#SANMARINO: Live Blog of of Una Voce from 20.00GMT/21.00 CET

By John Stanton on February 24, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

#SANMARINO: Live blog of Una Voce from 20.00GMT.21.00CET

Our friends in the Most Serene Republic make their choice tonight, with the final of Una Voce per San Marino. A grand total of 17 songs are up for the Golden Ticket to Malmö. Can tonight’s choice make it through their semi-final in May and mount a challenge for the 2024 crown?

An expert jury will pick the winner. You can watch all of the action HERE. All times below are GMT.

00.28 – So that’s all from the blog tonight. Do you agree with the result? Should Loredana or someone else have won? Tell us what you think.

00.26 – And the winner is… Megara!!!!!

00.25 – Third place goes to La Rua

00.24 – The winner will come from Loredana Bertè, La Rua, and Megara

00.21 – All bar the top three…

00.19 – We are!

00.15 – After more ads, we’re told it’s been disastrous. We might be getting a result.

00.07 – Jalisse are being summoned. We don’t know where they are.

00.05 – We’re getting some results. Possibly

00.00 – Morning all. Piqued Jacks are performing their latest song.

23.55 – Dancers done. It’s Piqued Jacks time now.

23.51 – We’re back. We’re not getting the results yet. We’re getting cabaret. Dancers in fact.

23.47 – Ad break time again. Featuring the San Marino Outlet Experience, naturally.

23.38 – The jury has made their deliberations, and they’ll be sorting the results shortly.

23.29 – Recap time. Song one seems about three days ago.

23.27 – A band to finish, and an oddly-dressed one to boot. Pink and black are the theme. It’s also in Spanish. We get hard rock with a bit of choreography thrown in. There’s a hypnotic beat about this, which may awaken some of the jurors. The two dancers disrobe part-way through, revealing pink skeleton outfits with almost alien heads. Nevertheless, this could be a good bop if it got through, and maybe a rival to Bambie Thug.

23.23 – Finally, we have song 17. Hurrah! It’s by Megara and simply called 11.11.

23.22 – Dana has a deep voice for this slow, slightly sad, song. The lyric is a bit clunky and from the Big Book of Rhyming in English. You have to admire the effort and sentiment. And experimentation. But it’s not for me.

23.18 – Song 16 is The Last Polar Bear by Dana Gillespie. It’s been written by AI.

23.17 – It’s a band. A five-piece one. The keyboardist has his instrument high up. Very odd. The song is electronic and europop in nature. The hook isn’t the strongest, and it sounds more like incidental music. Not a winner.

23.14 – Song 15 – at last. It’s Governo del cuore by La Rua

23.13 – Fausto Leali (IT89) is in the audience. I don’t think he wanted to be noticed.

23.03 – It’s not song 15 next – it was probably too much to expect. We get Bromance – a comedy duo. Woo-hoo!

23.02 – The duo. We’ve needed one for a while. This is another very clever song. Clever enough for it to go over people’s heads. They’re singing to each other, but not always facing each other. There’s a big powerful chorus in there with some difficult notes. It’s not really a contest song though.

22.58 – Straight onto song 14. Masala and Foresta sing Paranoia

22.57 – This has an afro-beat and a guitar-based backing track. It’s OK, even though Mate’s four backing drummers appear to be miming. The drummers are the gimmick in this, but I suspect they won’t be enough to see this through. Even though Mate is a decent singer.

22.54 – Some 40 minutes after song 12 we get song 13. It comes from Mate. It’s called Big Mama

22.49 – Yep, ad break time again. Only 5 songs still to hear.

22.42 – After that very extended set, we don’t get song 13. We get a story of Calcio. That’s football to most of us..

22.19 – Before the next competing song, Riccardo Cocciante is back.

22.15 – Alessandra is looking well, to say she did her stuff in Dublin 27 years ago. It’s what you would expect from them. A powerful song sung well. Lots of soaring notes and good harmonies all round. And some competent backing singers too. Are these the only challengers to Loredana tonight?

22.12 – Song 12 comes from Jalisse (IT97). It’s called Il paradiso è qui. Popular too here

22.11 – Booom! and trio. The song seems very 1980s in influence. Think travelogue from a road trip film from 1987 and you’re there. They share the singing, but all mouth each others words as one takes the lead. Bouncy it is, and catchy too. Maybe it’ll be the one.

