#ITALY: Live Blog of Sanremo from 19.45GMT/20.45CET

By John Stanton on February 10, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

The grand-daddy of all song contest reaches its conclusion tonight, with the final night of the 74th Sanremo Music Festival. As we know, this is a standalone competition, but the winner is likely to represent their country at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö in May.

Thirty songs are vying for the Golden Ticket. Will your favourite win? We at Eurovision Ireland will be blogging the action into the wee small hours of Sunday morning. You can also watch the action HERE. All times below are in GMT.

01.33 – That’s all from the blog. Tell us what you think about the winner. And goodnight from Eurovision Ireland

01.30 – In third place is Annalisa. The winner is… ANGELINA MANGO!!!!

01.29 – In fifth is Irama. In fourth is Ghali

01.28 – We’re back

01.26 – The five finalists are coming onto the stage. But first an ad break

01.24 – The next prize goes to Angelina Mango

01.22 – Prizes to hand out. The first one goes to Fiorella Mannoia

01.19 – Televoting has stopped.

01.13 – More general banter with the audience.

01.08 – Interval act, and it’s Lazza, who was runner-up last year.

01.05 – A bit of down time whilst people vote, vote and vote again.

00.59 – The televoting starts again. And the juries can only vote for a favourite.

00.58 – The top 5 are…

00.53 – Results time…

00.52 – We’re getting a presentation to the backstage supremo. He’s retiring.

00.49 – Time to thank everyone involved in Sanremo. The results will be along soon perhaps

00.42. And that’s it. It’s time for the televoters to make up their final minds and pick a top 5 for the next round.

00.41 – This song has some challengingly big notes in it. And she hits them all. Then the chorus comes along and the click boom beat kicks in. It’s got plenty of words too. She’s done well to wait this long to perform, so will being on last help her chances? Let’s hope so.

00.37 – Time for the last song. Rose Villain will sing Click Boom!

00.35 – A collective who share the vocals between themselves. The chorus is sort of choreographed in a very bouncy way. There’s a sixth member on keyboards by the way. It bounces, like the dance moves and they obviously enjoy themselves. Not a winner, but a refreshing little song.

00.31 – Song 29 is Governo punk from Bnkr44

00.29 – Clara has another ballad. It’s intense, And has a decent kickass chorus once it gets going. It’s also another very wordy song. Formulaic maybe, but pretty decent. Maybe Clara will be back another year.

00.24 – Onto song 28. It’s Diamanti grezzi from Clara

00.21 – Sangiovanni is talk singing and is going for the hangdog look. His song is earnest but he does look slightly nervous about the whole thing. He’s trying, but it isn’t really going anywhere.

00.17 – Song 27 is Finiscimi by Sangiovanni

00.10 – A synthesiser vibe starts this off. Fred is in white! There’s a lot of talk singing in the verse and less in the chorus. A decent song.

00.06 – Song 26 is Il cielo non ci vuole by Fred de Palma

00.03 – He starts at the piano with his slow song. But he has a prop – a playground swing which he moves to for the second verse. It’s generally downbeat. Nicely put together as a song but maybe not a contender tonight.

23.59 – After a break, we get song 25. Mr Rain sings Due altalene

23.53 – Punk arrives at Sanremo. Well, punk-lite dressed as punk-heavy. A decent effort, but it might be a bit to un-Sanremo to have any impact tonight. They do wave a nice flag at the end.

23.48 – Song 25 is from La Sad. It’s called Autodistruttivo

23.46 – This song is more of a plodder, but a solid one. Maninni is in black of course. This moves along at its own pace and there’s a good orchestration. And a pleasant bridge before the final chorus.

23.43 – Song 23 is Spettacolare from Maninni

23.40 – A band in dark colours, This has a 1970s vibe about it. That’s not a bad thing. There’s more good hook action going on too. Whilst it is formulaic, a high finish isn’t out of the question. The bridge which has an easy to remember line or two does get the crowd going. A very good effort.

23.35 – Song 22. Un ragazzo una raggaza from The Kolors

23.30 – Ad break time again

23.29 – The veterans know what they’re doing. This is catchy, upbeat, and has a great hook. If you could see enjoyment, then this would be it. They’re loving this. And there are dancers. This is utterly brilliant.

23.24 – Straight onto song 21. Ricchi e Poveri will sing Ma non tutta la vita

23.22 – This varies between rap and a big chorus. In fact, there’s a lot of wordage in the verses. It’s energetic and there’s definitely a tune to balance the rapping. The orchestration helps it along too. A winner? Maybe not. But it proves that Italian rapping can work.

23.19 – Song 20 is Il Tre singing Fragili

23.15 – She’s in black. Who knew? It’s upbeat and again a bit clubby. The beat sets it off especially during the chorus. Eurobeat? That’s probably the word I’m looking for. Nice.

23.12 – Straight onto song 19. Emma (Marrone) will sing Apnea

23.11 – Geolier raps in hushed tones. And there’s a clubby backbeat going on to set it off. The chorus is more melodic than the verse, and bounces along nicely. It’s in Neapolitan if you hadn’t noticed. There is something about it, although I’ve heard better. He also wanders around the audience as if he’s already won. Hmmm

23.07 – Song 18 is I p’ me, tu p’ te from Geolier

23.05 – Angelina is not in black. Well, not completely. It’s Latino (or is that Latina) with many words. And the great beat and hook to go with it. She throws in a few English words, such as ‘princess’. Could Italy send this to Malmö?

