Watch: Tonight at 20:40 CET, the first of five nights of “Festival Di Sanremo 2026”, will take place. Link to watch the live broadcast – Below!
Tonight, the long-running and much-loved music festival “Festival Di Sanremo 2026” will get underway, serving as Italy’s selection process for Eurovision. The show this evening will be the first of five nights, taking place between February 24th and 28th, 2026, at the end of which Italy’s entry for Eurovision 2026 , in Vienna, Austria, will be chosen. All shows will take place at the “Ariston” Theatre (Teatro Ariston), which has hosted the festival regularly since 1977 (with the exception of 1990, when it was held at the “Nuovo Mercato Dei Fiori” hall).
The first night’s broadcast will begin at 20:40 and continue until 01:20 CET.
To watch the first night of “Festival Di Sanremo 2026” – click here!
First Night: Running Order
- Ditonellapiaga – “Che fastidio“
- Michele Bravi – “Prima o poi“
- Sayf – “Tu mi piaci tanto”
- Mara Sattei – “Le cose che non sai di me“
- Dargen D’Amico – “AI AI“
- Arisa – “Magica favola“
- Luchè – “Labirinto“
- Tommaso Paradiso – “I romantici“
- Elettra Lamborghini – “Voilà“
- Patty Pravo – “Opera“
- Samurai Jay – “Ossessione“
- Raf – “Ora e per sempre“
- J-Ax – “Italia Starter Pack“
- Fulminacci – “Stupida sfortuna“
- Levante – “Sei tu“
- Fedez & Marco Masini – “Male necessario“
- Ermal Meta – “Stella stellina“
- Serena Brancale – “Qui con me“
- Nayt – “Prima che“
- Malika Ayane – “Animali notturni“
- Eddie Brock – “Avvoltoi“
- Sal Da Vinci – “Per sempre sì“
- Enrico Nigiotti – “Ogni volta che non so volare“
- Tredici Pietro – “Uomo che cade“
- Bambole di pezza – “Resta con me“
- Chiello – “Ti penso sempre“
- Maria Antonietta & Colombre – “La felicità e basta“
- Leo Gassmann – “Naturale“
- Francesco Renga – “Il meglio di me“
- LDA & Aka 7even – “Poesie clandestine“
Among the Contestants Are Many Familiar Names:
- Tommaso Paradiso (42) – This is his first participation in the festival. In the past, he was the lead singer of the indie-pop band Thegiornalisti.
- Chiello (26) – Participated last year as a guest singer in the festival and performed with Rose Villain the song “Fiori rosa fiori di pesco” (in English: “Pink Flowers, Peach Blossoms”). He was part of the hip-hop group FSK Satellite.
- Serena Brancale (36) – Participated “Festival Di Sanremo 2025” with her song “Anema e cuore” (in English: “Soul and Heart”) and finished in 24th place.
- Fulminacci (28) – Took part in “Festival Di Sanremo 2021” with his song “Santa Marinella” and finished in 16th place.
- Ditonellapiaga (28) – Participated in “Festival Di Sanremo 2022” alongside Donatella Retore with the song “Chimica” (in English: “Chemistry”), which finished in 19th place.
- Fedez & Marco Masini – Fedez (36) participated in “Festival Di Sanremo 2021” together with Francesca Micheilin with their song “Chiamami per nome” (in English: “Call Me by Name”), and they finished in second place. Fedez returned to the festival in 2025 with his song “Battito” (in English: “Beat”), finishing in fourth place. Masini (61) first participated in “Festival Di Sanremo 1990”, when he won the newcomers’ category with his song “Disperato” (in English: “Desperate”). In 1991 he competed again and finished in third place with the song “Perché lo fai” (in English: “Why Do You Do This”). After a long break, Masini returned to compete in “Festival Di Sanremo 2020” with his song “Il confronto” (in English: “The Comparison”), finishing in seventh place.
