#sanremo song festival

[ortofosforico]

Warning:

Sanremo week is approaching, and this blog will be used and abused as a commenting platform.

[guysofeurovision]

[spaceytrash]

A mediocre and lackluster winner for a mediocre and lackluster festival. At least that kinda checks out

[frc-ambaradan]

It's Sanremo time again!

Topolino #3350 cover by Alessandro Perina and Valeria Turati.

Longest-running annual TV music competition in the world... or just simply the longest.

5 days. From 8:30pm to at least 2:00 if not 3:00am... except for the grand final on Saturday (that's probably gonna end at dawn). The whole Country's taken hostage, competitor broadcasters (read Mediaset) don't even think anymore of putting up counter progamming.

And even if you're not interested in it, you'll end up knowing EVERYTHING. The winner. The one who should have been the winner. Every single drama. How many sequins are on the host's jacket. Who placed the bomb at Mediaset Radio headquarters?

[styzz-unstyzz]

irama be singing in cursive

[fiumedivita]

Sanremo 2024: how Italians go mad

You want to know why Italians are so weird and crazy? Here's how long the national song contest, the Sanremo Music Festival, was this year:

Just the 5 nights of the actual show were 26 hours and 3 minutes.

But then, if you add the pre-show, aftershow and Sunday specials you get 39 hours and 10 minutes.

It's a good thing we're famous for our espresso.

-------------------------- Here's a breakdown:

First night:

pre-show: 12 minutes

show: 5 hours 15 minutes (8:45pm - 2am)

after-show: 48 minutes

Total: 6 hours and 15 minutes

--------------------------

Second night:

pre-show: 11 minutes

show: 4 hours 45 minutes (8:44pm - 1:29am)

after-show: 45 minutes

Total: 5 hours and 41 minutes

--------------------------

Third night:

pre-show: 11 minutes

show: 4 hours 52 minutes (8:45pm - 1:37am)

after-show: 52 minutes

Total: 5 hours and 55 minutes

--------------------------

Fourth night:

pre-show: 12 minutes

show: 5 hours 14 minutes (8:45pm - 1:59am)

after-show: 61 minutes

Total: 6 hours and 27 minutes

--------------------------

Fifth night:

pre-show: 10 minutes

show: 5 hours 57 minutes (8:45pm - 2:42am)

after-show: No aftershow for the final! The host was actually co-hosting the main show.

Total: 6 hours and 7 minutes

--------------------------

Sunday specials:

Domenica In (interviews + songs): 5 hours and 54 minutes

Dietro Festival (BTS with all the drama): 51 minutes

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2007 - Number 38 - Leda Battisti - "Senza me ti pentirai"

Leda Battisti's route to fame was familiar if a little bit old school. She was discovered by a TV show. It wasn't one of the early 20th century talent staples like the X Factor or the Hit Factory. It was a short-lived Italian variety show called Partita doppia (Double Entry), the vehicle for Superpippo, Pippo Baudo, the man who hosted and ran Sanremo 2002 - one of the best national song contests I've covered.

Leda is a classically trained guitarist, singer and song-writer, whose songs have Latin moods and rhythms. Even before the turn of the century she'd had hit singles and albums as well as finishing third in the 1999 Sanremo Giovani.

By the time she entered Sanremo in 2007, she had already done most of the things that singers in national finals do in their careers, but slightly at right-angles to everyone else. She'd even dubbed the song of an animated character. Not a Disney film, but a homegrown animation called La gabbianella e il gatto, one of the highest grossing Italian films of 1998.

2007 saw Leda releasing her fourth studio album and her label was happy to have her on stage at Sanremo to promote it. Senza me ti pentirai (Without Me You'll Regret It) is true to her Latin infused career. It's a tango, filled with drama and barbs aimed at a departing lover. Leda wants them to know just how much they won't be missed, how easy it will be for her to forget them and just how much fun she'll be having. Of course she's lying, but hell those boats are being burned in dramatic fashion. She ain't coming back.

Its drama and Leda's performance are both rather overshadowed by the tango going on behind and around her. The camera doesn't know who to focus on, but has a natural dug towards the movement of the dancers when Leda should be the focus. She's the centre of this song - the woman scorned, but that wandering camera takes the attention away from her fury and onto something sexier.

It was a mistake. Another mistake was not including this on the original pressing of the album. It was included on a relaunched version later in the year with the track included at the start and again at the end in a "Tango of Red Passion Version". Both flopped.

