After the first evening of the 2009 Sanremo Festival, three of the 16 acts in the Artisti section, containing all the established singers competing in the festival, had their hopes dashed at the first hurdle.
The band, Afterhours, male singer Tricarico, and the veteran Iva Zanicchi,
failed to impress the in-house ‘giuria demoscopica’ enough to keep them
in the competition.
Dolcenera was the first of the competitors to perform her song, Il Mio Amore Unico, she was followed by Fausto Leali, who won the festival in 1989 with Anna Oxa when they sang Ti Lasceró. In between all the talking (and there is always a lot), the rest of the Artisti performed. One of the most anticipated performances was from 2006 winner, Povia. His song, Luca Era Gay, has received a lot of publicity in the build up to the festival. Povia and his song were attacked by gay rights groups before the song had been heard or the lyrics written. There were even protests outside the Ariston on Tuesday. The lyrics seem to be about a man who has struggled with many feelings and confusion about many things in his life before finding answers, and true love with a woman. It’s hard to see what there is to complain about.
After all the Artisti had performed there was a guest appearance by Katy Perry. After her, four of the ten Proposte, or Newcomers, sang their songs; Malika Ayane, Irene, Simona Molinari and Filippo Perbellini.
The votes of the ‘giuria demoscopica’ were revealed and Afterhours, Tricarico e Iva Zanicchi received the lowest amount of votes and so leave the competition, for now. On Thursday, they will have the chance to be voted back into the competition by the public.
Speaking at a press conference afterwards, Iva blamed her elimination on the fact she had to sing after a routine by Roberto Benigni, an award winning actor and comedian. “The organisors of Sanremo have made a big mistake.” She said, “I had to sing after Benigni’s show, and obviously this influenced the jury and played a part in my emimination.”
