The Sanremo Music Festival 2018 ( it, 68º Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2018) was the 68th annual

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

, a television song contest held in the

Teatro Ariston The Ariston Theatre ( it, Teatro Ariston) is a cinema in Sanremo, Italy. It has been the venue of the annual Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the ...

Sanremo Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...

and organised and broadcast by

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

Format

Presenters

Singer-songwriter and musician,

Claudio Baglioni Claudio Baglioni (; born 16 May 1951) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician. His career has been going on for over 50 years. Some songs from the 70s are part of Italian culture such as ''E tu come stai?''. In the 80s he released the ...

, was the main host and artistic director of Sanremo Music Festival 2018, alongside co-hosts

Michelle Hunziker Michelle Yvonne Hunziker (Swiss , ; born 24 January 1977) is a Swiss-Italian television presenter and former model. Early life Hunziker was born in Sorengo, Lugano, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Her mother Ineke is Dutch and ...

and

Pierfrancesco Favino Pierfrancesco Favino (; August 24, 1969) is an Italian actor, voice actor and producer. He has appeared in more than fifty European and American movies and television series since the early 1990s, including '' The Prince of Homburg'' (1997), '' T ...

Voting

Voting during the five evenings occurred through different combinations of four methods: * Public televoting, carried out via landline, mobile phone, the contest's official mobile app, and online voting. * Press jury voting, expressed by accredited journalists that followed the competition from the Roof Hall at the

. * A demoscopic poll, composed of a sample of 300 music fans, which voted from their homes via an electronic voting system managed by

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. () (an acronym of ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publicly traded on the Pa ...

. * Expert jury voting, resulting from points assigned by personalities from the world of music, entertainment and culture. The jury is composed by

Pino Donaggio Giuseppe "Pino" Donaggio (born 24 November 1941) is an Italian musician, singer, and composer of film and television scores. A classically-trained violinist, Donaggio is known for his collaborations with director Brian De Palma, and for his work i ...

(''president''),

Giovanni Allevi Giovanni Allevi (; born April 9, 1969) is an Italian pianist and composer. His song "O Generosa" is the current theme tune of the top flight of Italian football, Serie A. Biography Education Allevi attained a first-class diploma both in piano a ...

, Serena Autieri,

Milly Carlucci Camilla Patrizia "Milly" Carlucci (born 1 October 1954) is an Italian television presenter, actress and singer. Carlucci played the role of Urania in the 1985 film ''The Adventures of Hercules''. In 1996 she became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNIC ...

Gabriele Muccino Gabriele Muccino (; born 20 May 1967) is an Italian film director. He has worked his way from making short films only aired on Italian television to become a well-known and successful American filmmaker. He is the elder brother of actor Silvio Mu ...

Rocco Papaleo Rocco Antonio Papaleo (born 16 August 1958) is an Italian actor, film director and singer. Born in Lauria ( Basilicata), he moved to Rome to study math at university but left soon to attend the theatre school. He made his theatrical debut in 19 ...

, Mirca Rosciani and Andrea Scanzi. The three voting systems had a percentage weight so distributed: * First, Second and Third Evening: 40% Public televoting; 30% Demoscopic poll; 30% Press jury voting * Fourth and Fifth Evening: 50% Public televoting; 30% Press jury voting; 20% Expert jury voting In the final part of the fifth evening, a new rank indicating the first three acts -determined by the percentage of votes obtained in this evening's vote and those obtained in previous evenings- was drawn up.

Selections

Newcomers' section

The artists competing in the Newcomers' section were selected through two separate contests: ''Sanremo Giovani'' and ''Area Sanremo''.

Sanremo Giovani

On October 31, 2017, Rai Commission for Sanremo Music Festival 2018 announced a list of 650 acts, but only 68 artists coming from all

Italian regions The regions of Italy ( it, regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest. U ...

-excluding

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

and

Valle d'Aosta , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

- and from abroad were selected in the first phase. On November 10, 2017, Rai Commission announced the sixteen finalists. ;Group 1 * Santiago – "Nessuno" (eliminated) * Lorenzo Baglioni – "Il congiuntivo" * Nyvinne – "Spreco personale" * Dave Monaco – "L'eternità è di chi sa volare" (eliminated) ;Group 2 * Mirkoeilcane – "Stiamo tutti bene" * Luchi – "Gli amori della mente" (eliminated) * Eva – "Cosa ti salverà" * Iosonoaria – "Un cerchio" (eliminated) ;Group 3 * Giulia Casieri – "Come stai" * Davide Petrella – "Non può far male" (eliminated) * Jose Nunes – "Parlami ancora" (eliminated) * Antonia Laganà – "Parli" ;Group 4 * Mudimbi – "Il mago" * Carol Beria – "Nessuna lacrima" (eliminated) * Ultimo – "Il ballo delle incertezze" * Aprile & Mangiaracina – "Quell'attimo di eternità" (eliminated) On December 15, 2017, the sixteen finalists performed their songs at Villa Ormond in

