Tomorrow night is the night! Or rather: the first night out of five, because Festival di Sanremo lasts until Saturday night — very, very late at night.
For those who don't know that already, Festival di Sanremo is the secular Holy Week for most Italians, celebrated in the Ligurian town of Sanremo every year since 1951, and last week's issue of TV Sorrisi e Canzoni (our own TV Guide) is its “Bible” for the 2024 edition:
I never buy this magazine any other week of the year, I only ever get a copy the week before Sanremo, it's some sort of a tradition and usually it saves me from googling all the info about songs and singers taking part in the competition, many of which I have almost zero knowledge of, mainly because I'm middle-aged and don't do trap music, for instance — in fact when Keene sang the lines “oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I’m getting old and I need something to rely on” they were referring to me (“I’m getting old”) and this very issue of TV Sorrisi e Canzoni (“something to rely on”). This year I had to Google them anyway because I needed links for this newsletter… but I bought the magazine anyway.
Amadeus (the TV presenter, not the 18th century composer…) will be hosting the festival (for the fifth year in a row), with a different co-host every night: singers Marco Mengoni (on Tuesday) and Giorgia (NOT ME — on Wednesday), comedian Teresa Mannino (on Thursday), showgirl Lorella Cuccarini (on Friday), and showman and Amadeus’ BFF Rosario Fiorello (on the final night, Saturday).
So, this is my plan: on every Sanremo night this week I'll be doing a live commentary on Notes; I'll subsequently assemble everything to be published as a daily post on Pesto di Puntarelle (puntarelle’s dedicated section for Sanremo), but I’m unsure I should send it to your inboxes, as I don’t want people to get annoyed by ’sta Cambogggia1… I'd like your thoughts on this.
Anyway, I'll try and keep it short and funny (hopefully), so here's my unofficial intro to the 30 contestants:
Alessandra Amoroso: she’s been around since 2009, but this is her first time at Sanremo. I’ve always found her terribly boring. It's not personal, I promise, but that's the way it is. Song: Fino a qui (So far).
Alfa: absolutely no clue who he is, I've just learned he’s a rapper, and his song is called Vai (Go).
Angelina Mango: daughter of the late Mango — neither the fruit, nor the fast fashion company, but Pino Mango, a singer-songwriter hailing from Basilicata who had a very beautiful voice. Angelina will sing a song called La noia (Boredom).
Annalisa: UUH! AAH! She’s got a degree in physics! Her song: Sinceramente (Sincerely). Below, Brenda Lodigiani impersonating her during Gialappa Show:
BigMama: she’s a rapper from Avellino, and that her song is titled La rabbia non ti basta (Rage is not enough). BigMama might have a point, here.
Bnkr44: one of the three “newbies” who went through Sanremo Giovani 2023 (a pre-Sanremo competition for newcomers). Their name is pronounced “Bunker Quarantaquattro”, but they apparently hate vowels. Their song is called Governo punk (Punk government)…
Clara: another one of the three “newbies” who went through Sanremo Giovani 2023, I know nothing (like Jon Snow) about her, but the title of her song: Diamanti grezzi (Rough diamonds).
Dargen D'Amico: the one who still hears the music that goes pa-para-ra parara-pa-pa, pa-para-ra parara-pa-pa, pa-para-ra parara-pa-pa, pa-para-ra parara-pa-pa, pa-para-ra parara-pa-pa!, this year will be performing a song called Onda alta (Tall wave).
Diodato: the guy who should’ve represented Italy at Eurovision 2020 if the whole world hadn’t been in lockdown:
This year he'll be singing Ti muovi (You move), which could be the prequel to Fai rumore (You make noise)…
Emma: she's been around for a while, now, but I've never been a fan of her music. Her dad passed away in 2022, she'll be wearing his necklace onstage. That's sweet. Her song is called Apnea (Apnoea).
Fiorella Mannoia: one of the “elders”, She has beautiful curly auburn hair, like Merida from The Brave. She’ll be singing Mariposa.
