The Sanremo Music Festival is back tonight for another evening of music and glamour!
If you watched Night 1, then you have already been introduced to co-hosts Amadeus and Gianni Morandi. Tonight they were joined by journalist Francesca Fagnani.
Dal @Tg1Rai è tutto, si corre verso la seconda puntata di @SanremoRai. Sul palco con #Amadeus e @morandi_g ➡️ @francescafagnan.
Buon #Sanremo2023 @RaiUno @RaiRadio2 @RaiPlay pic.twitter.com/19jqtwTU7C— Ufficio Stampa Rai (@Raiofficialnews) February 8, 2023
After a short intro and a cheeky nod to last night’s flower drama, the show got right to business with the 14 remaining acts performing for the first time. Like last night, tonight’s artists were ranked by a jury of press representatives. Their ranking of these 14 acts was:
- Colapesce Dimartino – Splash
- Madame – Il bene nel male
- Tananai – Tango
- Lazza – Cenere
- Giorgia – Parole dette male
- Rosa Chemical – Made in Italy
- Paola e Chiara – Furore
- Levante – Vivo
- Articolo 31 – Un bel viaggio
- Modà – Lasciami
- LDA – Se poi domani
- Will – Stupido
- Shari – Egoista
- Sethu – Cause perse
Of tonight’s acts, Colapesce Dimartino took the top spot! The duo participated in Sanremo 2021 with the song “Musica leggerissima” and placed 4th overall.
Now that all 28 artists have performed, the first and second night’s rankings are combined to produce the final press ranking. The ranking of the press across both nights was:
Going into Night 3, Marco Mengoni remains in the lead!
Other moments and highlights
The first interval act was a medley of hits from three Italian household names: Al Bano, Massimo Ranieri and our co-host Gianni Morandi. Al Bano – as part of a duo with wife Romina Power – represented Italy at Eurovision twice in 1976 and 1985, placing 7th both times. Massimo Ranieri also went to Eurovision twice in 1971 (5th) and 1973 (13th) and won Sanremo once in 1988. And Gianni Morandi also competed at Eurovision in 1970 and won Sanremo in 1987.
About halfway through the competing acts, there was an outdoor performance by Francesco Renga & Nek, two successful pop rockers and former Sanremo participants. Renga won Sanremo in 2005, and Nek came 2nd when he competed in 2015.
In 2021, San Marino brought American rapper Flo Rida to Eurovision, and tonight for the third musical interval of the night, Italy brought The Black Eyed Peas to Sanremo! While Fergie no longer performs with the group, Will.i.am, Apl.de.ap, and Taboo were still bringing the party to the Ariston, and the audience was on its feet.
Fedez, who placed 2nd at Sanremo in 2021, appeared live from a cruise ship to perform a freestyle rap which may have ruffled feathers at RAI due to some choice words about the current government that weren’t cleared beforehand. Such are the joys of live television!
With that, we’re two nights down, three to go! Now you have heard all the competing acts and can enjoy them on Youtube or the various streaming services. We’ll be back at the same time and same place tomorrow night — 20:40 on Raiplay.it.
Now that all songs have been performed, which do #YOU rate the best? And which would #YOU most like to see represent Italy at Eurovision? Share your thoughts with us in the comments, at the Forum or @ESCUnited on Twitter!