Sanremo 2022

From February 1st to 5th, the Sanremo Festival returns: the most talked-about, discussed, loved and hated event in Italian popular music. It's not just a matter of good and bad songs, but also of looks, flat notes, ill-matched duets, criminal covers, controversies and plot twists: an intoxicating, overwhelming carousel whose tentacles reach almost every corner of Italian media, from the most serious socio-political commentary to social networks, by way of music webzines, glossy magazines and newspapers. As with all carousels, some feel a strong wave of nausea shortly after getting on and can't wait to get off, while others have the time of their lives. Sometimes people laugh with Sanremo, but more often they laugh at Sanremo: either way, it always ends up being talked about, because for a good week it's impossible to avoid the subject with friends, relatives, acquaintances and colleagues.

On these pages we've often talked about it, for example when we tried to find out which were the best Sanremo songs of all time, but also, in recent years, when we tried to read, from our own point of view, the 2020 and 2021 editions. The 72nd edition will once again be helmed by Amadeus, for the third year running, flanked by five female co-hosts: Ornella Muti, Lorena Cesarini, Drusilla Foer, Maria Chiara Giannetta and Sabrina Ferilli.

Among the guests already announced are Fiorello, Checco Zalone, Cesare Cremonini and the Måneskin. There will be 25 songs in competition in total, a full 9 fewer than in 2021: 22 are performed by artists already known to the general public, while 3 are newcomers who stood out at “Sanremo Giovani”.

The aim of this brief guide is to give an overview of who these 25 contestants are, trying to imagine what they might bring to the stage in light of their careers, what they've been up to lately, and what has already leaked to the press. Some of them have had the chance to preview their songs, but obviously the live performance on the Eurovision stage will be a different story altogether, full of surprises.

This is a guide meant to be read even by those who will never actually watch Sanremo, but still want something to say about this or that artist at the coffee machine or the bus stop. And for the occasion, allow us a little irony and a pinch of bias, to be taken with a smile.

Achille Lauro

Distinguishing features: he dresses so eccentrically he'd make Malgioglio blush.

You might know him for: “Mille”, “Bam Bam Twist”, “Me ne frego”, “Rolls Royce” and the nude-look bodysuit he showed off at Sanremo 2020.

Lauro De Marinis, born in 1990, is already among the favourites, even though his last two albums, “1969” (2019) and “Lauro” (2021), mark something of a decline. Born a rapper, in the trap sphere no less, he grew up in Rome, where his brother introduced him to the hip-hop and punk scenes. Despite already having three albums under his belt – including “Ragazzi madre” (2016), which already set him apart from the rest of the scene with more introspective, emotional lyrics – he became a celebrity in 2017 thanks to the show “Pechino Express”, paired with producer Boss Doms: from there, the eccentric, shambolic, decadent, kitsch persona took over from the rapper/singer.

He wrote an autobiography in 2018, then a second book in 2019, and in the meantime became a fixture on TV, promoted himself as a visual artist, and was brought in by Amazon Prime for “Hunted: caccia all'uomo”; as if that weren't enough, he also put out a photo-book, presented at Milan's Museo delle Culture with a performance referencing Marina Abramović. Music became less central, but never disappeared entirely: after the May Day “concertone” in 2018, in 2019 he arrived at Sanremo with “Rolls Royce” and essentially abandoned hip-hop to reveal a melancholic, nostalgic side, a singer devoted to revivalism: provocative but never truly scandalous, teasing without ever really disturbing anyone.

In 2020 he returned to Sanremo with “Me ne frego” and, having figured out how the game works, aimed high, showing up in outfits so over the top they became hilarious. The song itself, needless to say, barely mattered. Having established that he goes to Sanremo more as a showman than as a singer, in 2021 he was directly added to the line-up and came out with some pompous “tableaux” about “the story of all of us”: a gushing display of arrogance, bearable only when it ends up becoming (unintentionally?) comic. Riding the wave of pop stardom, though by now more for what he does than for what he sings, he also popped up on “Mille” with Fedez and Orietta Berti, but he's ready to go back to Sanremo as a contestant and win.

