The Sanremo Music Festival: Italian Music's Biggest Week

While the eyes of the U.S. were directed towards the GRAMMY Awards, on the other side of the world, Italy's gearing up to have the eyes of all of Europe and beyond glued to their screens for five nights in a row. Sanremo is undoubtedly the biggest event in Italian pop culture, especially in recent years, undergoing a total rebrand that led to its renaissance, attracting more young viewers than ever before.

Now celebrating its 75th edition in the picturesque Ligurian town of Sanremo––also named the city of flowers––the music festival has been witness to the legendary performances of many of the big names in both Italian and global music, namely Domenico Modugno, Mina, Laura Pausini, Andrea Bocelli and most recently, Måneskin.

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What is Sanremo and Why is it Important to Italian Culture?

Originated in 1951 as a way to boost tourism in a slumping post-war era, the Sanremo Music Festival, or simply Sanremo, is a symbol of the Italian cultural heritage. It was initially only broadcasted via radio, but by 1955 it took over the televisions of Italian households. In fact, because it was a time where many did not possess TVs, Sanremo became an opportunity for congregation, promoting unity as one of the festival's core values. In fact, the development of television moved right along with Sanremo and Italy's ever-changing culture, both from a societal and a musical standpoint.

The event's rule book states that the songs submitted for the festival need to be unreleased, in order to provide fairness to every contestant. Since the winner will be chosen primarily by the audience via televoting, and a smaller percentage by the press and the radio, the contestants' wins are entirely in the hands of the public. Sanremo is a way to merge emerging talent and the big names of Italian music in five unforgettable nights full of new songs, comedy sketches, and guest appearances. At the end, the winner will be able to take home the coveted "Leone di Sanremo", the Sanremo lion, a statuette of the symbol of the city. In addition, the winner takes their brand new song to the stage of the iconic Eurovision Song Contest.

Author: Jose Antonio

Since 1977, the home of the Sanremo Music Festival has been the Ariston Theatre, which attracts multitudes of spectators from all over Italy and Europe to be able to witness firsthand another year of great music and culture. The festival has been credited for originating a new music genre called musica leggera, or light music. These are songs that can be easily listened to for the sole purpose of entertainment: highly danceable and easy to remember.

Through Sanremo, many of today's global Italian artists found their wings, like Domenico Modugno, who won the 1958 contest with his song "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu", better known as "Volare", making him one of the founding fathers of musica leggera. Through the years it has become an anthem of pure Italian pride, of what it means to be Italian, landing him Record and and Song of the year at the first ever GRAMMY Awards.

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Sanremo Throughout the Years: the '50s and '60s

Sanremo has always trekked along with the ever-changing public opinion. In the '50s, the themes of the competing songs revolved around post-war relief. Controversial anti-war and anti-fascism messages in the competing songs were very frequent. However, the '60s brought rock 'n roll, with Adriano Celentano "the springy one", Mina, and Little Tony, nicknamed "the screamers" by the disapproving public. Artists like these led the movement of this new musical revolution along with the youth. With the introduction of bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in the US and the UK, young Italians expected the genre to hit the Sanremo stage, despite the older generation's push back. However, in 1967, tragedy enwrapped Sanremo, as one of the contestants, Luigi Tenco, committed suicide following the elimination of his song "Ciao Amore Ciao", confirming the importance of Sanremo as an institution for musical artists and in the broader popular culture of the Italian public.

The '60s also brought the direction of beloved artistic director and presenter Pippo Baudo, affectionately named "Superpippo", who would proceed to emcee Sanremo for 13 editions between 1968 and 2008. His remarkable skills as master of ceremonies allowed him to bring to the Sanremo stage big names in international music such as Queen, David Bowie, KISS, and the Smiths as guest performers.

