From today and until Saturday, the famous Italian music festival Sanremo will be held. Twenty artists in the Campioni Category will be compete for the victory and consequently have the right to represent Italy at Eurovision 2016. The running order for tonight’s show has just been revealed.
Italy’s biggest music festival kicks off this evening with the first night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2016. The festival will run over the 5 days with the grand final taking place on Saturday the 13th of February. If you are still confused about the rules of the festival you just have to read our previous guide – article for all you need to know to follow the Sanremo festival.
During the first two nights the twenty big artists will present their songs. A mixed voting by televote and by the journalists in the press center (composed of accredited journalists that will follow the competition from the Roof hall at the Teatro Ariston) will vote the first two nights, but none of the competing acts will be eliminated over the first two nights.
At today’s first night, Laura Pausini, Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo, Elton John and Maitre Gims will be performing as interval acts. The show will be presented by Carlo Conti, who also serves as the artistic director for the competition. Conti will present the show together with Virginia Raffaele, Mădălina Diana Ghenea and Gabriel Garko.
The running order for tonight is:
- Lorenzo Fragola – Infinite volte
- Noemi – La borsa di una donna
- Dear Jack – Mezzo respiro
- Giovanni Caccamo & Deborah Iurato – Via da qui
- Stadio – Un giorno mi dirai
- Arisa – Guardando il cielo
- Enrico Ruggeri – Il primo amore non si scorda mai
- Morgan & Bluvertigo – Semplicemente
- Rocco Hunt – Wake up
- Irene Fornaciari – Blue
Lorenzo Fragola, one of the favourites to win has already expressed his desire to go to Eurovision, will be the first out just like Marco Mengoni in 2013 and Arisa in 2014.
The exact programme of Sanremo 2016 is as follow:
Serata 1: February 9th (Tuesday)
Serata 2: February 10th (Wednesday)
Serata 3: February 11th (Thursday)
Serata 4: February 12th (Friday)
Serata 5: FINALE – February 13th (Saturday)
You can watch Sanremo live at the official site of Sanremo at 20.30 CET.
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 40 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956. It was one of only seven countries that competed in the very first contest. Italy competed frequently in the contest until 1997. After a fourteen-year absence, the country returned for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, with a respectable second place achieved by Raphael Gualazzi and Madness of Love. Italy has won the contest twice (1964, 1990).
Along with Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, Italy is one of the Big 5 who are automatically allowed to participate in the grand final because they are the five biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Last year in Vienna, Il Volo was one of the favourites to win. They finished third, but the Italian group was rated first in the televoting.
Below you can watch a compilation of the last 5 years of Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest. We did our best to find our greatest footage, and maybe you’ll see something you haven’t seen before.