Barring any surprises, and even if “Domenica”, the song he's presenting, turns out to be nothing special, the performances certainly will be. The track will feature the Harlem Gospel Choir: should we expect a bit of watered-down blasphemy, or a messianic turn à la Celentano? According to rumours, a new version of “Rolls Royce” is on its way: sly move.

Aka 7even

Distinguishing features: sometimes he's sweet and romantic, sometimes he just wants ra-pa-pa-pam.

You might know him for: “Mi manchi” and “Loca”, especially if you have teenagers around.

Luca Marzano, born in 2000, is yet another act who got to Sanremo via Maria De Filippi's “Amici”. He's one of those contestants competing to win over the youngest audience, who love him. His best-known singles, “Loca” and “Mi manchi”, might not be ideal listening, though, if you're past school age: in the first, the girl he's addressing seems to be a nymphomaniac, as shown by the chorus that goes “Ti piace quando ti stringo forte/ E lo vuoi sempre tutte le volte/ Loca, loca, loca/ Vuole solo ra-pa-pa-pam/ Ra-pa-pa pam pam”; in the second, this twenty-two-year-old instead reveals himself to be romantic and melancholic, like an Ultimo with tears in his eyes, a broken heart, and the whole arsenal of someone trying to win over teenage girls.

Among his sources of inspiration, he told Repubblica, are The Weeeknd, Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber, which is a bit like saying my eight-year-old nephew takes inspiration from Renzo Piano when he plays with Lego. The song he's bringing is called “Perfetta così” and will therefore almost certainly be dedicated to a girl: between the two templates on offer – the one written in the grip of a serious case of priapism, like “Loca”, and the rainy November-afternoon mood of “Mi manchi” – the latter will probably win out, being better suited to the Ariston. He'll play up to the camera plenty, and the televote could help him make up any lost ground for a fearsome late surge.

Ana Mena

Distinguishing features: a blonde who feels the need to announce her arrival, like a truck backing up.

You might know her for: her duets with Rocco Hunt like "Un bacio all’improvviso" and "A un passo dalla luna".

A singer and, apparently, actress from Spain, Ana Mena Rojas (born 1997) is this edition's latin quota, in the sense that her name seems to have popped up out of nowhere and carries that faintly foreign, not-too-foreign flavor typical of Spanish presences on Italian TV. She's a young, pretty blonde who in her videos dances like a woman possessed to reggaeton beats, backing the summer hits of Rocco Hunt and Fred De Palma, so we're expecting daring evening wear from her and a bit of rhythm to keep us awake through Sanremo's endless nights.

Big dilemma: will she feel the need to introduce herself the way she does in her collaborations, with her tag, or will we have to do without the Ariston crowd chanting a faint, sensual "Ana Mena"?

Her presence fills the slot once occupied by Elettra Lamborghini. Let's hope the song "Duecentomila ore" isn't meant literally, or it'll last almost 23 years: if she spends them all dancing, it'll still be quite a show! Among the song's writers is also Rocco Hunt, reinforcing the idea that her material won't stray far from the reggaeton-pop we already know her for. To sound in the know, though, you can mention you've also heard the Spanish version of "Musica leggerissima", which, for the record, comes out of it thoroughly mangled.

Dargen D’Amico

Distinguishing features: mirrored sunglasses, unruly curls, boundless imagination.

You might know him for: "Bocciofili", "La cassa spinge 2021", or because he made Italian hip-hop history with Sacre Scuole and as a solo artist.

Jacopo "Dargen" D'Amico, born in 1980, can't really be explained and, paraphrasing a bygone Valerio Mastandrea, must simply be experienced. A shapeshifting genius with an unpredictable career, he's repeatedly been present whenever something was shifting in Italian hip-hop, contributing to it in substantial ways. From his beginnings with Sacre Scuole, out of which Club Dogo would later emerge (though without him), to a solo career in which he revolutionized the very idea of homegrown rap with gems like "Musica senza musicisti" (2006) and the double album "Di vizi di forma virtù" (2008), all the way to hypnagogic stream-of-consciousness tributes to Lucio Dalla, nonsensical tracks and unexpected collaborations — there's almost nothing Dargen D'Amico hasn't tried in his career.

