Sanremo Music Festival: the renowned showcase of traditional Italian song
“Sanremo is always Sanremo”: the famous slogan from the advertising of this important Italian event, perfectly summarizes what the Sanremo festival means to Italians. It’s a piece of Italian tradition, an important stage of Italian history, an event which not only helps spread the Italian song all around the world but that speaks of Italy, of Italian passions and customs. Sanremo week is a set date for Italians; nothing else exists on TV even for those who claim not to be very interested in this event. They start watching another program, but, then, during the commercial break, they immediately change channel, tuning in to RAI UNO channel where Sanremo Music Festival is being broadcast!
Sanremo is a sort of “drug” for Italians and nobody can withstand its allure!.
This event, known all over the world, as the festival of the Italian song, has reached its 59th edition this year but, despite the passing of years, it doesn’t seem to be suffering from old age. Everybody, both young and old, still loves this song contest. There are many other song festivals here in Italy all through the year, but nothing can compare to the excitement and the adrenalin evoked by Sanremo! It is a distinctive element of Italy!
The festival is restructured every year, as its organization is entrusted to a different artistic director each year, who is also the presenter of the program and who chooses the location, the songs and the guests taking part in the five evenings of the show. He is responsible for all aspects of the show.
This joyous song contest, located in the beautiful Sanremo Ariston theater, (next to the more famous Sanremo Casinò) from February the 17th till February the 21st, is enjoying a huge success again this year, thanks to the attention paid to the song selection and the remarkable gifts of its artistic director, Paolo Bonolis, who is making these five days of music irresistible and great fun.
Many singers are taking part in this important song showcase, presenting their songs, mainly focused on the theme of love, even though there are also some “social songs” focused on more current social themes.
Singers are divided into two main categories:
– big names (quoted singers and songwriters who are famous both in Italy and over the world and who have already taken part in Sanremo Festival in the past)
– emerging new singers (very young artists, some of them not very famous, who are taking part in the Sanremo contest for the first time, after rigorous selection)
but there is only one winner for category !
Sanremo, however, is a spectacular annual event not only for us Italians who live here and that breathe in these sweet harmonious melodies and the magic atmosphere that surrounds this song contest, but it plays an important role also for many foreign people living abroad. Because there is a large number of Italians living in foreign countries, the Sanremo festival is televised globally in order to allow all these people to watch it easily. In this way many foreign people have been able to watch this festival and have become interested in it. Sanremo has conquered the hearts of many foreign fans, who have got to know the best voices of the Italian song scene, just through this event. Many famous Italian singers such as Laura Pausini and Eros Ramazzotti, started their brilliant careers on the Sanremo stage. Through Sanremo, foreign countries can discover and appreciate the melody of the genuine Italian song which makes Italy famous all around the world. If the many foreigners visiting Italy were asked to sing an Italian song, they would certainly sing a Sanremo song!!! ” Volare”, for example, the legendary song of the great Domenico Modugno is famous all around the world. Everybody knows it.
Until twenty years ago, Sanremo festival used to be a traditional occasion to spend some relaxing hours with family or friends. Italians used to meet at someone’s home for dinner and, then they used to watch the festival on TV, all together in perfect company, making guesses on the possible winner. It was a special time and, like Christmas, Sanremo days were days that you spent time with your family. Now the situation has changed with the growth of the internet, where you can follow every step of the contest in real time, and people are also more busy than in the past, so can spend less time getting together to watch Sanremo than they used to.
However, it doesn’t matter if Italians watch Sanremo in company or alone, or whether they watch the “festival of the Italian song” on TV or on the web; what is really important is watching it, because you know…….Sanremo is always Sanremo!