23.01 – It’s song 17. Angelina Mango sings La noia

22.59 – After another ad break, we’re back

22.52 – Another song with a 1980s tip. Annalisa is in black. It’s very very catchy and very dancey too. There’s a lot going for it, and there’s that hook which will gain it votes. It’s simple which will make it memorable. A winner? Maybe. But the competition is fierce.

22.48 – Song 16 come from Annalisa. it’s called Sinceramente

22.44 – Next is a bit of chatter.

22.42 – Ghali is in black. Hmmm. But he sparkles. This song is very catchy, although it takes a while for the catchy bit to kick in. He has also has a manatee-like thing on stage with him. It’s bonkers, but in an Italian stylish way.

22.39 – Song 15 is Casa mia by Ghali

22.35 -We’ve adjourned to a performance on a cruise ship. Don’t go away

22.31 – And ad break

22.22 – It’s only Gigliola Cinquetti now! Sixty years since her win! A legend!

22.20 – Another dark suit. And another big big ballad. It’s an interesting touch having a rosary in his hand. The song itself is formulaic. But this works. I could see it getting to Malmö and doing well.

22.16 – Song 14 comes from Irama. He sings Tu no

22.15 – Alfa raps. But his rap is instantly catchy. There’s a guitar backbeat going on for the verses, which aren’t a bad move. Then the chorus has a great hook – woo-hoo! And he bounces around the stage. It’s a great package.

22.11 – Song 13 is Vai! by Alfa

22.04 – This is a heartfelt ballad. She looks the part, and the slow start with a simple piano accompaniment is good. Then the song really kicks off and demonstrates her range.

22.00 – Song 12 is from Alessandra Amoroso. It’s Fino a qui

21.59 – This has a bit of a beat to it. It could almost be Spanish. The chorus is very foot-tappy and draws you in. A great song from a great singer.

21.55 – Song 11 is Mariposa from Fiorella Mannoia

21.54 – Back again

21.47 – Another ad break. And only 20 competing songs to go

21.45 – His is a downbeat song that smoulders. The big big chorus brings up the lights and is even a bit of strobing. And he has his gang with him. A definite one to watch

21.42 – The next song comes from Diodato. It’s Ti muovi

21.30 – We’re getting the Bolero. well it is nearly 40 years to the day since Torvill & Dean won in Sarajevo

21.29 – We’re back

21.23 – Break time again. Don’t go away

21.21 – Amadeo is singing now.

21.18 – A duo. One at piano and one at a keyboard. They’re both in white. There’s a nice electronic vibe about this one. A bit 1980s in fact. Not bad but not a winner.

21.15 – Song 9 is L’amore in bocca from Santi Francesci

21.12 – Over to the satellite stage now. It’s Tananai from last year with his song Tango

21.10 – He’s looking different. In gold jewelry. And an old leather jacket. It’s what you would expect. There’s lots of steadicam action which helps this along. He’s got dancers this time, who start in front of him in the orchestra pit. Lots of them. This will be one to watch.

21.07 – It’s song 7. It’s Mahmood singing Tuta gold

21.06 – We’re on a tour of the auditorium now. Heading outside. Just to show how tiny the Ariston really is.

21.02 – It starts slowly with little accompaniment. It then bursts into life with more soaring, yet big vocals. It’s powerful and definitely Italian in soul. Very good.

20.57 – Song 7 comes from Negramaro. They’ll sing Ricominciamo tutto

20.54 – We’re back. More chat will ensue

20.48 – Another word from our sponsor

20.46 – She dresses distinctly it has to be said. It’s a rock song and she is a great saleswoman. Her voice has razor-blade quality about it, and it’s completely brilliant. Wouldn’t it be ironic if she got to sing in the same city as her late sister Mia Martini.

20.42 – Loredana Berte is singing song 7. It’s called Pazza

20.41 – You know the score with this trio. A popera song performed competently. Nothing wrong with this performance. And top-notch orchestration too.

20.38 – Il Volo will perform song 5. It’s called Capolavoro

20.29 – It’s the first interval act of sorts. A tribute to Michael Jackson

20.23 – Break time. Back soon

20.22 – Resplendent in a red and black suit. This is upbeat and has a lot of words. And backing singers dressed in dark suits who don’t move around much. But it’s a real foot-tapper.

20.17 – Song 4 from Dargen D’Amico. He’s singing Onda alta

20.16 – It’s not a Gallagher brother, honest. His song is a big ballad that springs few surprises. Very formulaic, but the crowd are waving their phones. A good effort.

20.12 – Song 3. So soon! Gazelle sings Tutto qui

20.11 – This is rap, or at least very fast talking. But when the chorus opens up with some darn good soaring notes. She has a great stage presence that helps the performance along nicely. She probably won’t win, but she’ll be back.

20.07 – Straight onto song 2. Bigmama sings La rabbia non ti basta

20.06 – The guys are in dark sober suits. And they sell this really well. It won’t win, sadly, bacuse this has pedigree and they never fail to perform well. Great orchestration too.