Equally capable of parody and the boldest experimentation, of technical virtuosity and heart-wrenching poetry, Dargen D'Amico is at once a surprise for Sanremo and a presence one could logically expect: coming right after his most difficult album yet, "Bir Tawil" (2020), landing at the Ariston fits perfectly with his predictable... unpredictability. What will he bring to "Dove si balla"? It seems to be an eighties-style dance number.

Ditonellapiaga with Rettore

Distinguishing features: platinum blonde, transgressive and provocative. And then there's a newcomer.

You might know them for: the second one for "Kobra", "Splendido splendente", "Lamette", but as for the first one, it's unlikely you've come across her before.

The first is a virtually unknown pop-rapper from 1997, whose material splits between grittier tracks and mushier ones, while the second is one of the grand dames of our songbook, born in 1955, who returns to Sanremo after her last appearance way back in 1994 (the year of “Di notte specialmente”) and whose latest album came out in 2011. Let's hope the latter can lend some courage to the former, so their “Chimica” actually works: a track described in an interview with Ansa as “fun”, which isn't quite enough to rule out the possibility that the whole thing might be a bit embarrassing.

The risk is that everything, even at the gossip level, will be overshadowed by Rettore, a hugely important figure for a segment of the audience tied to the golden era of her career, between the 70s and early 80s. And what if Rettore ends up acting merely as a chaperone? That would be a huge letdown.

Elisa

Distinguishing features: no make-up, flawless voice and jet-black hair.

You might know her from: one of the many rap collaborations of recent years, but also classics like “Luce (tramonti a nord est)” or “Labyrinth”.

Elisa Toffoli experienced a pivotal moment of her career at Sanremo. The singer from Monfalcone, born in 1977 and with a career spanning more than two decades, debuted at just 19 with “Pipes & Flowers” (1997), an all-English bestseller that showed Italian pop-rock could sound just as good as its European and American counterparts. She then embraced trip-hop and electronica, but her success flared up again with her win at Sanremo 2001 with “Luce (tramonti a nord est)”, her first song in Italian. Since then she's remained a celebrity, collaborating with many Italian artists and offering unexpected covers too (including Velvet Underground). She has also taken part in major national and international events, including “Live 8”, and has worked tirelessly in the film industry as well.

In 2008 came a tour of the United States and Canada. Sanremo kept welcoming her back, but she stayed busy on multiple fronts: duets, charity work, TV shows and soundtracks, on top of national and international tours. Gradually she began moving closer to the new wave of Italian rap, collaborating with names like Fedez, Marracash, Mahmood, Carl Brave, Rkomi, Gué Pequeno.

Her return to the Ariston stage is the kind that makes headlines, and even though her career has seemed a bit stalled lately, Elisa is an artist who can aim for victory on the strength of her stage experience alone, as well as the recent buzz she's built up, collaboration after collaboration, even among younger audiences.

She's presenting “O forse sei tu”, a title that sounds a touch aggressive but should turn out to be a ballad in the vein of “Diari aperti”, rather than as lively as the recent “Seta”. A favourite.

Emma

Distinguishing features: blonde hair and a voice that... roars.

You might know her for: “Non è l’inferno”, “Amami”, “L’amore non mi basta”, or for her past on “Amici”.

Emma Marrone, born in Florence in 1984 and raised in the Lecce area, found fame thanks to the already-mentioned “Amici”. She made her Sanremo debut in 2011 with Modà, then returned in 2012 with “Non è l’inferno”, this time taking home the win. Not exactly a masterpiece, to put it kindly, and in fact at Eurovision she performed a different song, finishing, on the strength of that choice, in twenty-first place.

The impression is that, not just outside our borders but even outside her most devoted fanbase, Emma struggles to break through or win people over. She has often been active in charity causes and has also picked up experience in television and film.

A little rough around the edges vocally, and a bit awkward in her stage movements. From her, you expect nothing less than a song full of long high notes and heavy drama, letting her play up her trademark pained expressions to the camera, the ones that bring out her “roars”. The risk of tipping over into birignao (that over-the-top warbling) is almost a given with her track “Ogni volta è così”.

Fabrizio Moro

Distinguishing features: intense gaze, bad-boy-from-the-suburbs look, and a sensual timbre.

You might know him for: “Pensa”, which was a huge hit, but also “Non mi avete fatto niente”, with which he won in 2018.