, with the show ''Sarà Sanremo'' broadcast on

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and general ...

presented by

Claudia Gerini Claudia Gerini (; born 18 December 1971) is an Italian actress and singer. Life and career Born in Rome, Gerini won the National Competition of Miss Teenager in 1985. She got her first part in a film, ''La ballata di Eva'', at 14. She subsequ ...

and

Federico Russo Federico Russo may refer to: * Federico Russo (presenter) Federico Russo (born 22 December 1980) is an Italian radio and television presenter. He is known for presenting '' The Voice of Italy'' on Rai 2 (seasons 2 to 4), and for being the mai ...

. The six selected by the jury were added to the two entries of Area Sanremo, for a total of eight young emerging artists in the category of the Newcomers' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2018. Lorenzo Baglioni, Mudimbi, Eva, Mirkoeilcane, Giulia Casieri and Ultimo were chosen as contestants of the Newcomers' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2018.

Area Sanremo

After the auditions, RAI Commission -composed by Massimo Cotto, Stefano Senardi, Antonio Vandoni, Maurizio Caridi and Maurilio Giordana; plus the participation of Franco Zanetti and Amara- identified 8 finalists for the competition among the 145 acts: * Martina Attili * Alice Caioli * Diego Esposito * Manuel Foresta * Andrea Maestrelli * Leonardo Monteiro * Giorgia Pino * Daniele Ronda

Newcomers' Finalists

* Lorenzo Baglioni - "Il congiuntivo" * Mirkoeilcane - "Stiamo tutti bene" * Eva - "Cosa ti salverà" * Giulia Casieri - "Come stai" * Mudimbi - "Il mago" * Ultimo - "Il ballo delle incertezze" * Leonardo Monteiro - "Bianca" * Alice Caioli - "Specchi rotti"

Big Artists section

The Big Artists section of the contest will revert to 20 artists, after briefly going up to 22 last year. Unlike in previous years, there will be no eliminations during the four weeknight shows. All the artists will perform several times and will be scored during the week, but they will all advance to the final night.

Competing entries

Shows

First evening

The 20 Big Artists each performed their song for the first time.

Second evening

The first ten Big Artists each performed their song again and the first four Newcomers each performed their song for the first time.

Big Artists

Newcomers

Third evening

The other ten Big Artists each performed their song for the second time and the other four Newcomers each performed their song for the first time.

Big Artists

Newcomers

Fourth evening

The 20 Big Artists performed their songs as duets and the eight Newcomers also performed their songs again.

Fifth evening

The 20 Big Artists will again each perform their entry for a final time. The top three will face a superfinal vote, then the winner of Sanremo 2018 will be decided. *

Superfinal

* * *

Special guests

The special guests of Sanremo Music Festival 2018 were: *singers / musicians:

Biagio Antonacci Biagio Antonacci (; born 9 November 1963) is an Italian singer-songwriter from Milan. Biography Early life Biagio Antonacci was born in Milan and was raised in one of its suburbs (Rozzano). Despite learning how to play the drums at a young a ...

Gianni Morandi Gianni Morandi (; born 11 December 1944) is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer. Early life Gian Luigi Morandi was born in a little village called Monghidoro on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. His father Renato was active within the I ...

Gianna Nannini Gianna Nannini (; born 14 June 1954Who Is Who
''Bello e possibile'' ...

Nek Filippo Neviani (born 6 January 1972), known by his stage name Nek, is an Italian singer-songwriter and musician. Nek is popular in Italy and throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and has performed and released most of his albums in both Italian ...

Gino Paoli Gino Paoli (; born 23 September 1934 in Monfalcone) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is a seminal figure who has written a number of songs widely regarded as classics in Italian popular music, including: " Il cielo in una stanza", "Che cosa ...

Laura Pausini Laura Pausini (; born 16 May 1974) is an Italian singer. She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with her debut single "La solitudine", which became an Italian standard and an internat ...

Max Pezzali Massimo Pezzali (born 14 November 1967 in Pavia), commonly known as Max Pezzali, is an Italian singer-songwriter. He was the principal singer and songwriter of the pop rock group 883. In 2004, he released his first solo album ''Il Mondo Insieme ...

Piero Pelù Pietro "Piero" Pelù (born 10 February 1962) is an Italian singer and songwriter, best known for his work with the Italian band Litfiba. He was born in Florence. In July 1999, Pelù quit Litfiba. In 2000, he released his first solo album ''Né ...

Danilo Rea Danilo Rea (born 9 August 1957) is an Italian jazz pianist. He is a graduate of the Santa Cecilia music conservatory in Rome. He made his debut with the "Trio di Roma" (with Roberto Gatto and Enzo Pietropaoli) in 1975.Riccardo Giagni. "Danilo R ...