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The Golden Age of Sanremo: The '80s

After a long decade of plummeting viewership and artistic crises, Sanremo moved to the Ariston Theatre in 1977, broadcasting its very first edition in technicolor. However, due to the political violence of the '70s, the nation struggled to find joy in the music festival, only emerging from its slump in the '80s. This decade sees the birth of many of the pivotal music icons of the country. Rock music finally arrived on the Ariston stage with names like Vasco Rossi, with his song "Vita Spericolata" (Daredevil's Life), Premiata Forneria Marconi, and Decibel, bringing a change to what were soft ballads and the remainders of the glory days of musica leggera, embracing the freedom of the time after surviving a harsh decade of political hardships. Songs like "Sarà Perché Ti Amo" (Might Be Because I Love You) by the band Ricchi e Poveri are a hymn to carefree joy, expanding from the Italian borders and gaining popularity all over the world.

Eros Ramazzotti (center) winning the 'newcomers' section of Sanremo

"L'Italiano" by Toto Cutugno became not only a new anthem of Italian pride but also more of a widespread introduction of playback, later abolished in '86. 1984 marks the win for newcomer Eros Ramazzotti with his song "Terra Promessa" (The Promised Land), an anthem aimed towards his generation, to dream bigger for a better future. Viewership continued to increase, marking the 80s as the golden age of Sanremo and a jumping-off point for young artists to gain the public's attention.

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Change is in the Air: Sanremo of the '90s

Riding on the coattails of the previous decade's success, the '90s welcomed a bout of change with the way it was conducted. The live orchestra was brought back after a decade of playback and backing tracks, the lyrics of the entries became extremely political with themes of nihilism, nietzschean commentaries regarding death and religion, themes regarding homosexuality, and AIDS. A tug-of-war waged between the artists of the past, reminiscing about how things used to be, and a bout of young performers full of bitterness, anger, and fear, worried about the future to come. It was a decade chock full of change, with the debuts of global star Laura Pausini with her song "La Solitudine" (Loneliness), Giorgia with "E poi" (And Then), and Irene Grandi, performing "Fuori" (Outside). Tenor Andrea Bocelli captured the hearts of many with his heartfelt song "Con te partirò" (I will leave with you).

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Sanremo Today

The curtain rises on the 75th edition of Sanremo, led by TV conductor Carlo Conti, after the departure from the festival of the beloved artistic director, Amadeus, who has, since 2020 raised viewerships to a whopping 74% despite the setback of the COVID-19 pandemic and attracted the attention of a young audience that had long abandoned the festival because of its monotonous repetitiveness. Amadeus understood that to be able to attract younger audiences, something needed to change in the way Sanremo was directed. In 2022, Amadeus introduced the "Fantasanremo", an interactive app for the audience to be involved with the festival even more by creating teams of seven competitors out of the 40. The more absurd action an artist does on stage, the higher the amount of points your team receives.

Amadeus, artistic director of Sanremo for the past five years

The most recent editions of Sanremo saw dramatic changes in its musical direction. This includes the introduction of melodic rap by artists such as Tunisian-Italian Ghali, who stirred controversy last year for his solemn "Stop the Genocide". His songs treat topics like the racism he faces in Italy, his country of origin, seeking justice towards refugees, and challenging the concept of home. Also featured has been Egyptian-Sardinian Mahmood, twice-winner of the contest with his song "Soldi" ranking in second place at the Eurovision Song Contest, and "Brividi" by emerging artist Blanco. The first rock band winning Sanremo, the now-global Måneskin, winners of both Sanremo and the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021, have taken the world by a storm with their slogan "Rock 'n Roll Never Dies". Neapolitan rapper, Geolier, brought his own dialect to the Ariston stage with "I 'P ME, TU 'P TE" (Me for myself, you for yourself).

It's a different Sanremo than five or ten years ago, one where the youth is celebrated and conscious of the state of the nation. Yet, despite the government's insistence to not mix Sanremo with politics, they still do because it's a youth that is not afraid to speak their minds, not when the next possible option is to sit idly by, not with the influence and views that they have for five days during the week of Sanremo.

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Sanremo is an ever-changing cultural institution for Italy and beyond that has gone great lengths from 75 years ago, bringing together families from every which origin, political stances, and beliefs. For a week, we'll put all our worries on pause and enjoy moments of nonsensical humor, amazing music from new and old artists, and root for our favorite to win.

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