Fabrizio “Moro” Mobrici, a Rome-born pop-rock singer born in 1975, is a Sanremo regular: he took part in 2000 with “Un giorno senza fine”, in 2007 with “Pensa”, in 2008 with “Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita”, in 2010 with “Non è una canzone”, and in 2017 with “Portami via”. In 2007 he won the Newcomers section, but to win the main category he had to team up with Ermal Meta in 2018, with “Non mi avete fatto niente”.

Like Emma, for a large part of the audience he essentially doesn't exist outside of the Ariston, so it's no surprise that his participation arrives without much astonishment or particular curiosity.

As with others before him, there's the risk of becoming a “Sanremo” singer, in the least flattering sense of the term, reducing his entire career outside the fanbase to a periodic appointment with no real spark. The title, “Sei tu”, seems to promise a love song, but he could surprise us the way he did with “Pensa”, veering into social commentary instead.

Gianni Morandi

Distinguishing features: giant hands and a smile for everyone, the spirit of an “eternal boy”.

You might know him for: “Uno su mille”, “Si può dare di più”, “Banane e lampone”, but also… “L’allegria”. And then as a TV host, a social media presence, the star of countless memes, and much more. Rather than “might”, let's just say you definitely know him.

Kindness turned into a public figure, Gianni Morandi was born in 1944 and needs no introduction for anyone who's lived in Italy over the past fifty years. Singer, musician, actor, TV host, social media star and meme protagonist since the days of 56k modems, he's also hosted Sanremo twice, in 2011 and 2012, and won it in 1987 with Tozzi and Ruggeri.

From his hometown of Monghidoro, near Bologna, he started singing in the late Fifties and never stopped: in 1962 he signed with Rca and debuted with "Andavo a cento all'ora", followed by "Fatti mandare dalla mamma a prendere il latte" and many others throughout the decade, often pairing the songs with "musicarelli" films.

He started the Seventies with an appearance at Eurovision, then almost disappeared from the radar, but bounced back in the Eighties, also founding the charity outfit Nazionale Italiana Cantanti.

Alongside his consistently notable live career, including stints in Japan and the United States, the Nineties saw him add a 270-date tour of Italian theatres with offshoots in Europe, the US and Canada.

He's a reassuring, smiling face who always has a kind word for everyone and even indulges in self-deprecating stunts, like his collaborations with Rovazzi. The Oscar-winning South Korean film "Parasite", from 2019, features one of his 1964 songs, "In ginocchio da te": that's the level of fame we're talking about.

After an accident left him with severe burns to his hands, and following years of spreading goodwill, he found cross-industry support from the TV and music world close to him, so much so that he emerged, thanks to the wilder streak of Jovanotti, with the single "L'allegria": a delirious, chaotic song about optimism that fits his public persona perfectly.

His return to Sanremo with "Apri tutte le porte", a track co-written with Jovanotti and his guitarist Riccardo Onori, is therefore a contender for the win thanks to the affection surrounding the man himself, and because it's meant to be a lively anthem to positivity (though can we still say that these days?).

Giovanni Truppi

Distinguishing features: the most indie of them all.

You might know him for: the 2019 album "Poesia e civiltà".

Born in Naples in 1981, he's the most indie of this edition's contestants. A singer-songwriter with a political streak, decidedly more sophisticated than the low-brow fare typical of the Ariston stage, he could treat his first appearance as a chance to reach a wider audience, after "Poesia e civiltà" (2019) already caught the attention of listeners tuned into the frequencies of Italy's new singer-songwriter scene.

He's the name your relatives and colleagues are most likely never to have heard of, which makes the occasion doubly rewarding: dig into a brief but interesting discography and you'll also score some points in your social circle as a connoisseur of the subject. Among the lines you can borrow from the various reviews we've published, which will show everyone just how much you know, we recommend "he shows off a laid-back, romantic crooning style in the vein of Sergio Caputo" (as we wrote here) and "a talented singer-songwriter, destined for even greater things" (as we wrote here).

The track, titled "Tuo padre, mia madre, Lucia", was also co-written with Pacifico and Niccolò Contessa, and could therefore have what it takes to become a hit. Strongly backed by Amadeus, so even if it misses out on the win, it could well be a frontrunner for other "minor" awards.