Francesco Renga Pierfrancesco Renga (born 12 June 1968 in Udine, Italy) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He won the Sanremo Music Festival in 2005 with the song ''Angelo''. In 2001 he won the Mia Martini critics award at Sanremo Festival. He also took part in t ...

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer * Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse * Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspor ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

. *bands / music groups:

Il Volo Il Volo (; Italian for "The Flight") is an Italian operatic pop trio, consisting of baritone Gianluca Ginoble, and tenors Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto. They describe their music as "popera". Having won the Sanremo Music Festival 2015, the ...

Negramaro Negramaro is an Italian pop band formed in 1999 and successful since 2005. Their name stems from ''Negroamaro'', a wine produced in their native district, Salento in Apulia. After years spent in the Italian alternative market, they finally bec ...

. *actors / comedians / directors / models: Stefano Accorsi,

Carolina Crescentini Carolina Crescentini (born 18 April 1980 in Rome) is an Italian actress. She is a graduate of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, and star of the box office hit movie Parlami d'amore, directed by Silvio Muccino. She worked with Giuliano ...

, Elena Cucci,

Nino Frassica Antonino "Nino" Frassica (born 11 December 1950) is an Italian actor, Duke of Gela and television personality. Biography and career Born in Messina, Frassica is mostly known for his deadpan humour, characterized by absurd jokes he described as ...

Rosario Fiorello Rosario Tindaro Fiorello (born 16 May 1960), known just as Fiorello, is an Italian comedian, singer, radio, and television presenter. Career Fiorello was born in Catania, Sicily, and raised in Augusta, Sicily. He began his career working in tour ...

Massimo Ghini Massimo Ghini (born 12 October 1954) is an Italian actor. Life He has worked with Franco Zeffirelli, Giorgio Strehler, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, and Gabriele Lavia, among others. He has been married to actress Nancy Brilli, and is the father ...

Sabrina Impacciatore Sabrina Impacciatore (born 29 March 1968) is an Italian actress. Life and career Born in Rome to parents from Abruzzo and Sardinia, Impacciatore studied acting at the Actors Studio in New York and enrolled several other acting courses in Ro ...

Ivano Marescotti Ivano Marescotti (4 February 1946 – 26 March 2023) was an Italian actor and theatre director. Life and career Born in Villanova di Bagnacavallo, province of Ravenna, Marescotti worked as a clerk in the urban sector of the Councillorship of ...

Giulia Michelini Giulia Michelini (born 2 June 1985) is an Italian actress. Career Michelini was born in Rome, Italy in 1985. She made her acting debut at the age of 17 in 2002 in the third season of the police drama series "Distretto di Polizia", which was te ...

Giampaolo Morelli Giampaolo Morelli (born 25 November 1974 in Naples) is an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is particularly known for his television work; among his roles is as the title character in the ''L'ispettore Coliandro ''L'ispettore ...

Stefania Sandrelli Stefania Sandrelli (born 5 June 1946) is an Italian actress, famous for her many roles in the ''commedia all'Italiana'', starting from the 1960s. She was 14 years old when she starred in ''Divorce Italian Style'' as Angela, the cousin and love in ...

Valeria Solarino Valeria Solarino (born 4 November 1979) is an Italian actress, born in Venezuela. Life and career She was born in Barcelona, Venezuela to a Sicilian father and Turinese mother. After studying philosophy at the University of Turin, she debute ...

Gianmarco Tognazzi Gianmarco Tognazzi (born 11 October 1967) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born on 11 October 1967 in Rome, the son of actors Ugo Tognazzi and Franca Bettoia,Giorgio Dell’Arti, Massimo Parrini. ''Catalogo dei viventi''. Marsilio, 2009. . ...

. *other notable figures: Antonella Clerici,

Pippo Baudo Giuseppe Vittorio Raimondo Baudo (born 7 June 1936), known as Pippo Baudo, is one of the most famous Italian television presenters, with a career spanning six decades. He is often nicknamed "Superpippo" (referencing the Italian name of Super Go ...

, Franca Leosini,

Giorgio Panariello Giorgio Panariello (born 30 September 1960 in Florence) is an Italian comedian, film and stage actor, director and television presenter. Biography Born in Florence to a father of Campanian origin, he raised in Cinquale, a seaside town in the pro ...

Related shows

Primafestival

Sergio Assisi Sergio Assisi (born 13 May 1972) is an Italian actor. He appeared in more than twenty films since 1999. Selected filmography References External links * * 1972 births Living people Italian male film actors Italian male television ...

and Melissa Greta Marchetto present ''Primafestival'', a small show on air on

immediately after

TG1 ''TG1'' (''Telegiornale 1'') is the flagship television newscast produced by Rai 1, the main channel of state-owned Italian public broadcaster RAI. It is the longest running program in the history of television in Italy as it has been broadcast ...

