The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival and commonly known as just Festival di Sanremo, is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual TV music competition in the world on a national level and it is also the basis and inspiration for the annual Eurovision Song Contest.
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels and radio stations. It is one of the biggest broadcasters in Italy competing with Mediaset, and other minor radio and television networks. RAI has a relatively high television audience share of 35.9%.
The Best of Youth is a 2003 Italian historical drama film directed by Marco Tullio Giordana and written by Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli. A family saga set in Italy from 1966 through 2003, it chronicles the life of the middle-class Carati family, focusing primarily on brothers Nicola and Matteo as their life paths separate during youth, encompassing major political and social events in post–World War II Italian history.
"Nel blu, dipinto di blu", popularly known as "Volare", is a song originally recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Domenico Modugno. Written by Modugno and Franco Migliacci, it was released as a single on 1 February 1958.
Ambra Angiolini is an Italian actress, TV host and singer.
Giuseppe Vittorio Raimondo Baudo, known as Pippo Baudo, is one of the most famous Italian television presenters. He is often referred to as "Superpippo". Baudo has also been the artistic director and president of Teatro Stabile di Catania.
Simona Ventura is an Italian television presenter.
Antonella Clerici is an Italian television host and journalist.
Fabrizio Mobrici, known by his stage name Fabrizio Moro, is an Italian singer-songwriter. He released his debut album in 2000 and he achieved commercial success in 2007, after winning the Newcomers' Section of the Sanremo Music Festival with his entry "Pensa". The song became a number-one hit in Italy, while the album with the same title was certified gold by the Italian Music Industry Federation.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The Italian entry was selected through an internal selection with the artist being selected by a special committee from the participants of the Sanremo Music Festival 2013 and the song selection being carried out by the artist. Marco Mengoni represented Italy with the song "L'essenziale", which placed 7th and scored 126 points in the final.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Grande amore", written by Ciro Esposito and Francesco Boccia. The song was performed by the male operatic pop trio Il Volo. Italian broadcaster RAI announced in September 2014 that the winning performer(s) of the Sanremo Music Festival 2015 would have the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria. The selected performer would also be given the right to choose their own song to compete with at Eurovision. In February 2015, Il Volo emerged as the winners of Sanremo with the song "Grande amore". The trio accepted the invitation to represent Italy at Eurovision and decided that "Grande amore" would be their contest entry.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "No Degree of Separation" written by Federica Abbate, Francesca Michielin, Cheope, Fabio Gargiulo and Norma Jean Martine. The song was performed by Francesca Michielin. Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) announced in October 2015 that the winning performer(s) of the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2016 would have the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden. The selected performer would also be given the right to choose their own song to compete with at Eurovision. The group Stadio ended up winning the Big Artists section, however they declined the opportunity to represent Italy in Stockholm. RAI then appointed the runner-up, Francesca Michielin, as the Italian entrant. Michielin performed a bilingual Italian and English version of her Sanremo runner-up entry "Nessun grado di separazione", which was titled "No Degree of Separation" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2016 was the 66th annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy between 9 and 13 February 2016 and organised and broadcast by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). The show was presented by Carlo Conti, who also served as the artistic director for the competition. Conti hosted the show together with Virginia Raffaele, Mădălina Diana Ghenea and Gabriel Garko. The program was written by Carlo Conti, Ivana Sabatini, Emanuele Giovannini, Leopoldo Siano, Giona Peduzzi, Riccardo Cassini, Martino Clericetti and Mario D'Amico.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Occidentali's Karma", written by Francesco Gabbani, Filippo Gabbani, Luca Chiaravalli and Fabio Ilacqua. The song was performed by Francesco Gabbani. Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) announced in October 2016 that the winning performer(s) of the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2017 would earn the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The selected performer would also be given the right to choose their own song to compete with at Eurovision. In February 2017, Francesco Gabbani emerged as the winner of Sanremo with the song "Occidentali's Karma". The artist accepted the invitation to represent Italy at Eurovision and decided that "Occidentali's Karma" would be his contest entry.
Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Italian broadcaster RAI announced in October 2017 that the winning performer(s) of the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2018 would earn the right to represent the nation at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2019 was the 69th annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo and organised and broadcast by RAI. The show was held between 5 February 2019 and 9 February 2019. Claudio Baglioni was the artistic director of the contest, and co-hosted it with Virginia Raffaele and Claudio Bisio. 24 entries competed in one section only. Mahmood emerged as the winner of the festival with his song "Soldi".
Il Mondo di Stefi is an Italian animated series produced by Rai Fiction and The Animation Band and directed by Alessandro Belli. It premiered on Rai 3 on 19 April 2008 and was added to Rai Gulp in March 2009 and RaiSat Smash Girls in May 2009. It is based on the Stefi comics by Grazia Nidasio.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2020 was the 70th edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo and organised and broadcast by RAI. The show was held between 4 and 8 February 2020.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2021 was the 71st edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, organised and broadcast by RAI. The show was held between 2 and 6 March 2021.
The Sanremo Music Festival 2022 was the 72nd edition of the annual Sanremo Music Festival, a television song contest held in the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, organised and broadcast by RAI. The show was held between 1 and 5 February 2022, and was presented for the third time in a row by Amadeus, who also served as the artistic director for the competition, alongside a number of co-hosts. It was won by Mahmood and Blanco with "Brividi".