Leda's only appearance in the main competition at Sanremo resulted in a finish outside the top ten and it was also her last album and single for her on a major label. Subsequently she has continued to write and release new singles, but only digitally. Her career shifted from major music labels and the industry spotlight to self-published releases and singles on smaller labels.

Her style has become jazzier and more bluesy over time, but her compositions are still great. This is Seconda Notte (Second Night) released in 2023

[betweenthetimeandsound]

GOD BLESS AMADEUS.

That is all.

[sweetiepootato]

Is it me or these songs have the same intro?

And what can be done in case both win?

[justmychampagneproblems]

Loved the parallel

Mina, Se telefonando (1966) x Elodie, Due (2023)

[ortofosforico]

Marco Mengoni and Gustaph out there representing the two opposite poles of Grindr on worldwide television.

[guysofeurovision]

[theitaliansalad]

(an hellish week is about to begin for all those Italians who don't give a shit about Sanremo. it's me. I am that Italian. pray for me).

[animapunkocchidipeterpan]

MUDIMBI - IL MAGO 🩵

festival di Sanremo 2018

[fandom]

TV Shows

Gods, angels, demons, dragons, vampires, and a bunch of first responders in LA.

Gravity Falls +56

Hazbin Hotel

Good Omens -2

Doctor Who +11

Interview with the Vampire +12

House of the Dragon +13

9-1-1 +18

Bridgerton +37

Percy Jackson and the Olympians +31

Supernatural

The Owl House -9

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -7

Avatar: The Last Airbender +19

Danny Phantom +4

Stranger Things -12

Dead Boy Detectives

Hannibal +9

Our Flag Means Death -12

Fallout

House MD +43

The Bad Batch +23

Loki +13

Ninjago +24

The Eurovision Song Contest -8

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir -18

Adventure Time -17

Agatha All Along

Star Trek: The Original Series +51

Steven Universe +12

Criminal Minds +37

Lego Monkie Kid +7

The Umbrella Academy

Merlin

Arcane +14

Heartstopper -15

The Last Of Us -32

Obi-Wan Kenobi +12

Star Wars: The Clone Wars +17

X-Men '97

The 2024 US Presidential Debate

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine +20

Smiling Friends

Game of Thrones +23

Young Royals -13

The 81st Golden Globe Awards +20

The Bear +30

Phineas and Ferb +44

The Acolyte

South Park -13

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Outer Banks +19

Sonic Prime -19

The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake -43

The Boys

Yellowjackets -29

The Muppets +12

The Sandman -29

Succession -51

Gotham +29

The 96th Academy Awards +7

Blue Eye Samurai

The Terror

Voltron: Legendary Defender

The Untamed -7

Buffy the Vampire Slayer +22

Invader Zim +33

The Sanremo Music Festival +29

Shadow and Bone -56

Total Drama

Ninjago Dragons Rising

The Dragon Prince -33

The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards

The Mandalorian -60

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

What We Do In The Shadows -53

Community +5

Teen Titans

Young Justice

The Walking Dead +16

The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards

Metalocalypse -43

Transformers: Prime

Star Wars Rebels -11

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia -25

Teen Wolf -49

Supergirl +7

The Witcher -67

Pit Babe

The 66th Annual Grammy Awards -3

Classic Doctor Who

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Breaking Bad -43

Super Bowl LVIII

Amphibia -20

Abbott Elementary -50

The Simpsons -23

My Adventures With Superman -47

Twin Peaks

Over the Garden Wall

The number in italics indicates how many spots a title moved up or down from the previous year. Bolded titles weren’t on the list last year.

Love Hazbin Hotel? There's a Community (or 50) for that.

[hotchocolatelovesyou]

I just want to add that the Sanremo audience is veeeery lively and they will 100% boo you (and worse) if they don't like something or someone. If John Travolta ever goes back on that stage, he will be insulted and booed all the way back to America lmao

Even the orchestra might flip out. No, no one is safe. And no, I'm not exaggerating in the slightest.

Anyways, update! Get comfortable, it might be longer than expected.

So, Travolta went to Sanremo in a suit and a pair of white sneakers. It seems pretty basic, mh? Mind you, the shoes were from a brand called U-Power, and Travolta is one of their testimonials. The brand, since Travolta was dancing and obviously moving his feet, was clearly on display and now Rai (Rai for Italy is like Fox for America, yes?) wants to sue U-Power and Travolta for covert advertising. The funniest thing is that Rai might be sued too. Again.