Fred De Palma: look, ma, a rapper. His song: Il cielo non ci vuole (The sky doesn't want us).
Gazzelle: like those Adidas’ snickers. Never heard of him, he'll be singing Tutto qui (That's all).
Geolier: another (Neapolitan) rapper… his song is all in Neapolitan, and is called I p' me, tu p' te (I for myself, you for yourself).
Ghali: a Milanese rapper of Tunisian descent, singing Casa mia (My home).
Il Tre: …and yet another rapper… singing Fragili (Fragile).
(too many rappers already, at least according to my personal taste…)
Il Volo: yes, it's those three, again. And they're going to sing a Capolavoro (Masterpiece) — even if they say so themselves… we'll see.
Irama: “Filippo Maria Fanti […] his artistic name, chosen after having anagrammed his second name, Maria, means "rhythm" in Malay”. Er… ok. His song is called Tu no (Not you).
La Sad: a Brescian, an Altamuran, and a Venetian enter a café meet in Milan and form an emo-trap-punk-pop group, no less. My veins are trembling. Their song is unsurprisingly called Autodistruttivo (Self-destructive).
Loredana Bertè: she's back! This is her twelfth Sanremo! She's unpredictable! And her song is titled Pazza (Crazy)!
Mahmood: he's won Sanremo twice (2019 and 2022), glad he’s back without Blanco. He’ll be singing Tuta gold (Golden tracksuit).
Maninni: this bloke comes from Bari (Apulia), he's apparently sung a series of very successful songs I managed to completely bypass during the past two years… my bad. He will be singing Spettacolare (Spectacular).
Mr. Rain: ended up at third place last year, with a frankly lame song; hopefully this year's Due altalene (Two seesaws) will be a little less lame.
Negramaro: they're a pop band from Apulia, and my late sister, Carola, loved them, she would've probably rooted for them… they'll be singing Ricominciamo tutto (Let's start everything over again).
Renga e Nek: can't stand Renga, neither as a singer nor as a human being tout-court. Sorry for Nek, who's a good egg, but I won't be rooting for them. Their song is called Pazzo di te (Mad about you).
Ricchi e Poveri: Italy’s own ABBA (but there’s only two of them left, Angelo and Angela, while “il Baffo” — the moustache — passed away in 2022, and “la Bionda” — the blondie — exited the group in 1981 due to, erm… divergences with Angela…) — they've been around since 1967, and they'll sing Ma non tutta la vita (But not the whole life).
Rose Villain: I only know who she is because she appeared in an episode of Gialappa Show… Her song is called Click boom!
Sangiovanni: apart from being an underground stop near via Appia, Sangiovanni is also the chap who sang Farfalle, which annoyed my poor ears for months two years ago — this year he'll be singing Finiscimi (Kill me off)…
Santi Francesi: Louis XI of France, Thérèse of Lisieux, Joan of Arc, Bernard of Clairvaux, François de Sales, Genevieve… wait, no, I’ve been misled, turns out they don’t really mean that “French saints” will sing at Sanremo... Dommage! They too are among the three “newbies” who went through Sanremo Giovani 2003, and they'll sing L’amore in bocca (a pun on “l’amaro in bocca”, i.e. a sour taste in your mouth).
The Kolors: their Italodisco song annoyed the hell out of me for the whole summer last year. Hopefully Un ragazzo una ragazza (A boy, a girl) will be less irritating…
Hi Giorgia, I subscribed recently & I’m in the process of trying to figure out whether you’re still substacking (which clearly you are) or your writing can be accessed elsewhere. 🧐 In the meantime I’m looking forward to your Sanremo 2024 commentary. 😃
My kids (actually young adults) who, over the years received a decent music education and are learning Italian sporadically, are encouraged by their teachers/lecturers to listen to Italian music — agree with you wholeheartedly that there are too many rappers. 😆
☮️💟 Frances from Sydney, Oz.
I’m looking forward to this so much, and I’ll be following your updates - I love Sanremo!!