Giusy Ferreri

Distinguishing features: 1.55 meters of nasality, our homegrown answer to Amy Winehouse.

You might know her for: summer singles like "Amore e capoeira" and "Jambo", or the hit that made her famous, "Non ti scordar mai di me".

This Palermo native, born in 1979, who obviously hides a Giuseppa Gaetana behind the name Giusy, embodied a dream: from humble cashier she became, through X Factor, a star of our pop scene. From that 2008 breakthrough, after hitting a dead end with her solo career, she found the way to even greater success with the single "Roma-Bangkok", an extremely rare diamond-certified single for Fimi and the first Italian video to top 100 million views.

Afterwards, she tried to stay active mainly through new potential summer hits, finding an effective partnership with Takagi & Ketra, which kept her well known through "Amore e capoeira" (2018) and "Jambo" (2019), but with "Shimmy Shimmy" (2021) even that combination began to run dry.

Takagi & Ketra are once again by her side for her track, "Miele", which could therefore turn out to be one of the stickiest, most radio-friendly moments of the Festival: we'll see, because yet another entry with mediocre results could signal the start of a rough patch. It sounds like she'll be using autotune.

Highsnob and Hu

Distinguishing features: face tattoos for him, shaved head for her.

You might know them for: a single that made you feel like an old-timer, maybe "La miglior vendetta" or "23 coltellate", from the first one. The second, on the other hand, is an artist strictly for the curious.

She, Federica "Hu" Ferracuti, is practically unknown to everyone, while he, Michele "Highsnob" Matera from Avellino, born in 1985, is one of the many pop-rap artists who have crowded our mainstream for the past five years, and in some cases, see "La miglior vendetta", he closely recalls a certain Fedez, with whom he also shares neck tattoos (which in his case extend to the face as well).

The track, "Abbi cura di te", is about the end of a relationship, so putting all the clues together leads us to consider this odd couple among the least likely to win.

In the lyrics they mention the word "shibari": go ahead and show off by telling friends and acquaintances it's a Japanese discipline that involves tying up a person in an erotic context, a bit like bondage (if you really want to flex, say you call it "kinbaku" and appreciate it as an art form). All we can do is stay surprised, after all, even Povia won this thing once, right?

Irama

Distinguishing features: a fascination with darkness, the swagger of someone who never falls short.

You might know them for: “La genesi del tuo colore”, “Mediterranea” or “Arrogante”.

Filippo Maria Fanti, born in 1995 and known as Irama, is equally at home singing or rapping, and he's one of the few who has actually managed to localize reggaeton: some might call that a crime, but with his summer singles this Italian take on the trend actually comes off more natural than the attempts of many of his colleagues.

He already made it to Sanremo back in 2019 with a tear-jerker steeped in pure pathos, “La ragazza con il cuore di latta” (remember “Mary” by Gemelli DiVersi?), but last year, with “La genesi del tuo colore”, he got the song right yet ended up the unluckiest of them all, since he couldn't perform live and had to use a recording of the rehearsals. Given how long the track has stuck around on the streaming charts, he may well have dodged a win.

Still, we're talking about a pop star who's already picked up three platinum certifications with an EP, “Plume” (2018), and thirty platinum records overall. He's also a good-looking guy who can dance, so his performance is sure to send a chunk of the audience into raptures.

Among the producers of his “Ovunque sarai” is also Shablo, a hip-hop legend who has worked with Inoki, Club Dogo, Kaos, Guè Pequeno, J-Ax, Marracash, Salmo, Clementino, Noyz Narcos, Fabri Fibra, Rkomi and many others. A win, or at least a strong placing, would also be helped along by a certain sense of redemption after what happened a year ago, metaphorically acting as payback against the pandemic's twists of fate. More likely, though, he'll land in the top 5.

Iva Zanicchi

Distinguishing features: a lioness's mane, the straight-talking manner of your local bar buddies.

You might know her for: “Zingara”, “Testarda io”, or for “Ok, il prezzo è giusto!”, the TV game show she hosted for twelve years.

