Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

OMG San Marino I love you! You just keep surprising us year after year and this time the surprise is you really did what I think you should have done already years ago: Bring into contest some major Italian acts. And boy did you deliver! Starting with Achille Lauro that hardly has time to move from Sanremo to San Marino, Sanremo winner Valerio Scanu and a real Sanremo veteran and global hit maker Ivana Spagna. And that's just a start. Let's start with Ivana Spagna , my Eurovision dream of yesteryears. She scored a worldwide hit with Call me in 1987 and a string of hits followed like Easy lady , I wanna be your wife and so on until she made her Sanremo debut 1995 placing third with Gente come noi . She's been singing in both languages on and off ever since. Five Sanremos in competition, twice more as guest. Countless festivals and awards. 12 albums, six EPs, 15 compilations and over 50 singles later she's finally giving Eurovision a chance. Love it! Valerio Scanu , run...

Area Sanremo is the selection that will bring two of the eight Sanremo Giovani finalists to the festival (five come from Sanremo Giovani selection and one from Sanremo Young competition held earlier this year, or Tecla Insolia ). Since 1997 from here have jumped to the festival names like Anna Tatangelo , Arisa , Renzo Rubino , Roberto Amadé and Mahmood . This year there were 850 submissions, then 65 passed the auditions, now only eight are left. And they will be only two in the end.  Jaqueline Branciforte – Game over Matteo Faustini – Nel bene e nel male Gabriella Martinelli e Lula – Il gigante d’acciaio Alessia Gerardi – Atipica  Leo Alex – A cuore fermo Camilla Magli – Eterno rosso Arianna Manca – Andarsi bene  Messya (Andrea Riso)   – T.S.O.