Global InformationSanremo Music Festival information
| Italian Song Festival Festival della canzone italiana | |
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 Teatro Ariston in Sanremo during the final night of the festival in 2013 | |
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| Dates | February |
| Location(s) | Sanremo, Liguria, Italy |
| Years active | 1951–present |
| Website | sanremo |
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| Gregorian chant | ||||||||
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| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | ||||||||
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| Regional music | ||||||||
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The Sanremo Music Festival (Italian: Festival di Sanremo [ˈfɛstival di sanˈrɛːmo, festiˈval -]), officially the Italian Song Festival (Italian: Festival della canzone italiana) is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria.[1][2][3][4] It is the longest-running annual TV music competition in the world on a national level (making it one of the world's longest-running television programmes)[5] and it is also the basis and inspiration for the annual Eurovision Song Contest.[6][7]
Unlike other awards in Italy, the Sanremo Music Festival is a competition for new songs, not an award to previous successes (like the Premio regia televisiva for television, the Premio Ubu for stage performances, and the Premio David di Donatello for motion pictures).
The first edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, held between 29 and 31 January 1951, was broadcast by RAI's radio station Rete Rossa, and its only three participants were Nilla Pizzi, Achille Togliani, and Duo Fasano.[8] Starting from 1955, all editions of the festival have been broadcast live by the Italian TV station Rai 1.[9][10]
From 1951 to 1976, the festival took place in the Sanremo Casino, but starting from 1977, all the following editions were held in the Teatro Ariston,[11] except in 1990, which was held at the Nuovo Mercato dei Fiori.[12]
The songs selected in the competition are in Italian or in any regional language, and the three most voted songs are awarded. Other special awards are also given, including the Critics' Award, created ad hoc by the press in 1982 to reward the quality of Mia Martini's song, and named after the singer in 1996, after her death.
The Sanremo Music Festival has often been used as a method for choosing the Italian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.[13][14] It has launched the careers of some of Italy's most successful musical acts, including Gigliola Cinquetti,[15] Laura Pausini,[16] Eros Ramazzotti,[17] Andrea Bocelli,[18] Giorgia,[19] and Måneskin.[20]
Between 1953 and 1971 (except in 1956), in 1990,[21][22] and 1991,[23] each song was sung twice by two different artists, each one using an individual orchestral arrangement, to illustrate the meaning of the festival as a composers' competition, not a singers' competition. During this era of the festival, it was custom that one version of the song was performed by a native Italian artist while the other version was performed by an international guest artist.[24] This became a way for many international artists to debut their songs on the Italian market, including Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Cher, Gloria Gaynor, Dionne Warwick, Jose Feliciano, Roberto Carlos, Paul Anka, Miriam Makeba, Bonnie Tyler, Shirley Bassey, Mungo Jerry, Kiss, Laura Branigan, and many others.
- ^ Agostini, Roberto (2007). "The Italian Canzone and the Sanremo Festival: change and continuity in Italian mainstream pop of the 1960s" (PDF). Popular Music. 26 (3): 389–408. doi:10.1017/S0261143007001341. S2CID 191611894. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ Mario Luzzatto Fegiz (3 February 2003). "Così finisce l' era della vecchia gara". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ^ "San Remo festival showcases Italian, international talents". CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "Schlagerfestival von Sanremo: Italien ist gerettet". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "Most wins of the Sanremo Music Festival". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ "Sanremo Festival in the Enciclopedia Treccani". Treccani (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ "Zensurstreit beim Schlagerfestival Sanremo, Bühne der Nation". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ Giovanni De Luna (5 February 2011). "Quante Italie racconta Sanremo". La Stampa. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ "Festival di Sanremo, fotostoria in bianco e nero – Sanremo 1955, il Festival è trasmesso per la prima volta in tv". Panorama (in Italian). 17 February 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ "1955: Sanremo anche da guardare" (in Italian). RAI. Archived from the original on 3 June 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ "Festival della Canzone Italiana" (in Italian). www.aristonsanremo.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ [1] [permanent dead link]
- ^ "Sanremo - the festival that inspired Eurovision". Eurovision.tv. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
- ^ Adinolfi, Francesco (2008). Mondo Exotica: Sounds, Visions, Obsessions of the Cocktail Generation. Translated by Pinkus, Karen; Vivrette, Jason. Durham: Duke University Press. pp. x. ISBN 9780822341321. OCLC 179838406.
- ^ Gallori, Paolo. "I protagonisti storici del Festival di Sanremo". la Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ^ Palladini, Federica (15 February 2011). "Laura Pausini: nuovo album portafortuna". Elle. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ^ Mario Luzzatto Fegiz (20 September 1993). "Com'è cresciuto il piccolo Eros". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ^ "Biografia di Andrea Bocelli" (in Italian). RAI. Archived from the original on 31 October 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ^ Cesarale, Sandra (7 July 2003). "Il principe De Gregori e la regina Giorgia". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
- ^ Shalvoy, Jessica (9 November 2021). "Meet Måneskin: The Italian Band That Defied the Odds and Brought Rock Back to the U.S." Variety. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
- ^ "Miriam Makeba 'Grazie, Caterina' – la Repubblica.it".
- ^ "Big stranieri in gara a Sanremo? C'è una lunga tradizione". 20 November 2014.
- ^ "Sanremo 1991, viaggio nella storia del Festival".
- ^ Gallori, Paolo. "Anno per anno la storia del Festival". la Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011.