Iva Zanicchi, born in 1940 and known by the unlikely comic-book-villain name “Aquila di Ligonchio”, is a singer who has won Sanremo three times, backed by a truly stentorian voice. The magnificent four — all of them, incidentally, sporting names straight out of vintage comics — are her, Mina (“the tigress of Cremona”), the late Milva (“the panther of Goro”) and Orietta Berti (“the nightingale of Cavriago”): all that's left is to wait for an “Avengers”-style crossover episode.

Jokes aside, Iva Zanicchi was an institution of the Italian Sixties and Seventies, but unlike Gianni Morandi, her career as a singer seems to have faded away decades ago. In the past she performed at New York's “Madison Square Garden” and in the Soviet Union, collaborated with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Mikīs Theodōrakīs, took on acting roles and wrote albums inspired by Jewish tradition, recorded hits in Latin America and even posed for Playboy (!); later she became a TV star with “Ok, il prezzo è giusto!” on Silvio Berlusconi's networks, whom she would also follow into politics, serving as an MEP between 2008 and 2014.

Since the Nineties, music has taken a back seat in her life, with her often busy with nostalgia-driven projects.

She has been to Sanremo ten times in total, and this will be her eleventh, but her last appearance was with “Ti voglio senza amore” (2009), a track that was eliminated and, frankly, embarrassing. It looks like she might be filling the slot occupied by Orietta Berti in 2021: a likeable, age-appropriate presence, if nothing else always blunt, sincere and lively in front of the camera. Unlike Morandi, though, a win for her seems unlikely.

La Rappresentante Di Lista

Distinguishing features: Veronica and Dario are a queer duo, and it seems they're not a couple, though we don't quite buy it 100%.

You might know them for: “Amare”, the song they entered in the 2021 contest, or perhaps you've known them since their debut, “Bu Bu Sad”, or from one of their electrifying live shows.

Veronica Lucchesi and Dario Mangiaracina founded this group in Palermo in 2011, making a name for themselves with a style of pop-rock that's often electronic, built on rich, layered arrangements — part Arcade Fire, part it-pop, but with an indie twist.

Live, they're electrifying, and Veronica is relentless and moving, as she proved even at Sanremo, in the 2021 edition, of all things, with no audience present. Generally, their closeness to the fluidity so dear to LGBTQ+ causes only adds to their media potential, together with a dynamic between Veronica and Dario that, while not romantically involved, suggests some kind of chemistry, at least an artistic one.

They might hit the jackpot with “Ciao ciao”, a disco-funk track, from what's leaked so far, the song that could win over the wider public.

Le Vibrazioni

Distinguishing features: a very ROCK look, but then very pop.

You might know them for: “Dedicato a te”, “Vieni da me”, “Dov’è”.

After debuting in 2003 with “Dedicato a te”, an inescapable hit whose famous video was mercilessly parodied by Frankie Hi-Nrg and Elio e le Storie Tese, they also landed on the soundtrack of “Tre metri sopra il cielo”. They'd return to the big screen with the theme song for “Eccezzziunale veramente – Capitolo secondo… me” (2006). Not exactly arthouse cinema.

They then try veering toward rock, tweak the lineup a bit, and even open for Ac/Dc in 2010. In 2012, though, they go on hiatus, not returning until 2017. They flirt with rap by collaborating with Jake La Furia and head back to Sanremo in 2018, having already been there in 2005. They'll do it again in 2020, only for the win, right after they leave, to go to a rock band that's younger and far less experienced, but far sexier, than them: Måneskin. With “Tantissimo” maybe they want to let us know just how much that still stings….

Mahmood and Blanco

Distinguishing features: the first sort of looks like Marracash, but isn't; the second usually goes around half-naked.

You might know them for: the first one's radio singles, like “Soldi”, which already won Sanremo, and above all the second one's inescapable hits, like “Mi fai impazzire”, “Notti in bianco” and “Blu celeste”.

Mahmood is far from a flash in the pan, a one-off meteor: the Milan-born artist, class of 1992, hasn't just won Sanremo in 2019, but also placed second at Eurovision, and with “Ghettolimpo” (2021) he showed he has no intention of sticking to radio-friendly pop, instead expanding it toward far more ambitious hybrids.

