Sanremo 2027: possible competing artists and the rule changes for the first Festival under De Martino

The Sanremo Festival 2027 is starting to take shape. The 77th edition, set to run at the Teatro Ariston from 16 to 20 February, will be the first entrusted to Stefano De Martino in the dual role of host and artistic director, and it promises to be profoundly different from recent editions. The new rules have by now established a few fixed points: 24 Big Artists, all performing in the first two nights, greater weight given to the public vote in the grand final, a new “Performance Night” tied to Eurovision, and specific rules on the use of artificial intelligence.
Meanwhile, work continues on shaping the line-up. RAI will be able to announce the contestants starting 29 November, and until then the name-guessing game inevitably remains in the realm of rumour. The whispers of recent months, however, outline a Festival that aims to blend established stars of Italian pop, rap and urban music, singer-songwriters and rising talents, with De Martino's stated goal of “giving back a contemporary snapshot of what Italian music really is today”.

The artistic director has also ruled out any last-minute expansion of the line-up: “I won't be widening the number of participants, there will be 24 artists and that's it. Otherwise we won't have all the time we need.” One slot will go to the winner of “Sarà Sanremo 2026”, while three finalists will come from Sanremo Giovani and three from Area Sanremo. “This will allow us to find the best of the new music. The singers will be presented during prime time.”

What's new in the rules

The most striking change concerns the competition itself. On Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 February, all 24 contestants will perform their respective songs, doing away with the cast split used in previous editions. On the first night, the Press, TV and Web Jury will account for 67% of the vote and the public for 33%; on Wednesday, 67% will shift to the Radio Jury, still leaving 33% to the public vote.
Thursday 18 February will be cover night: each contestant will be able to perform, together with one or more guests, an Italian or international song released by 31 December 2026. The result of the evening, determined by the public, the Press and Radio juries, will produce a separate ranking and will have no bearing on the main competition.

The most significant novelty arrives on Friday the 19th with the “Performance Night”. Contestants will revisit their own song, altering its arrangement, interpretation or staging, without changing its composition. The outcome will be decided half by the public and half by a new international panel of expert judges. This ranking, too, will remain separate from the Festival's own, but it will carry an important consequence: the winner of the night will be designated by RAI as Italy's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. Winning Sanremo and representing Italy at Eurovision thus become two separate achievements, which could end up going to different artists.

On Saturday the 20th, in the first part of the final, all three juries will vote: the public for 34%, the Press, TV and Web Jury for 33%, and Radio for 33%. Adding these results to those of the first two nights will determine the overall ranking, from which three to five finalists will be selected. In the grand final, only the public will vote, through televoting and a new online vote: this result will count for 50%, while the other 50% will be made up of previously accumulated results.
The rules also introduce explicit regulations on artificial intelligence: music and lyrics must be “an expression of human creativity”, and no systems entailing “the substitution, alteration or distortion” of the authors' creative contribution will be allowed. De Martino sums up the approach as follows: “We'll talk about artisanal intelligence rather than artificial. Obviously everyone is informed during the selection process, because we'll make available to everyone the software and the professionals needed to get to the source of artificial intelligence.”

No outright ban, however, on autotune: “There's a lot of attention on this, a song by an artist who claims to sing like Céline Dion through autotune will never make it into the competition. It will only be there if it's obvious and used for stylistic reasons.”

The possible Big Artists in competition

There are still no official confirmations on the line-up, and the lists circulating so far mix artists who have genuinely been considered, applications, contacts and the usual Sanremo rumours. The range of possible contestants, however, is already very wide.
Among the strongest names are Mahmood, Elodie, Blanco, Emma Marrone, Achille Lauro, Tananai, Madame, Alfa, The Kolors and Tiziano Ferro. Speaking specifically about Emma, De Martino confirmed he had reached out to her: “I invited her, but she didn't need my invitation. She has already proven herself through her enormous talent.”

Another important component is expected to come from the newer generations and from areas less traditionally associated with Sanremo: Lucio Corsi, Settembre, Emma Nolde, Venerus, Samurai Jay, Sayf, Faccianuova and Tutti Fenomeni are all names that have entered the rumour mill.
Particularly crowded is the rap and urban front, where Tedua, Kid Yugi, Geolier and Salmo have been linked to the Festival. Also mentioned were Nu Genea, La Niña and Anna, although later reports placed Anna, Nu Genea and La Niña precisely among the artists said to have ruled out taking part.

Among the other names that have surfaced in the rumours are Capo Plaza, Fred De Palma, Frah Quintale, Alessandra Amoroso, Sarah Toscano, Gaia, Clara, Nada and Paola Turci. More unlikely is the hypothesis of Belen Rodriguez, who according to some rumours might submit an original song for selection: a candidacy that would inevitably carry a particular resonance given her past relationship with De Martino, but which at the moment has no confirmation whatsoever. The artistic director himself, for that matter, urges people to consider the picture still wide open: “We've already listened to a lot of songs, but today the floodgates open, so from today many more songs will arrive, which means we still can't know.” The scouting work, he assures, has been especially intense: “I discovered a lot of new music going around to festivals and concerts. I discovered many new Italian artists who truly have a lot to say. When people criticise Italian music, I want to say we're full of it, there are very strong names who still haven't made it to the Festival. With all the difficulties that entails, we'll try to bring them in.”

Italian and international guests

If the line-up is still entirely to be built, the question of guests is equally open. De Martino seems intent on reserving the competition mainly for major Italian names, while using the out-of-competition slots for foreign stars: “The idea is to try to bring top-calibre Italian artists back into the competition and to try to have international artists as guests, perhaps getting hold of all the ones I hear about around.”
The Italian dream remains Vasco Rossi, who could finally return to the Ariston 44 years after his last competitive appearance. Vasco had already publicly left the door open to Sanremo, and De Martino made no secret of considering him one of the most wanted guests.

Among the other possibilities is Ultimo, but the suggestion bound to make the most noise concerns a possible Måneskin reunion. De Martino had confirmed he was working on the idea, later clarifying that a reunion of the band is far from certain: however, if Damiano David, Victoria De Angelis, Thomas Raggi and Ethan Torchio were to decide to get back together, the invitation for Sanremo would already be ready. Any appearance would be as guests, not as competitors.

On the international front, alongside rumours about Bruno Mars has come word of Dua Lipa, for whom it has even been suggested she might co-host one of the evenings. The pop star is already familiar with the Ariston, having been a guest there in 2020, but at the moment there is no official announcement.
With 24 artists competing every night, De Martino knows he has less room to build a string of guest appearances: “With 24 artists every night, the time available for everything else shrinks. In that sense, my guiding idea is not to put together a poster of names, but for us to bring ideas and then involve comedians at a later stage. And it will be the same for the international guests.” The intention, then, is to avoid a parade effect and to build the outside appearances around the show itself. Even the inevitable tributes will be measured according to this same logic: “When it comes to tributes, we'll be careful to celebrate all the excellences of Italian music.” As for the inevitable Sanremo controversies, De Martino already seems prepared: “What would Sanremo be without a good controversy? Bring them on, we'll handle them.”

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