Simone Cristicchi all made it with entrance of Fedez - First night's Brunori Sas will re-perform tonight. If he enters the Top-5 - most likely with Olly, Tony Effe and Irama but who will be the fifth one?! Damiano David made his return to Teatro Ariston singing first Lucio Dalla and then his own hit Born with a broken heart. Co-hostess Bianca Balti was all giggles all evening and very funny and spontaneus and genuinely having the time of her life next to Carlo Conti, always funny Nino Frassica and eccentric Malgiglio.  The Newcomers "semi-final" was taken care off in the beginning of the evening. They could have done a bit better for them but better than nothing. Th...

This post is purely gossipy and #drama. The 75th festival della canzone Italy kicks of tomorrow and even before it started, even before the artists were revealed in fact. Social media figure and Sanremo 2023 co-hostess Chiara Ferragni and Fedez, in competition this year - and runner up in 2021 with Francesca Michielin and  with a song Chiamami per nome co-written by Mahmood, btw - are going through a very stormy and public divorce. Apparently she's having/had an affair with Tony Effe, in competition this year. Enough drama? No! It is rumored she'd had before "that the thing Erika Vikman is singing about" with another competitor, none other than Achille Lauro! She clearly has a thing for tattooed bad boys. Expect some tension in backstage..... Enough of gossip. How about some drama? The killer stairs! Yes, first Francesca Michielin fell down the stairs and hurt her leg, hopefully her song didn't require a choreography! But she's not the only one as also Modà...

As Mahmood has been announced as one of the co-hosts for the Sanremo 2025 fourth night this is as good as any excuse to have a some Friday night nostalgia and a closer look to his Sanremo participation history that is quite remarkable indeed. 2016 Placed 4th in Newcomer's with Dimentica  (behind certain Francesco Gabbani and Ermal Meta) 2018 Winner of Sanremo Giovani with Gioventú bruciata (won Critic's award) 2019 Winner of Sanremo with Soldi  (won awards for best performance and was voted the best by other artists) 2020 Author for Elodie's Andromeda (7th) 2021 Guest appearance           Author for Francesca Michielin & Fedez's Chiamami per nome (2nd)          Author for Noemi's Glicine (14th) 2022 Winner of Sanremo with Brividi together with Blanco          Author for Noemi's Ti amo non lo so dire (15th) 2023 Guest appearance 2024 Placed 6th with Tuta gold but had the biggest hit of the fe...

  If Sanremo dominates the charts all spring in the summer time the so called tormentoni take over the radio waves all through to autumn when the holidays are over. And some of those live on summer after summer and in this series I will always add one of those goodies. Let's start with Paola & Chiara's classic Vamos a bailar, a true evergreen already. And guess what? There's a rumour the sister might get back together! I have always hoped them doing Eurovision..... Sanremo 2023 in mind I hope! And one can't really not think about their Festival when listening to Tribale. And it's a good thing! Elodie - Tribale Eros Ramazzotti - Ama Fedez, Tananai, Mara Sattei - La dolce vita Paola & Chiara - Vamos a bailar

Italy took its well deserved third victory - finally! - at the Eurovision song contest 2021. Over the years several other Italian entries would have been worthy winners. In this series I will go through all of them from the worst ranking to the winners. Francesca Michielin (26), a self declared Eurovision fan, got to Eurovision 2016 with her Sanremo runner up when the winners Stadio and Un giorno mi dirai declined the offer and said instead that Michielin should go. After a very long period - well, it felt like that anyways - Rai confirmed that they had chosen her indeed. She revamped and renamed her song, originally Nessun grado di separazione and travelled by bus (and social medias) to Stockholm but only placed 16th out of 42 with No degree of separation ..... Francesca shot to the fame after winning X Factor and has had a string of hit singles ever since, also in several featuring with various top rappers. In 2021 she was close to Euroviison again and placed second in Sanremo with...

