Sanremo 2024

Years ago, all it took was a group photo by the Christmas tree — a bit like the 1980s Coca-Cola ad that not everyone will remember — printed on the cover of Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni during Festival week alongside the song lyrics, to keep everyone happy and get people chatting at the bar about the likely winners or the quality of the songs. In recent years, though, things work differently. Two months before the start of Italy's most beloved and debated showcase, the host of the moment — who is also artistic director, song-selector, and who knows what else — shows up at no less than the Tg1 evening news, wedged between one international crisis and another, to announce, at the start (!) and end of the broadcast, the long-awaited names of the big names in competition. There it is: the "big names". That's where we have to start. Because why is Maninni a big name? Last year it was Sethu who copped the same question, while Lda, that is Luca D'Alessio, son of "a certain" Gigi, was branded a nepo-pick. The first question is nonetheless a fairly natural one. The fact is that Maninni is an indie singer-songwriter from Bari, and for Amadeus he represents the obligatory "outsider quota" within the Sanremo lineup. Yes, because Sanremo, ever since it's been in the hands of the host from Ravenna, works like a Benetton ad or a friendly Disney movie: it has to contain a bit of everything. As in: nobody must be left out, because Sanremo is Sanremo, and pretty much every single Italian tunes in to watch it. Or almost.

Taking a closer look at the twenty-seven singers who will take the Ariston stage from 6 to 10 February 2024, there's something for everyone — or at least for the more mainstream tastes. Starting with Fiorella Mannoia, who will effectively serve as the standard-bearer for the so-called "veterans", alongside Loredana Bertè and Ricchi e Poveri. This is in fact the seasoned trio chosen by Amadeus to satisfy the over-sixty crowd. Mannoia has already been to Sanremo five times, and was even a special guest way back in 2000; she's also a constant presence on Rai, with her own show on Rai1, "La musica che gira intorno". So, in theory, her presence should raise some questions about the need to give her yet more space on the other side of the fence too. It's a completely different story for Bertè, who — unlike Mannoia (nomen omen?) — embodies the timeless rebel ready to upend every prediction, as happened in the recent past with the song "Cosa ti aspetti da me", which in 2019 finished fourth amid boos from an Ariston crowd that wanted to see her at least on the podium. The applause was repeated with "Figlia di...", a single presented in 2021, again at the Ariston, this time as a guest. Finally, Ricchi e Poveri, who take the place of Cugini di Campagna in the special "vintage" sub-quota, sadly without Franco Gatti, who passed away last year.

Then there are the young old-timers, so to speak — those who betray their actual age through the style of music they've always made. It's a sizeable contingent, topped by the trio most beloved by fans of ultra-pop, Bocelli-style opera: Il Volo. But while a few years ago the three "tenors" could afford to win the Festival by riding the long wave started by Bocelli, things have changed considerably since then, and the Festival, after Mahmood's first win, has in some ways opened its doors to so-called "young music" — the very kind that inspired the great Mino Di Martino on the masterpiece track "Basta con la musica giovane", one of those forgotten gems tucked away on one of the most unfairly overlooked albums in the history of Italian music: "Alla periferia dell'impero".

But let's get back to Amadeus's flights of fancy. Alessandra Amoroso and Negramaro are the other "fake newcomers". The former was actually a duet guest at the 69th Festival, the one hosted by Claudio Baglioni, where she sang "Io che non vivo (senza te)", even earning a standing ovation. The latter took part in the Festival back in 2005 with the hit "Mentre tutto scorre", only to be eliminated on the third night, and then reappeared as guests of honour sixteen years later, opening (by some strange twist of fate, again on the third night) with Lucio Dalla's "4/3/1943" and their own version of Domenico Modugno's "Meraviglioso". Amoroso and Negramaro are, in any case, united by a shared mission, since both represent that slice of forty-somethings/newly-fifty-somethings who have spent a lifetime tuned in to the romantic frequencies of Laura Pausini or some random Massimo Di Cataldo song. Close behind come the duo Renga and Nek, and a "rejuvenated" Emma, who — besides trying every which way to reinvent herself and squeeze into the new Italian trap-rap melting pot, with questionable duets alongside Tony Effe — recently, during a concert at the Vox Club in Nonantola, even had the nerve to say: "Rock is an attitude, and I'm the most punk rock grunge artist in Italy", which is a bit like saying Fedez is Ice Cube. In short, while the first two are keeping quiet and hoping for an Italian comeback, Emma actually believes it. And fair enough, given how things have gone on Spotify in 2023 (and beyond) among the very young fans of made-in-Italy rap.

