San Marino’s national broadcaster, SMRTV announced details for “San Marino Song Contest”. The final, originally set for March 1st, will now take place on March 7th.
San Marino’s national broadcaster, SMRTV, has announced that preparations for the “San Marino Song Contest” are in advanced stages. Earlier this month, it was reported that the national final would take place on March 1st, but the broadcaster has now moved the date to March 7th. The semi-finals will be held on March 3rd and 4th.
San Marino Revives Its Successful Format
Following the great success of last year’s new format for the “San Marino Song Contest”, the structure will be retained for 2026. The competition will again consist of two semi-finals and a grand final. San Marino, notably, reached the Eurovision Grand Final for the first time since 2021. The “San Marino Song Contest” will be led by Roberto Sergio, the broadcaster’s CEO. The highlight of the selection process, the Grand Final, will be held on March 7th, 2026, at Teatro Nuovo in the city of Dogana. At the end of that evening, San Marino’s representative and song for Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria, will be announced.
Twenty artists will compete in each semi-final, all selected through the “Dreaming San Marino Song Contest” — a qualification process managed by Media Evolution. From these semi-finals, the best acts will advance to the Grand Final, which will feature ten emerging performers and ten experienced artists.
The artistic director Massimo Bonelli will return to his role, while Cristiano D’Alisera will direct the show. Marco Lucarelli will oversee photography, and Marco Calzavara will design the stage set. The event is produced in collaboration with Media Evolution srl and supported by the Secretariat of State for Tourism.
Has San Marino Found the Winning Formula?
The revamped format of San Marino’s national selection underwent major improvements. Previously, the contest ran over five pre-recorded nights with jury-only voting. The new edition condensed the event into three live prime-time nights: two semi-finals and one grand final, all broadcast live. For the first time, viewers were also given a voice in deciding the results, choosing their favorite artists. This innovation transformed the contest into a spectacular television event that attracted major media attention across Europe and led to immediate success — San Marino qualified to the Eurovision 2025 Grand Final for the first time in four years. Could this successful shift mark a new era for San Marino at Eurovision? Time will tell.
“San Marino Song Contest” Dates
- Semi-final 1 – Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026.
- Semi-final 2 – Wednesday, March 4th, 2026.
- Grand Final – Saturday, March 7th, 2026.
San Marino at Eurovision 2025
“Tutta L’Italia” (in English: “All of Italy”) is the song that Gabry Ponte has performed to represent San Marino at Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. He finished 10th in the semi-final and qualified with 46 points, for the fourth time ever for San Marino. In the final, Ponte came 26th and last with 27 points only.
Eurovision 2026: This will be San Marino’s 16th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. San Marino joined the competition in 2008 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2019 when the singer Serhat finished in 19th place with the song “Say Na Na Na”.
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Ilay Gaist is a leading Israeli content creator and writer specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest. He is a well-known commentator with extensive expertise in the contest’s history, rules, and dynamics. His passion for Eurovision drives him to deliver rich, professional, and innovative content to his audience.
Ilay holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic and has a multilingual background. He also engages in cultural research, with a particular focus on global culinary traditions and the evolution of local cuisines around the world.
