The iconic Sanremo Festival returns in 2025 with a revamped format, featuring 24 artists competing for a chance to represent Italy at Eurovision.
The iconic Festival di Sanremo returns with a fresh twist for 2025. The Festival di Sanremo 2025 is set to captivate audiences with a revamped format under the seasoned guidance of Carlo Conti. As the artistic director, Conti brings a wave of changes aimed at enhancing the festival’s appeal and reducing bias in the voting process. This year’s festival, running from February 11 to 15, will see 24 artists competing for the prestigious title and the chance to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025.
Changes to Format and Voting System
The festival will unfold over five nights, each with its own unique voting mechanism. The first three nights will feature performances from all 24 artists, with results determined by a combination of televoting, press, and radio juries. Notably, the top five performances each night will be announced in random order to prevent bias and maintain suspense.
Day 1: Tuesday, February 11, 2025
All 24 artists in the “Campioni (Big)” category will perform their songs for the first time. The results will be determined exclusively by a jury composed of professional journalists from television and online outlets. The top five performances of the night will be announced in random order, without revealing the precise ranking.
Day 2: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
12 artists from the “Campioni (Big)” category will perform their songs again. The outcome will be decided by a 50-50 split between televoting and votes from experts in Italian radio. The top five performances will be announced in random order.
Day 3: Thursday, February 13, 2025
The remaining 12 artists will perform their songs. Similar to the second night, the results will be determined by a combination of televoting and radio jury votes. The top five performances will be announced in random order.
Day 4: Friday, February 14, 2025 (Cover Night)
All 24 artists will perform a cover of a popular Italian or non-Italian song. The performances can be solo or feature a guest artist. The results will be determined by a triple vote: 34% from televoting, 33% from journalists, and 33% from radio experts. A special award will be given to the winner of the Cover Night, but the results will not affect the main competition.
Day 5: Saturday, February 15, 2025
All 24 artists will perform their songs again. The outcome will be determined by a triple vote: 34% from televoting, 33% from journalists, and 33% from radio experts. The results from the first three nights will be combined with those from the fifth night to select the top five for the superfinal. In the superfinal, the winner of Sanremo 2025 will be decided by a combination of jury and public votes.
The winner, if interested, will have the first option to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025. Should they decline, the festival’s committee will select another participant who has expressed interest.
“Nuove Proposte”
On the second and third nights, four “Nuove Proposte” (young artists) will perform their songs for the audience. One artist per night will be selected to advance to the final on the fourth night. The winner of the Nuove Proposte category will be determined by a jury composed of televoting (34%), journalists (33%), and radio experts (33%).
Italy in Eurovision 2024
“La noia” is the song performed by singer Angelina Mango in the grand final of Eurovision 2024. The song was selected at the Italian Sanremo Festival 2024. In the Eurovision final, the song placed 7th with 268 points. Italy has successfully ranked in the top 10 for eight consecutive years.
Source: RAI, Eurovisionfun.
Eurovision 2025: This will be Italy’s 50th participation in Eurovision. Italy joined the contest in 1956, was one of the seven founding countries, and has won three times over the years. Italy’s most recent victory was at Eurovision 2021 with the song “Zitti e buoni” performed by the band MÃ¥neskin.
