The Italian media reports on many artists expected to take part in the upcoming edition of the Sanremo Festival with the aim of representing Italy at Eurovision 2025. Among the intriguing candidates are five artists who have previously represented Italy at Eurovision.
RAI, the Italian national broadcaster, is currently preparing for the 75th edition of the Sanremo Festival, scheduled for February 2025. While the official list of participating artists is expected to be revealed in December, the prominent Italian music website “All Music Italia” has already leaked a list of artists they claim are likely to take part in the upcoming festival.
Eurovision artists expected to return to the festival:
Francesco Gabbani: Represented Italy at Eurovision 2017 with the song “Occidentali’s Karma” and reached sixth place. Additionally, he participated in the festival in 2016 with the song “Amen” (first place in the new artists category) and in 2020 with the song “Viceversa” (second place). In 2024, he participated as a guest at the Sanremo Festival when he sang a duet with Fiorella Mannoia of their songs “Occidentali’s Karma” and “Che Sia Benedetta”.
Achille Lauro: Represented San Marino at Eurovision 2022 with the song “Stripper” and reached 14th place in the second semi-final. Additionally, he participated in the festival in 2019 with the song “Rolls royce” (ninth place), in 2020 with the song “Me ne frego” (eighth place), and in 2022 with the song “Domenica” (14th place). There was a rumor that he would participate in the 2024 Sanremo Festival, but ultimately he did not.
Blanco: Represented Italy at Eurovision 2022 with the song “Brividi“, in a duet with singer Mahmood, and reached sixth place.
Emma: Represented Italy at Eurovision 2014 with the song “La Mia Città” and reached 21st place. She won first place in 2012 with the song “Non è l’inferno“. The year before, she participated in the festival with the band Modà and the song “Arriverà“. She also participated in Sanremo 2022 with the song “Ogni volta è così” with which she reached sixth place. In 2024, she reached 14th place with the song “Apnea“.
Albano & Romina: Represented Italy at Eurovision 1985 with the song “Magic, Oh Magic” and reached seventh place. Additionally, they represented Italy at Eurovision 1976 with the song “We’ll Live It All Again” and reached seventh place.
The full list of names that was published:
- Tiziano Ferro
- Elodie
- Blanco
- Tananai
- Emma
- Matteo Bocelli
- Gaia
- Olly
- Tommaso Paradiso
- Bresh
- Subsonica
- La Rappresentante Di Lista
- Albano & Romina
- Achille Lauro
- Irama
- Coma_Cose
- The Kolors
- Sarah Toscano
- Petit
- Madame
- Alfa
- Francesco Gabbani
- Virginio
- Benji & Fede
There are quite a few familiar names:
In this festival, Carlo Conti will return to the role of artistic director and festival host after performing this role in 2015-2017.
- Elodie – Competed in Sanremo in 2017 with “Tutta colpa mia” (eighth place), returned in 2020 with “Andromeda” (seventh place), and again in 2021 with “Due” (ninth place).
- Tananai – Debuted in Sanremo 2022 with “Sesso occasionale” (25th place) and improved to 5th place in 2023 with “Tango“.
- Gaia – Reached 19th place in Sanremo 2021 with “Cuore amaro“.
- Olly – Participated in San Remo 2023 with the song “Polvere” reaching 24th place.
- Subsonica – Participated in San Remo 2000 with the song “Tutti I Miei Sbagli“.
- La Rappresentante di Lista – Participated in San Remo 2021 and reached 11th place with the song “Amare” and in 2022 returned to the competition with “Ciao Ciao” reaching 7th place.
- Irama: Participated in the festival in 2016 with the song “Cosa resterà” (New Artists category), in 2019 with “La ragazza con il cuore di latta” (seventh place), in 2021 with “La genesi del tuo colore” (fifth place), in 2022 with “Ovunque sarai” (fourth place) and in 2024 with “Tu No” (fifth place).
- Coma_Cose: Participated in the festival in 2021 with “Fiamme Negli Occhi” (20th place), and in 2023 with “L’addio” (13th place).
- The Kolors: Participated in the festival in 2018 with the song “Frida (mai, mai, mai)” (ninth place), and in 2024 with “Un ragazzo, una ragazza” (22nd place).
- Madame – Participated in 2021 and reached eighth place with the song “Voce” and in 2023 reached seventh place with the song “Il bene nel male“.
- Alfa – Participated in 2024 with the song “Vai!” reaching 12th place.
- Virginio – Participated in Sanremo 2006 with the song “Davvero“.
Sanremo Festival 2025 Dates and Format
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.
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 Måneskin.
