The Italian national broadcaster revealed yesterday the 30 artists who will participate in the Italian Eurovision national selection, Festival di Sanremo 2025, out of hundreds of artists who submitted songs. Who are the major artists, including past representatives, who were left out?
The Italian television network, RAI, revealed yesterday (Sunday) the list of participants who will take part in the Italian Eurovision national selection, the San Remo Festival 2025. The festival will be held as usual in February, and at its conclusion, the winner will be announced and given the right to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025, in Basel, Switzerland. Hundreds of artists submitted songs to the festival, hoping to compete for a win and the right to represent Italy at Eurovision, but only 30 were accepted, leaving many big names in the Italian music industry out. Who are they?
Jalisse is an Italian duo that represented Italy at Eurovision 1997 with the song “Fiumi di parole” and reached fourth place. Since then, Jalisse has been trying to return to the Sanremo Festival year after year, failing each time they try. This year will be the 28th consecutive year that Jalisse has tried to be accepted to the Sanremo Festival and failed, a record and a historic life’s work that may not have a second in any other country competing in Eurovision. The duo reacted to this on their Instagram page, taking the rejection with humor.
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Unlike Jalisse, Italian singer Al Bano took the rejection from the Sanremo Festival a little less humorously. The singer, who represented Italy together with his wife twice and reached seventh place twice – in 1976 with their song “We’ll Live It All Again“, and in 1985 with their song “Magic Oh Magic” – tried this year to participate once again in the Sanremo Festival, not to reach Eurovision once more but mainly as a symbolic act and as a tribute to his extensive career. The singer was not accepted to the festival and when asked about the rejection, he chose not to respond.
Other major singers left out include Ermal Meta, Italy’s representative in 2018 who reached fifth place with the song “Non mi avete fatto niente“, and the band Nomadi, which has been active since 1963.
Sexism in the Sanremo Festival and discrimination against women is a controversial topic. The festival is characterized by male dominance both among participants and winners, and this year too, many great Italian female singers were left out, including Elettra Lamborghini who participated in the festival in 2020, Alexia who participated in the festival 4 times during the 2000s, and Chiara Galiazzo who participated 3 times in the festival and noted that the song she wanted to perform with is “an amazing creation”.
Sanremo Festival 2025: Format and Schedule
The festival will span five nights, organized as follows:
Night 1 (Tuesday, February 11th, 2025): All 30 artists will perform their competing songs. A jury composed of professional journalists from television and internet media will vote on all songs. The Italian national broadcaster RAI will then announce the top five songs that received the most votes, in random order.
Night 2 (Wednesday, February 12th, 2025): 15 artists will perform their competing songs again. This time, the voting will be split between the public (50%) and a jury of radio broadcasters (50%). The top five will be announced in random order.
Night 3 (Thursday, February 13th, 2025): The remaining 15 artists will perform their competing songs. As in the second night, the songs will be voted on by the public (50%) and a jury of radio broadcasters (50%). The top five will be announced in random order.
Night 4 (Friday, February 14th, 2025): The competing artists will perform cover versions of existing songs in Italian, English, or any other language. The artists will have the opportunity to perform with a guest artist. The songs will be voted on by the public (34%), a professional jury of journalists (33%), and a professional jury of radio broadcasters (33%). The results from this night will not be added to the overall score.
Night 5 (Saturday, February 15th, 2025): All 30 artists will perform their competing songs again, with only the public voting. The combination of public votes from this evening and the scores from previous nights will determine which five artists advance to the superfinal. These top five songs will be performed again and will be chosen by the public (34%), the professional jury of journalists (33%), and the professional jury of radio broadcasters (33%). After this, the song with the most votes will be declared the festival winner.
Additionally, on the second and third evenings, four young artists will present their songs in the “Nuove Proposte” (Newcomers) category as part of the festival. One artist from each evening will advance to the final, while on the fourth night, a jury composed of the public (34%), journalists (33%), and radio broadcasters (33%) will determine the winner in the Newcomers category.
With significant changes and heightened anticipation, Sanremo 2025 promises to captivate audiences with its expanded lineup and thrilling performances, this year’s festival is set to keep fans on edge until the very end.
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: Escplus
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.
