08:45 PM: Carabinieri band play the National anthem, aka Inno di Mameli.
08:53 PM: Geolier is currently leading the scoreboard — proof that my 14 y.o. niece and her friends have voted…
08:57 PM: voting from home is on!
09:00 PM: Renga & Nek do their forgettable RENGANEK act. K, THX, BAI.
09:06 PM: BigMama, wearing a spectacular red frock, sings La rabbia non ti basta: for me she is the real revelation of this Sanremo, love her voice and can’t wait to hear more from her. Brava!
09:11 PM: Gazzelle, hailing all the way from Roma Nord, trapped in a late ‘90s Mancunian Brit-Pop sound, sings Tutto qui. He dedicates his song to Giovanna, “a person I miss so much”.
09:16 PM: Dargen D’Amico, wearing a black and red suit and feigning fear of saying “something wrong”, sings Onda alta. I love the lyrics, they’re actually quite deep, I might even like the energetic music. He walks among the audience, kisses Mara Venier (famous tv presenter of Sunday TV programmes whom I can't stand). Many in the audience sing along with his song. Well done.
09:28 PM: Fiorello, tonight’s co-presenter, arrives performing Domenico Modugno’s Vecchio frac as if it was Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, dancing with a Ukrainian dance company — nice mashup (no sarcasm, it was indeed nice).
09:36 PM: Il Volo, in total black, sing their Capolavoro (…): I resent having added them to my Fantasanremo team. I wish they would pick less lame songs…
09:42 PM: Loredana Bertè, my favourite (already cast 3 of my 5 votes in her favour), sings Pazza. I want her feathered sunglasses1, too!
09:53 PM: Negramaro sing Ricominciamo tutto — the countdown bit of the song reminds me of David Bowie (in fact after that I find myself singing “THIS IS GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM, YOU'VE REALLY MADE THE GRADES, AND THE PAPERS WANT TO KNOW WHOSE SHIRT YOU WEAR, AND THE SKY LOOKS VERY DIFFERENT TODAY…”), but not the song as a whole…
10:02 PM: Mahmood is wearing aluminium foil and sings Tuta gold. Impeccable.
10:07 PM: Tananai (guest) on the external stage performs Tango2…AAAAAMORE TRAAAAA LE PALAZZINE A FUOCO LAAA TUA VOCE RICONOSCO NOI NON SIAMO COOOOME LORO È MEEEEGLIO È MEEEEGLIO È MEGLIO CHE NON RIMANI QUIIII… IO TORNERÒ LUNEDÌ… ma non è mai lunedì. 😭😭😭😭😭
10:12 PM: Santi Francesi, dressed in all white, sing a forgettable song. Sorry about that. The singer has a beautiful voice, I hope their repertoire improves.
10:17 PM: “Ricordo delle Foibe”, introduced by Io che amo solo te, a song by Sergio Endrigo, who was born in Pola in 1946, in the Istrian Peninsula… hate the exploitation of this beautiful song for this.
10:26 PM: ballet étoile Roberto Bolle dances on Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. During the press conference earlier today he said he would’ve danced BALLO DEL QUA QUA, no probs… 🐥🐥🐥
10:38 PM: Diodato sings Ti muovi: my mum thinks he’s not even 30, but the kid is almost 43…
10:44 PM: thankfully the last appearance of the sofa makers / sponsors.
10:46 PM: Fiorella Mannoia sings Mariposa: she really doesn't care anymore,
[missed nearly an hour of Sanremo here, as I was busy crying in the bathroom, thank you uncles/aunts/cousins dearest, at last I know where you stand…]
11:27 PM: Gigliola Cinquetti is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the release of Non ho l'età… and of her Eurovision victory, too!
11:44 PM: Ghali (my other 2 votes went to him) sings Casa mia, with an alien/manatee onstage (paging our queen of manatees,
), politely thanks everyone, and says “STOP THE GENOCIDE” before leaving the stage. 🙏11:51 PM: Annalisa sings Kylie Minogue’s Can't get you out of my head her song Sinceramente. Yes, it's catchy. So it was Kylie's song in 2001.
11:59 PM: Angelina Mango, one of the favourites for the win, sings La noia. She also falls onstage, right at the end of the song, but doesn't stop singing — professional (and young — if I fell like that I would break a femur…)
00:06 AM: Geolier, the other favourite for the win, sings I’ p’ me, tu p’ te. To each their own.
00:11 AM: Emma sings Apnea. She's like “ah, whatevs, who cares”, and I agree with her.
00:16 AM: Il Tre sings Fragili, and I have no opinion to share on this.
00.23: Ricchi e Poveri dressed like the red blood cells from Il était une fois... la Vie, sing Ma non tutta la vita. They're having fun, the song is catchy, and I love them for their cheerfulness.
[finished preparing my luggage for tomorrow, therefore I missed The Kolors and Maninni… I didn't miss that much, after all.]
00:47: PJ Masks La Sad, wearing sparkly jackets, sing Autodistruttivo. They look like PJ Masks…
00:59: Mr. Rain sings Due altalene: griderò il tuo nome fino a rompere l'autotune…
[I am tired. I have a train to catch tomorrow, I want to go home. I'll probably fall asleep crying before they proclaim the winner anyway…]
01:05 AM: Fred De Palma, wearing an oversized off-white suit, sings Il cielo non ci vuole: this is the third time I listen to this song, and still can't remember much soon after it's over.
01:15 AM – Sangiovanni, wearing a “where's Waldo”-style striped sweater, sings Finiscimi. I'm so tired, of everyone and everything, I second that emotion.
01:24 AM: Clara sings Diamanti grezzi dressed in a silver dress. At the end she runs towards her brother in the audience to hug him and give him her Sanremo flowers… aww.
01:31 AM: bnkr44 sing Governo punk. Can't wait to read about what our politicians think of all these songs… not.
01:36 AM - Rose Villain sings Click boom!, the last song competing in this Festival which, surprisingly, is my mother's favourite (she refers to it as to “la canzone che fa boom boom boom…”)…
01:43 AM: voting is now closed. I have a headache.
01:50 AM: Premio Città di Sanremo goes to the stage manager, Pippo Balistreri (he's been doing that for 41 years!).
01:53 AM: Scoreboard from 30th to 6th — most of my favourites are out of the top five… but Ghali! Top five in the scoreboard are in fact Irama, Geolier, Angelina Mango, Annalisa, and Ghali.
01:55 AM – From now on we can vote again for the top five (and of course ALL my votes will go to Ghali!)… yes, it's all confusing and exhausting.
02:16 AM: final voting is now closed.
02:18 AM: Awards from the press room:
Premio Mia Martini goes to Loredana Bertè
Premio Lucio Dalla goes to Angelina Mango
Premio Sergio Bardotti (best lyrics) goes to Fiorella Mannoia
Premio Bigazzi (best music) goes to Angelina Mango
02:24 AM: the Press Room subverted the top five scoreboard, as they voted the opposite of what people from home did (60% of votes from home went to Geolier):
2.25: …and so, the winner is… LA NONA di Beethoven LA NOIA (The Boredom), by Angelina Mango.
She's dressed in total Valentino, sunglasses included.
“tango” = the plastic, non-pro soccer ball all kids use to kick around on playgrounds around the world, not the dance.
"Parenti serpenti"... Sorry you had such a difficult time, but hey, onwards and upwards, looking forward to your future posts. I really enjoyed your Sanremo summaries!
I am sorry your family is so ghastly to you. My in-laws have made me feel like that. My votes for Ghali never went through, I was completely bored by La Noia and fell asleep after they announced the 5. I only woke up when it was all over.