Blanco, for his part, is a 2003-born artist whose exuberant, dramatic, acrobatic and slightly naive style won over the very young (and not only them) thanks to his “Blu celeste” (2021). In terms of media buzz, this duo is the one drawing the most attention. It seems the track “Brividi”, surprisingly, is a fairly restrained ballad rather than something more adventurous, so we'll have to see how these two very different voices intersect, and whether such a classic choice will also win over the over-30s.

On paper, they're in the running to win. On Spotify they rack up a combined total of over 6 million monthly listeners, roughly 200 times as many as Truppi.

Massimo Ranieri

Distinguishing features: the smile of a seasoned professional, the elegance of an old-school gentleman.

You might know him for: “Perdere l’amore”, “Se bruciasse la città”, “Rose rosse” and a thousand other songs he's performed, including many Neapolitan classics.

Naples-born Giovanni Calone, class of 1951, has done it all: singer, actor, TV host, voice actor, director. He's released 23 studio albums, 36 singles, and sold 14 million records. He won Sanremo in 1988 with “Perdere l’amore”, essentially his own “My Way”, but his story is full of surprising twists: still starting out, at just thirteen he arrived in the United States under the stage name “Gianni Rock”, and by 15 he was already signed to a contract; he took part in Sanremo as early as 1969 and released his first album in 1970, buoyed by a few hits; he made his film debut while still very young too, winning a David di Donatello, and took part several times in the Eurovision Song Contest, before returning to the Neapolitan songbook, then also devoting himself to theatre, touring Europe as well.

Among his many ventures, in the musical “Barnum” he played a tightrope walker and juggler, and he hosted “Fantastico” in the late Eighties. He kept at Sanremo through the Nineties, though on the whole it was a less fruitful decade for him, so he opened the new century by going back to Neapolitan song and indulging in celebrating his own hits, a trend that carried on into the 2010s as well. He staged a career-spanning greatest-hits show 700 (seven hundred! No, I mean s-e-v-e-n h-u-n-d-r-e-d!) times, paid tribute to and reinterpreted the works of Eduardo De Filippo for Rai, among countless other engagements.

Ranieri has had a long and rich career, and he's not afraid to celebrate himself endlessly, having almost entirely given up on reinventing himself. He's back at Sanremo to perform a song about immigration called “Lettera di là dal mare”, which he'll surely deliver with the intensity of a seasoned actor and showman. Already a contender for the “Critics' Award”.

Matteo Romano

Distinguishing features: a young face from “Sanremo Giovani”, baby-faced looks and full lips.

You might know him from: …TikTok?

One of the newcomers, born in 2002 and already circulating on TikTok with the weepy piano ballad “Concedimi”, as if they'd made the saddest version of Blanco even sadder, but with a touch of tha Supreme's über-elongated vowels.

In the best case scenario, then, he could update Ultimo (who would become... penultimo?). It seems, though, that for “Virale” (though can we still call it that?) he's opted for livelier, more youthful arrangements, if only because he risks losing out by pitching himself as a specialist in intense piano ballads. We'll see if, like so many who've passed through Sanremo Giovani before him, we forget him in no time at all.

Michele Bravi

Distinguishing features: voluminous black hair and sadness in his voice.

You might know him from: “Il diario degli errori”, with which he already tried to stand out at Sanremo 2017.

Born in Perugia in 1994, Michele Bravi won the seventh season of X Factor and has since put out intense, dramatic, intimate songs that seem to have aged him before his time, as with his latest single “Cronaca di un tempo incerto”.

“Inverno dei fiori” won't surprise us, and looks set to be as forgettable as it is easily forgotten.

Noemi

Distinguishing features: red hair and a slightly raspy voice.

You might know her from: “Glicine”, with which she did well at Sanremo 2021, or “Makumba”, with which, alongside Carl Brave, she livened up last summer.

The track is written by Mahmood for Veronica “Noemi” Scopelliti, a Rome native born in 1982 who has already taken part in Sanremo six times without ever winning. She has a distinctive voice, at times raspy but handled with real skill, though she rarely dares to try anything stylistically bold. Young by Sanremo's usual standards, but no longer exactly youthful either, she finds herself in the risky position of an artist who may have gotten stuck in a rather classic mould, one she's struggling to break free of.

