The first evening of the Sanremo Festival saws all the singers in the Artisti category perform. Of the ten acts on show, two, Anna Oxa and Anna Tatangelo, were eliminated from the festival….for now.
Hosting the festival this year is Gianni Morandi, who has himself won the festival, in 1987 with Umberto Tozzi and Enrico Ruggeri. As usual, there are two glamorous assistants Belen Rodriguez and Elisabetta Canalis
The honour of being the first singer to perform went to Giusy Ferreri with her song, Il Mare Immenso. Then, it was the turn of the first of four former Italian Eurovision Song Contest representatives and former Sanremo winner, Luca Barbarosa singing Fino in Fondo with Raquel Del Rosario. The success of a duet can rely on how well the performers combine, and there were no problems for these two.
After Roberto Vecchioni had sung his song, Chiamami Ancora Amore, it was the turn of someone RAI could turn to for Dusseldorf if they are looking for a young, fresh look without compromising talent. Anna Tatangelo has treated us to beautiful melodies in her Sanremo appearances. This year, she has transformed herself into a rock chick with the song, Bastardo.
La Crus (Io Confesso), Max Pezzali (Il Mio Secondo Tempo) and Davide Van De Sfroos (Yanez) followed, and then another familiar face entered the stage, Anna Oxa. Her song, La Mia Anima d’uomo is typical of the off-beat direction she has taken with her music in recent years. After her, it was the turn of Tricarico (Tre Colori), Emma con I Modà (Arriverà) and Luca Madonia con Franco Battiato (L’alieno). One of Italy’s most popular singers who has never achieved the success the public want her to at the festival, Patty Pravo, gave the audience her latest effort, Il Vento e le Rose. Her songs are always full of grace and class and don’t be surprised if she is given the vote of RAI’s special jury to represent Italy in May. She would certainly be a popular choice in her homeland as she would be seen as a true Italian representative.
Nathalie singing Vivo Sospesa and then, bringing the evenings performances to a close ws the veteran, Al Bano, who sounded as good as ever, with Amanda è Libera.
In addition to the Artisti category, there is also the Giovani section, in which up and coming singers have the chance to establish themselves. Each of the competitors in this year’s competition performed a short extract of their song before the climax of the evening. A jury known as the Giuria Demoscopica chose twp songs to be eliminated from the festival. It was not good news of your name was Anna, as both Oxa and Tatangelo were voted out of the festival. However, this is not necessarily the end for them. On Thursday, all the songs eliminated from the festival on the first three evenings (two will be eliminated on each of the next two evenings) will be put to a public vote with a chance to return to the competition on Friday.
Wednesday will the remaining acts in the Artisti and Giovani categories perform, with two songs from each being voted out of the festival.