- Leo Gassman (27) – First competed in “Festival Di Sanremo” in the newcomers’ category in 2020 and won it with his song “Vai bene così” (in English: “You’re Fine Like That”). He returned to compete again in 2023 with the song “Terzo cuore” (in English: “Third Heart”), finishing in 18th place.
- Arisa (43) – First participated in “Festival Di Sanremo 2009” in the newcomers’ category and won the Mia Martini Critics’ Award for her song “Sincerità” (in English: “Sincerity”). She returned to”Festival Di Sanremo” in 2012 and finished second with her song “La notte” (in English: “The Night”). She also won “Festival Di Sanremo 2014” with her song “Controvento” (in English: “Against the Wind”), but that year a committee chose another participant in the festival, Emma Marrone, to represent Italy at Eurovision.
- Sal Da Vinci – Participated in “Festival Di Sanremo 2009” with the song “Non riesco a farti innamorare” (in English: “I Can’t Make You Fall in Love”) and finished in seventh place.
- Samurai Jay (27) – Rapper who participated as a guest artist in “Festival Di Sanremo 2021”.
- Malika Ayane – Competed in the newcomers’ category in 2009, then in 2010 with the song “Ricomincio da qui” (in English: “I’ll Start Again from Here”), in 2013 with the song “E se poi” (in English: “And If Then”), which finished in fourth place, in 2015 with the song “Adesso e qui (nostalgico presente)” (in English: “Now and Here – (Nostalgic Present)”), finishing in third place, and in 2021 with the song “Ti piaci così” (in English: “You Like Yourself Like That”), which placed 15th.
- Raf (66) – Represented Italy at Eurovision in 1987 together with Umberto Tozzi with the song “Gente di mare” (in English: “People of the Sea”), which finished in third place and became a hit across the continent. Three years earlier he had already had an international hit, “Self Control“, which also achieved success in the cover version by American singer Laura Branigan. Raf competed at Sanremo four more times, most recently in 2015, but did not manage to repeat that success.
- Bambole di Pezza – All-female punk rock band whose name means “Rag Dolls”. The band has been active since the early 2000s and competed in “Festival Di Sanremo 2025”. They’re also known for its involvement in issues related to gender equality and the fight against violence against women.
- Ermal Meta – Won together with Fabrizio Moro at “Festival Di Sanremo 2018”, and the two represented Italy at Eurovision with the song “Non mi avete fatto niente” (in English: “You Haven’t Done Anything to Me”), finishing in fifth place. He also competed in the festival in 2010 as part of the band La Fame di Camilla and returned to the contest in 2016 in the newcomers’ category. He competed in the main category in 2017 with the song “Vietato morire” (in English: “Forbidden to Die”), finishing third, and returned again in 2021 with the song “Un milione di cose da dirti” (in English: “A Million Things to Tell You”), which also finished in third place.
- Elettra Lamborghini – Competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2020” with the song “Musica (e il resto scompare)” (in English: “Music (and the Rest Disappears)”), which finished 21st.
- Michele Bravi – Competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2017” with the song “Il diario degli errori” (in English: “Diary of Mistakes”), finishing fourth, and in 2022 with the song “Inverno dei fiori” (in English: “Winter of Flowers”), finishing in 10th place.
- J-Ax – Italian rapper who competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2023” as part of the band Articolo 31 with the song “Un bel viaggio” (in English: “A Nice Trip”) and finished in 16th place.
- Enrico Nigiotti – Competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2015” in the newcomers’ category with the song “Qualcosa da decidere” (in English: “Something to Decide”). He later returned in the main category in 2019 with the song “Nonno Hollywood” (in English: “Grandpa Hollywood”), finishing 10th, and in 2020 with the song “Baciami adesso” (in English: “Kiss Me Now”), finishing 19th.
- Maria Antonietta & Colombre – Maria Antonietta participated as a guest singer at “Festival Di Sanremo 2020”. Colombre (43) is performing alongside Antonietta for the first time in the festival.