The track with Carl Brave, “Makumba”, shook up her usual romantic-song formula a little. “Ti amo non lo so dire” seems to also be about accepting one's own flaws, which tends to go down well with the press.

Among the more modest presences at the Festival, which is also full of people who show up with the pomposity of someone doing the audience a favour, there's one singer whom it would be nice to see awarded a prize, even one of those with a merely consolatory character. A curious fact: she's in the Guinness Book of Records for having performed nine concerts within 12 hours.

Rkomi

Distinguishing features: long rocker hair, a rapper's soul, crowd-pleasing like a pop star.

You might know him for: “Nuovo range”, “Partire da te” and generally for the hugely successful album “Taxi Driver”.

Well before it was fashionable, Milan-born Mirko Manuele Martorana, class of 1994, was among the first in Italy to put forward a new strain of hip-hop that would later be labelled, somewhat loosely, as trap. A friend of Tedua and Izi, born and raised in Milan's working-class Calvairate district, he decided to invert the syllables of his name following the rules of riocontra slang and, as Rkomi, released numerous mixtapes. He seemed destined for mainstream success, turning out solid singles, but the proper album, the one that would cement his status, was slow to arrive.

With Universal he pivoted towards pop, surrounding himself with names like Jovanotti, Elisa, Carl Brave, Sfera Ebbasta, Dardust and Ghali, shaping a formula somewhere between trap-pop and it-pop that only found its fulfilment with the hit “Taxi Driver” (2021), after two not entirely convincing efforts.

He arrives at Sanremo riding the wave of three platinum records for the album and seven platinum certifications for his latest singles. He could appeal to a broad slice of the audience, from under-twenties to rock-leaning thirty-somethings: “Insuperabile” might surprise us listeners, and even the less attentive press, with a solid rap track built on guitars.

Sangiovanni

Distinguishing features: flowing hair, baby face.

You might know him for: “Malibù”, one of the singles of summer 2021.

Vicenza-born Giovanni Damian, class of 2003, known to “Amici” audiences as Sangiovanni, won the 2020-2021 edition of Maria De Filippi's famous TV show in the “singing” category, earning himself a rightful place in our mainstream, though he lost the final to dancer and partner Giulia Stabile.

Spotted by Caterina Caselli's Sugar label, he struck gold last summer with the single “Malibù”, a viral nursery-rhyme of a song (can we still call it that?) that, for once, holds its own against the ultra-light, contagious international singles of the summer season.

He arrives at Sanremo to fan the flames of his success with "Farfalle", which is sure to be one of the most-streamed songs of the festival. Where it ultimately lands in the final ranking, though, depends on how much the juries appreciate its late-adolescent lightness, and how much the home vote manages to shift the balance. So it could well spring a surprise, right up to the final night.

Tananai

Distinguishing features: the appeal of the brooding heartthrob, a bit like the young Scamarcio.

You might know him for: ...having heard him on "Sanremo Giovani"? Or maybe for the single "Maleducazione".

How do you get noticed if you're one of the "Giovani"? One good idea comes from Alberto Cotta Ramusino, born in 1995 and known as Tananai. This guy from Cologno Monzese chose a title well-suited to getting people talking about him: "Sesso occasionale". Just imagine the questions on "Domenica In", or the jokes that could be made on that pretext on the Tg2.

For those already familiar with him, Tananai is a provocative pop-rapper, but not overly so, who for once has nothing to do with trap and instead recalls Fedez (with whom he's also duetted, on "Disumano") or J-Ax. Provocation without offence, the kind that scratches without wounding. Who knows - maybe this time he'll surprise us.

Yuman

Distinguishing features: big curls and soul.

You might know him for: his participation in "Sanremo Giovani", where he performed "Mille notti".

Yuri Santos Tavares Carloia, born in Rome in 1995, has chosen to go by Yuman, meant to be read as "human". He comes from "Sanremo Giovani", which he won, but from what's being said around, his song seems anything but original.

He's part of the quota of Black music that occasionally turns up at Sanremo, and which usually ends up languishing near the bottom of the rankings without causing much of a stir. "Ora e here" evokes, in its title, an urgency and a connection to the present that we hope to hear in the song itself too.

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