First of first, it's unclear the reason why Travolta was even at the Festival. Amadeus said that Travolta himself volunteered for a guest appearance since he was already in the area (some articles say he was in France, others say he was already in Italy), BUT apparently Rai and the actor might have started seeking agreements for him to come to Sanremo way back in October instead. It is also not true that the actor was paid a lot, they simply reimbursed him for his expenses - while still very fucking expensive (hah), it's also not that much for people of his caliber.

It was also discovered that U-Power had announced on their website that their brand would've been the protagonist of the evening "with a special guest" (Travolta, their testimonial), clearly speaking of the festival.

It has been then speculated that U-Power literally paid Travolta to go to Sanremo, just to sponsor the shoes.

U-Power is denying everything and the company is claiming that the actor's presence at the festival had nothing to do with the brand in any way, but some things simply don't add up.

You have to understand that last year, Amadeus was co-hosting with Chiara Ferragni (another whole fucking mess by herself, but let's not get too carried away, just know that there might be a new law with her name). As a funny sketch, they were both joking about the fact that Amadeus did not have an Instagram account. Chiara, who started her career by being an influencer, helped him create one. On live television. On the opening night. Yup, Rai was fined 180 million euros for covert advertising. If I remember correctly, they had even posted a selfie as a first post to complete the account lol

Anyway, the point is that covert advertising is a big no no for Rai now.

This is indeed another topic that bothered Amadeus because the host saw this whole deal as another way to create drama (not necessarily from Travolta, more like from the public and social media in general). Still, there are some doubts about his and Rai's innocence:

Amadeus removed his own shoes to dance like Travolta does in Pulp Fiction - and this might be seen as a way to get more attention on the actor's shoes in comparison.

He also said to the actor "don't worry, be happy" - which is U-Power's slogan or something

Rai is guilty (bc they are) of not hiding the brand - they are defending themselves by claiming that Travolta came to Sanremo the very last second and he simply walked on stage. No one paid much attention to his sneakers because they didn't know the brand (and neither did Amadeus)

The assistant (?) they had picked to work with Travolta behind the scenes might have been too shy to ask the actor to cover his shoes with tape, maybe intimidated by how famous the dude is or by his big personality - gaining another accusation of being unprofessional, because why would they choose someone unable to stop the celebrity?

The owners of U-Power were literally in the front row at the Ariston Theatre (where the whole Festival takes place)

Now.

You guys, between me and you, I do not believe for a second that Amadeus is guilty of anything. At least not on purpose. He doesn't speak English, and "don't worry, be happy" is literally the most basic English phrase ever (@U-Power: do better), he was probably only trying to make a joke + the poor man is probably just a fan of the movie and wanted to recreate one of its most iconic scenes. Però è un po' sfigato, questo sì.

Rai is obviously ready to throw lawyers left and right. They are claiming to be innocent of all accusations, and in my opinion? I 100% believe in their incompetence. If I had one nickel for every time some technical issue happened over the course of the festival, I'd have many nickels, I'll tell you that. Also, no one here ever heard about U-Power's existence before this mess, so I can't really blame them for not knowing either. Even if they did, Rai had already lost quite much last time, why would they risk doing it all over again for an unknown shoe's brand of all things? But this is just my opinion, I guess we'll see.

Anyhow, tonight is the last night of the festival and also the most important one, so I 100% assure you that not one single person in Italy will give a fuck about Travolta and his shoes, at least not while they're watching Sanremo lol

I'm not sure if you're aware but John Travolta was invited to the Sanremo Festival (a very BIG deal) in Italy and the hosts, Amadeus and Fiorello, made him dance the "qua qua qua" (the chicken dance). He had to wear a chicken hat, but Travolta refused. He also didn't sign the documents that would allow the whole scene to be played again - so the whole chicken dance thing with him will not be shown in tv ever again - and he's been receiving so much shit by Amadeus and everybody else because he obviously knew what was going to happen and he was like super paid for his appearance

and it doesn't stop here lol

The festival lasts a week, and they have guests every night - yesterday night was Travolta, tonight was Russell Crowe. Crowe loves Italy, Italy loves Crowe. Crowe sung with his band (he was great tbh) and he then answered some questions asked by the hosts. He low-key made a joke about the Travolta thing and Amadeus had to high-five him (because how can you not) and now we are all waiting (but not really, the festival is much more important) to see if the fucking festival will make two Hollywood stars fight or not.