And then there's Diodato, an artist loved by both the older crowd and under-40s, who could break through again with a love ballad suited to any occasion. The Apulian singer will, however, have to contend with the "fresher" faces of Irama, Mahmood and Annalisa. These last three are, in some respects, among the potential winners of the upcoming Sanremo Festival. The first has shown he can shed his skin and adapt to the Ariston's rarefied atmosphere. The second comes across like Zidane at Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League, sitting on the bench after having "just" won two big-eared trophies already. For the red-hot Annalisa, on the other hand, this could mark her Sanremo coronation, following the radio triumph of recent months.

And here, at last, are the young ones — or rather, whatever passes for "new" courtesy of the Amadeus/Sony/Universal/Meta/add-your-own-corporation firm. There are fifteen of them, making this the haul that Sanremo's artistic direction is banking on most. Starting with social media, which by now influences (yes, some people in Italy still use that verb) absolutely everything. One could start by splitting this big group by region or local scene. Take Geolier, who represents Naples's street rap scene currently flying high in the charts. Twenty-three-year-old Emanuele Palumbo, however, isn't used to actually singing, and might struggle quite a bit on that stage tackling a proper song, far from his tried-and-tested dialect bars. Then there's Dargen D'Amico, who's over forty and technically shouldn't belong in this youth bracket at all. Yet here he is anyway, because unlike the now nearly-thirty-year-old trio of Il Volo, Dargen is young at heart, and on paper at least has what it takes to pull off a beat-driven, freestyle-flowing earworm of a song. There's also huge anticipation for Angelina Mango, who's here because the numbers are on her side. Like it or not, her singles have sold plenty and are (unfortunately or fortunately) everywhere. An early climb up the Sanremo ranks wouldn't be out of the question for her. That said, the excess of energy she brings to the stage could end up backfiring. And then there's Sangiovanni, pumped up by the majors and by De Filippi, who might end up so overhyped that, like Angelina, he drifts right out of orbit. Same goes for Mr. Rain, or rather the nursery-school crooner who gets all the mums agreeing on the WhatsApp group chats, succeeding where many saints have failed.

A separate discussion is owed to Ghali, the sly, (dis)engaged (t)rapper with one foot in Milan's record-label offices and the other somewhere out in the suburbs, who's already been to Sanremo once, as rap's breakout star back in 2020, an early super-guest. For him, only a second "Cara Italy" could deliver the big win — and that's far from easy. Then there are Kolors, who, despite being seasoned in every sense of the word, also fall into this bracket given the recent success of "Italodisco": specifically, they're happily camped out on the "revival" front, championed, however, by people who weren't around back then and know little about it, as shown by the willing gaffe live with Linus on Radio Deejay: "Ah, now this is the real, original italodisco," as they play "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc. — which is a bit like calling Bob Dylan Italian. All things considered, the Naples trio has an inevitably summery sound going for them, and with a punchy song they could well get ahead of the jukeboxes and clean up at the Festival.

Closing things out are the seven genuine outsiders. And no offence to poor Maninni, who's beyond the fringe here. Fred De Palma, dragging us back under the beach umbrella for a moment, is apparently sitting on a Latin rap-moombahton track, the kind that gives this writer hives, unless you happen to be Major Lazer doing "Get Free". La Sad bring their barely distinguishable, sugary emo-punk that nonetheless gets fussed over on the radio. Alfa has the kind of rap chorus you'd expect from a Cornetto Algida ad, one an eight-year-old could sing along to. Meanwhile Rose Villain offers something halfway between rap and dance-pop, tailor-made for teenagers. Il Tre could well walk on stage and burst into a "bro, top, mamma mia la polizia" delivered over a four-on-the-floor beat, helped along by an outfit that means nothing to the Ariston crowd but plenty to the fashion magazines. And Gazzelle? Three chords nobody will remember, except perhaps some melancholy student away from home, buried in exams, with dirty laundry piling up in a rented flat twenty kilometres from university. We almost forgot BigMama, born Marianna Mammone, in theory the only genuine rapper here with something to say. Who knows — maybe she'll be the one to surprise everyone in the end, or at least those miserable types who hate on or trash-talk the Festival out of sheer principle. Or maybe it'll be one of the three newcomers set to join the Big roster after the Sanremo Giovani final on December 19th. Those who listen shall see.

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