It's summer time and Italian airwaves are filled with summer rhythms and beats. Enjoy! Fedez, Achille Lauro, Orietta Berti - Mille Emma, Loredana Berté - Che sogno incredibile Annalisa, Federico Rossi - Movimento lento Samuel, Francesca Michielin - Cinema

Mahmood has released today the video for his latest effort Klan, already fifth single off his new album Ghettolimpo out next month. He certainly hasn't been doing nothing since placing second in the Eurovision 2019 behind Duncan Laurence with just a few points as this is his seventh official single besides several featuring here and there and co-writing song to other artists, like Elodie's Andromeda and this year's Sanremo runner up Chiamami per nome by Francesca Michielin and Fedez.  The video makes me think of some iconic Pet Shop Boys videos really...... 

Francesco Gabbani continues as the most played song in the Italian radios  for the third consegutive week! Eurovision veteran Gianni Morandi holds the second place..... 1. (1) Francesco Gabbani - Tra le granite e le granate 2. (4) Fabio Rovazzi ft. Gianni Morandi - Volare 3. (5) Thegiornalisti - Riccione 4. (6) Takagi & Ketra ft. Arisa & Fragola - L'esercito del selfie 5. (2) J-Ax & Fedez Vs. T-Pain - Senza pagare 6. (11) Benji & Fede ft Annalisa - Tutto per una ragione 7. (8) Tiziano Ferro - Lento/Veloce 8. (10) Giusy Ferreri - Partiti adesso 9. (3) Fabri Fibra ft. Thegiornalisti - Pamplona 10. (7) Samuel - La statua della mia libertà

Italian music didn't do so well in the annual singles business and in Top-10 there's only one Italian song, Vorrei ma non posto by Fedez & J Ax. Marco Mengoni is at 43 with Ti ho voluto bene veramente and at 85 with Parole in circolo . Eurovision entrant Francesca Michielin at 63 with Nessun grado di separazione , that being the most sold song from Sanremo. Sanremo is almost totally absent from the singles top sellers. Various rappers have several songs in various combinations listed in Top-100.  If we look at the number ones it isn't any better really. Out of 18 number ones only 7 are Italian, including Francesca Michielin. ( In Finland it was a different story .....) Have a look below at the Top-5 selling songs in Italy in 2016 and then the Italian ones and their positions: 1. Sia - Cheap thrills 2. Alan Walker - Faded 3. Alvaro Soler - Sofia 4. Coldplay - Hymn for the weekend 5. J-Ax & Fedez - Vorrei ma non posto 11. Fabio Rovazzi - An...

It seems Laura Pausini has had to say "No" to Sanremo hosting again just like the past two years. That woman is just too busy touring the world! As soon as the news broke and her "certaintity" is gone in the rumour mill Italian press has gone wild reporting other ideas Carlo Conti may or may not have in mind. The most interesting and surprising one is that of Barbara D'Urso , leading lady in the competing Mediaset channels. That would be a wise move (and it wouldn't be the first time this tactic has been used) attracting her fans to Raiuno as well. This blogger approves, she's funny and professional. The other names include Miriam Leone , a web celebrity and a celebrity girlfriend (Fedez's). Chiara Ferragni , an actress both on silverscreen and television and another actress Sveva Alviti . She played Dalida in the movie about her life so maybe there would a Dalida tribute in Teatro Ariston as well? Last year Conti brought along also somet...

Last year's summer hit in Italy was Baby K & Giusy Ferreri's Roma-Bangkok and it seems this summer another rap pop duo will be the one. And somehow they are quite similar, Vorrei ma non posto taking off where we were left with Roma-Bangkok . This blogger enjoys both!

Marco Mengoni released Guerriero in mid-November and becomes one of the only four double-platinum selling album in Italy in 2014. The other three are Cesare Cremonini's Logico #1 , Francesco Renga's Il mio giorno piú bello nel mondo and Fedez ft Francesco Michielin in Magnifico . I don't have the exact numbers but one thing is sure: he sold the double platinum fastest and the expectations for the release of his new album next week are very high..... Get ready for some Mengonimania in coming weeks :-) Cremonini's success continues when GreyGoose sells platinum, as well as Renga's Vivendo adesso making them the big sellers of the year. Sanremo winner Arisa also sold platinum with Controvento but is also featured in another, Club Dogo's Fragili . Other platinum singles are Biagio Antonacci's Ti penso raramente , Emis Killa's Maracanà , Giorgia's Non mi ami , The Voice winner Lorenzo Fragola's The reason why as well as runner up Madh...