- Francesco Renga – Competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 1991” in the newcomers’ category. He returned again in 2001 and 2002 and won first place at “Festival Di Sanremo 2005” with the song “Angelo” (in English: “Angel”). Francesco returned to “Festival Di Sanremo” in 2009, 2012, and 2014.
- Mara Sattei – Competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2023” with the song “Duemilaminuti” (in English: “Two Thousand Minutes”), which finished 19th.
- LDA & Aka 7even – LDA competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2023” with the song “Se poi domani” (in English: “If Then Tomorrow”), which finished 15th. Aka 7even competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2022” with the song “Perfetta così” (in English: “Perfect Like This”), which finished 13th.
- Dargen D’Amico – Competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2022” with the song “Dove si balla” (in English: “Where We Dance”), which finished ninth, and at “Festival Di Sanremo 2024” with the song “Onda alta” (in English: “High Wave”), which finished 20th.
- Levante – Competed at “Festival Di Sanremo 2020” with the song “Tikibombom“, which finished 12th, and in 2023 with the song “Vivo” (in English: “Alive”), which finished 23rd.
- Patty Pravo – Has competed ten times in the festival so far but has never won it. Her first participation was in “Festival Di Sanremo 1970”, when she finished fifth with the song “La spada nel cuore” (in English: “The Sword in the Heart”), which became a hit and remains her highest achievment at the festival to date.
How Will the First Evening Unfold?
“Festival Di Sanremo 2026” will be hosted for the last time by artistic director Carlo Conti, who was chosen after the departure of Amadeus. Conti has previous experience hosting the festival in 2015–2017. Co-hosting the festival with him will be Eurovision 2022 host Laura Pausini. Each night, additional hosts will join the pair. Tonight, they will be joined by Can Yaman, a Turkish actor of Albanian-Kosovar and Macedonian descent. Tonight, all 30 songs competing in the festival will be performed. Voting will be carried out by a jury composed of professional journalists from television outlets and online media (100%). Afterwards, the top five songs will be announced, in random order.
What Will Happen in the Rest of the Festival?
On the second and third evenings, half of the songs will be performed each night. The results will be determined by combining the audience’s vote (50%) with the vote of a jury composed of radio broadcasters (50%). At the end of each evening, the top five songs based on the current scores will be announced in random order.
On the fourth evening, each artist will perform a cover version of an existing song in Italian, English, or any other language. Competing artists will have the opportunity to perform their cover with a guest artist. The performances will be judged by the audience at home (34%), a professional jury composed of journalists (33%), and a professional jury of radio broadcasters (33%). The results from this evening will not be added to the overall score.
On the final evening, the festival’s grand finale, which will take place on Saturday, February 28th, all 30 artists will perform their competing songs again. Only the audience at home will vote during this round. The results from this evening’s audience votes will be combined with the scores from previous evenings to determine which five artists advance to the final round (Superfinal). In this final round, the top five songs will be performed again and judged by a combination of audience votes (34%), a professional jury composed of journalists (33%), and a professional jury of radio broadcasters (33%). The song receiving the highest number of votes will be declared the winner of “Festival Di Sanremo 2026”.
“Festival Di Sanremo 2026”: Key Dates
- First night – Tuesday, February 24th, 2026.
- Second night – Wednesday, February 25th, 2026.
- Third night – Thursday, February 26th, 2026.
- Fourth night – Friday, February 27th, 2026.
- Grand final – Saturday, February 28th, 2026.
Italy at Eurovision 2025
“Volevo essere un duro” (in English: “I Wanted to Be Tough”) is the song performed by singer Lucio Corsi, which came second at the 75th edition of the Sanremo Festival. The song was written by the singer himself along with Tommaso Ottomano. This was the singer’s first-ever appearance at the festival. The song is performed in Italian. The song finished fifth in the grand final with 256 points.
Italy returns to the Eurovision Grand Final Top 5 after last year achieving “only” seventh place.
Eurovision 2026: This will be Italy’s 51st 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.
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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.
