San Marino has selected the next three up-and-comers heading directly to the Emerging Artist final on Friday, but one of the five acts moving on to the Second Chance round is the artist Eurovision fans may recognize.
Tonight was the third night of San Marino’s week-long national final extravaganza, Une Voce per San Marino, and 20 more acts in the Emerging Artist category took the stage to perform their hopeful Eurovision entries. They were:
- Martina Gaetano
- Mate
- Matilde Montanari
- Matteo Giannaccini Gravante
- Muriel
- Nada e Sissi
- OnlySara
- Operapop
- OXA
- Raimondo Cataldo
- Riccardo Foresi
- Herrè
- Sebastian Schmidt
- Snei Ap
- Thomas Grazioso
- Tothem
- Valentina Tioli
- Vanja Vatle
- Veronica Liberati
- Vina Rose
After the first round of performances, the in-studio jury’s top eight were asked back on stage to perform a cover. They were:
- Snei Ap
- Martina Gaetano
- Nada e Sissi
- Raimondo Cataldo
- Sebastian Schmidt
- Vanja Vatle
- Vina Rose
- Mate
The jury then selected the top three acts who would advance directly to Friday’s Emerging Artist final. They are:
- Mate (🇮🇹) with the song “DNA”
- Raimondo Cataldo (🇮🇹) with the song “Feeling Broken”
- Vina Rose (🇮🇹) with the song “Sweet Denial”
Mate, birth name Mariateresa Amato, was born in Naples and began studying opera at an early age. After moving in a more blues and pop direction, she competed on the very first season of X Factor Italy in 2008. In 2013, she competed on the first season of The Voice Italy as a member of French-Italian singer Riccardo Cocciante’s team. (He was the winner of Sanremo in 1991.) Also on his team was the season’s eventual winner, Elhaida Dani, who would go on to represent Albania at Eurovision 2015. Mate was eliminated in the battle rounds. She has appeared as an actress in several TV and film roles since then, as well as appearing as one of the wall of judges on the first two season of All Together Now Italy in 2019 and 2020. Hear her perform her song “DNA” below:
🇸🇲 Matilde Montanari se atreve con un tema urbano en pa semifinal de hoy de #UnaVocePerSanMarino! ¿Conseguirá un pase para la final del sábado? 🎶 pic.twitter.com/foLT0e5MZP
— ESCplus España 🇪🇸 | Noticias de Eurovisión (@escplus_es) February 15, 2022
Born in Mantua, Italy, in 1991, Raimondo Cataldo began his career performing in local clubs and entering regional music competitions. He made the long list for Sanremo Giovannini 2016 with the song “Pace” and was a finalist at the 2017 Festival di Castrocaro. His first big break came in 2018 when he appeared on the fifth season of The Voice Italy, reaching the Battle Rounds as a member of two-time Eurovision veteran Al Bano‘s team. Sometimes simply billed as ‘Raim’, he has been recording and releasing music for the past four years and was a semi-finalist at Sanremo Giovanni in 2019 with the song “Labyrinth”. Watch his rendition of his entry “Feeling Broken” below:
🇸🇲 Raimondo Cataldo, finalista de SanRemo Guiovani se ha presentado a #UnaVocePerSanMarino. ¿Conseguirá pasar a la final del sábado? 🎶 pic.twitter.com/jejoYHuoW6
— ESCplus España 🇪🇸 | Noticias de Eurovisión (@escplus_es) February 15, 2022
Born in Sicily and currently based in The UK, Vina Rose has already had a vast and storied career. After graduating from Milan’s Music, Arts, & Show academy in 2005, Vina worked as a backing singer for well-known acts, including the legendary Andrea Bocelli. She also made a living recording jingles for radio stations and was a regular cast member of Italian sketch comedy TV show Crozza nel Paese delle Meraviglie for five seasons. Since moving to The UK in 2016 to fully pursue her music career, she has released several EDM singles and an EP titled Crossroads. She also finished in the top 10 at the Sanremo Rock & Trend Festival in 2021. Watch her performance of “Sweet Denial” below:
🇸🇲 Vina Rose sorprende con su interpretación en la semifinal de hoy de #UnaVocePerSanMarino, ¿conseguirá un pasa a la final? 🎶 pic.twitter.com/QasFruHKM3
— ESCplus España 🇪🇸 | Noticias de Eurovisión (@escplus_es) February 15, 2022
The other five acts who made it to the second round of tonight’s heat will compete again on Thursday in the Second Chance round, facing off with the 4th-8th place finishers from nights one and two of the Emerging Artist section. One of those five acts from tonight’s show, Sebastian Schmidt (🇩🇪), may be recognizable to viewers of 1 in 360, San Marino’s national selection show in 2018. Billed then as simply ‘Basti’, he competed in the final of that show with two different songs, placing 9th and 10th on the night. He went on to join winners Jessika and Jenny B at Eurovision in Lisbon, providing backing vocals for their performance “Who We Are”.
Tomorrow night’s semi-final is much smaller than the last three nights of Una Voce per San Marino, with six San Marinese artists competing for three slots in the Emerging Artist final. Come back then to meet them!
Which of the acts that advanced tonight did #YOU like the most? Do #YOU think Sebastian would have advanced if he had bothered to tuck in that leotard? Sound off in the comments below, in our forum, or on social media @ESCUnited.