22.07 – The next song – song 11 – comes from Booom! It’s called Dance like this.

21.58 – Another guest break. Filipo Graziani

21.53 – We get a song with more of a club sound. Kida herself has backing dancers with her. It’s also very wordy and very modern by Una Voce standards. And it’s not bad at all. A tad generic maybe, but may do something when the jury deliberate later.

21.50 – Song 10 is Invincibile from Kida

21.49 – Loredana was last seen participating in Sanremo. She’s here with her own composition and of course sings it well. The song might be formulaic but she has a certain star quality about her. She gets a standing ovation.

21.45 – Song nine comes from Loredana Bertè. It’s called Pazza. She’s popular.

21.39 – Ad break time again. Don’t go away.

21.24 – The piano is for our next guest act. Riccardo Cocciante. He’s popular hereabouts.

21.22 – A bit of chatter now, and a piano has appeared on stage.

21.20 – A beatbox? Not seen one of those for 30 years. This has a lot going on. A bit of rap, a bit of techno, a bit of 80s synth. A man in a kilt. And an extra from Battlestar Galactica. You have to admire the effort, but it comes across as slightly messy.

21.17 – Song eight is called Questa volta. It’s by Wlady, Corona, Ice MC (and DJ Jad).

21.16 – Aaron’s song seems very complicated. It’s about him, and his trials and tribulations. There are elements of Rag & Bone Man about the song, the way it has big notes and a strong, slightly industrial, backing to it. And it’s repetitive, which can sometimes work. Hmmm

21.12 – Song seven comes from Aaron Sibley. It’s called Human.

21.11 – We quickly go to the Green Room. Piqued Jacks are there. Were they first to the free hospitality maybe?

21.09 – Marcella sings a song with a moody start, that could be in a Sanremo. She has a very distinctive voice too. Quite gravelly, although she can still hit those challenging notes with ease. Once the beat kicks in, there’s something about this from the 71-year-old. My foot is tapping, possibly because it could be a bit 1980s in sound. Very good.

21.06 – Song six is from Marcella Bella. She sings Chi siamo davvero.

21.05 – Dez comes from the Hispanic world. He sings a moody song in English. The verse doesn’t really grab you but the chorus does a little more. The song is quite formulaic and may struggle. His is an act that would suit a smaller more intimate stage methinks.

21.02 – Song five comes from Dez. It’s called Freedom.

20.58 – After that musical interlude, we briefly speak to Al Bano! He has a front row seat and a very nice hat.

20.49 – It’s not the next song. It’s a children’s choir. Heal the world – the Michael Jackson song

20.48 – Back

20.43 – Ad break time now.

20.42 – We meet some previous Sammarinese entrants. Senhit and Valentina!

20.39 – We’re getting a sultry little song here. Aimee is solo on stage and there’s an 80s backing beat behind it. This could actually come from a modern musical. The song does build really nicely and a decent dance mix would get them bopping at a Eurodisco. Not bad at all.

20.36 – Aimee Atkinson sings A dare for love, which is song four

20.35 – It’s a band with the lead singer playing an accordion. Another wordy song in Italian with a chanted chorus and a long instrumental break before verse two. The band members are getting into it, bouncing around the stage. Could it win? Well there’s a decent hook in there somewhere

20.32 – Song three is Nostalgia by XGiove

20.31 – We have a reporter at the San Marino Outlet Experience, one of tonight’s sponsors. It looks very modern, although they won’t let us inside.

20.28 – Two guitarists are Daudia. We’re going down the heartfelt road with this. Is it a Common Linnets thing? Maybe. Yes, it’s got country influences to it. The chorus has more about it and there’s the making of a hook there. However, nice though it is, it sounds like a song stretched to make three minutes.

20.25 – Song 2 comes from Daudia. It’s called With you.

20.24 – Pago’s song is a bit rocky, and starts with that guitar sound Duane Eddy was famous for. There are many words in it. It bounces along nicely, and you may want to Lindy Hop to it. Or maybe Ceroc. It’s definitely catchy. That is, until we get a spoken bit as the bridge, complete with finger-wagging. Well that was a surprise. It then finishes with more of a whimper than a bang. And it had so much promise.