. The show features details, curiosities and news relating to Sanremo Music Festival 2018.

Dopofestival

Edoardo Leo Edoardo Leo (born 21 April 1972) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Rome, Leo, a graduate in Literature and Philosophy from the Sapienza University of Rome, started attending acting courses at young age a ...

and

Carolina Di Domenico Carolina Di Domenico (born 5 April 1979 in Naples) is an Italian television and radio presenter. She started her career by presenting the Italian version of ''Disney Club'' on Rai 1. She has then worked for MTV Italia. She announced the Italian j ...

, with the participation of

Rolando Ravello Rolando Ravello (born 4 June 1969) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Rome, at young age Ravello founded a comedy ensemble with Manuela Morabito e Renato Giordano, and in 1988 the trio co-hosted the RAI ch ...

Paolo Genovese Paolo Genovese (born 20 August 1966) is an Italian director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Rome, after graduating in Economics and Business Genovese started his career at McCann Erickson, directing over one hundred commercials and w ...

Rocco Tanica Elio e le Storie Tese (; literally "Elio and the Troubled Stories"), often abbreviated EelST, was an Italian comedy rock band from Milan, formed in 1980. Its leader was Stefano Belisari, better known as Elio. They announced their split on 17 Oct ...

and a group of journalists of Italian press, presents ''...tanto siamo tra amici al Dopofestival'', a talk show on air on

immediately after Sanremo Music Festival. The show features comments about the Festival as well as interviews to the singers competing in the song contest.

Broadcast and ratings

Local broadcast

and

Rai Radio 2 Rai Radio 2 (''radio due'') is an Italian radio channel operated by the state-owned public-broadcasting organization RAI and specializing in talk programmes and popular music from Italy and China. History The origins of the channel can be tr ...

are the official broadcasters of the festival in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The show is also available in streaming via website o
Rai Play

Ratings Sanremo Music Festival 2018

The audience is referred to the one of

Ratings Prima Festival 2018

Ratings Dopo Festival 2018

International broadcast

The international television service

Rai Italia Rai Italia is the international English language television service of Rai Internazionale, a subsidiary of RAI, Italy's public national broadcaster. Rai Italia operates a television network that broadcasts around the world via 3 localized feeds. ...

broadcast the competition in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The contest will be broadcast in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

RTSH Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (; en, "Albanian Radio and Television"; mostly called RTSH ) is an Albanian public broadcasting radio and television company. Founded in 1938, it operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmi ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Vremya ''Vremya'' (russian: Вре́мя, lit. "Time") is the main evening newscast in Russia, airing on Channel One Russia (Russian: , Pervy kanal) and previously on Programme One of the Central Television of the USSR (CT USSR, Russian: ). The program ...

. The contest is also visible via website o
Eurovision

Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest

The winners of the Big Artists category received the right to represent

at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broa ...

. However, winners are not obliged to take part in Eurovision, as seen in 2016 when Stadio declined to participate in the contest, which did not happen in this edition. In the event that the winner decides not to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest,

and the organisers of

usually reserve the right to select the Italian entrant to themselves, in the case of 2016 selecting runner-up

Francesca Michielin Francesca Michielin (, ; born 25 February 1995) is an Italian singer and songwriter. She rose to fame after winning the fifth season of the Italian talent show ''X Factor''. Her first single, " Distratto", debuted atop the Italian FIMI Top Digi ...

. There were several former Italian Eurovision representatives feature in the Big Artists category this year. Nina Zilli came 9th in 2012 with " L'amore è femmina (Out of love)".

Riccardo Fogli Riccardo Fogli (born 21 October 1947 in Pontedera, Province of Pisa, Italy) is an Italian singer. Biography Early career Riccardo Fogli was born on 21 October 1947 in Pontedera. He was fond of music since his childhood and taught himself to pla ...

came 11th in 1983 with "Per Lucia".

Enrico Ruggeri Enrico Ruggeri (born 5 June 1957) is an Italian singer-songwriter. Biography A native of Milan, Ruggeri made his debut in the 1970s with the punk band Decibel. In 1981 he began his solo career and established himself as a songwriter: his most ...

, the lead singer of

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...

, came 12th in 1993 with "Sole d'Europa" and

Luca Barbarossa Luca Barbarossa (born 15 April 1961, Rome) is an Italian singer-songwriter who has released 12 albums since 1981, and is known for his participation in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. Early career In 1980, Barbarossa won the Castrocaro Music ...

also came 12th in 1988 with "Vivo (Ti scrivo)".

References

{{Sanremo Music Festival 2018 in Italian television 2018 song contests February 2018 events in Italy Sanremo Music Festival by year