In the last hour, the Sanremo 2025 pre-show ‘Sarà Sanremo’ (‘Sanremo is Coming’) finished at the city’s Casino Theatre, during which the song titles for the Main section of the upcoming Festival della Canzone Italiana, the national song contest that inspired Eurovision and is now used as Italy’s national final, were revealed. The show was presented by this year’s festival host Carlo Conti, taking over from Amadeus, and Alessandro Cattelan, who hosted Eurovision 2022 in Turin alongside Laura Pausini and Mika. The competing artists were announced in a separate broadcast on the 1st December.
The 30 ‘Big’ artists and songs that will compete at Sanremo 2025 are:
- Achille Lauro – Incoscienti giovani
- Bresh – La tana del granchio
- Brunori Sas – L’albero delle noci
- Clara – Febbre
- Coma_Cose – Cuoricini
- Elodie – Dimenticarsi alle 7
- Emis Killa – Demoni
- Fedez – Battito
- Francesca Michielin – Fango in paradiso
- Francesco Gabbani – Viva la vita
- Gaia – Chiamo io, chiama tu
- Giorgia – La cura per me
- Irama – Lentamente
- Joan Thiele – Eco
- The Kolors – Tu con chi fai l’amore
- Lucio Corsi – Volevo essere un duro
- Marcella Bella – Pelle diamante
- Massimo Ranieri – Tra le mani un cuore
- Modà – Non ti dimentico
- Noemi – Se t’innamori muori
- Olly – Balorda nostalgia
- Rkomi – Il ritmo delle cose
- Rocco Hunt – Mille vote ancora
- Rose Villain – Fuorilegge
- Sarah Toscano – Amarcord
- Serena Brancale – Anema e core
- Shablo feat. Guè, Joshua & Tormento – La mia parola
- Simone Cristicchi – Quando sarai piccola
- Tony Effe – Damme ‘na mano
- Willie Peyote – Grazie ma no grazie
In addition, the 3-hour broadcast played host to the final of Sanremo Giovani, the format used to select the four artists who will compete at the standalone Newcomers’ Section at the Teatro Ariston in February. In previous years, the format has selected one winner and a group of qualifiers for the main event, but this year the show reverts to a separation of the ‘Big’ and ‘Newcomer’ artists for the first time since 2021. Previous winners of Sanremo Giovani, which has run since the early 90s, include Eurovision alumni Mahmood, Francesco Gabbani and Laura Pausini.
This year, 24 artists invited by the channel competed in weekly knockout rounds, starting on the 12th November, to determine 6 finalists for tonight, while 2 acts, Maria Tomba and Etra, were selected through the auditions-only ‘Area Sanremo’ process. Each of these artists competed in a final duel during tonight’s show, with the 4 winners getting a pass into the Newcomers’ section, which will run in tandem with the main event.
These artists, and the songs that got them there, were:
- Alex Wyse – Rockstar
- Maria Tomba – Goodbye (Voglio good vibes)
- Settembre – Vertebre
- Vale LP and Lil’ Jolie – Dimmi tu quando ti sei pronto per fare l’amore
Following the 5-night marathon on Rai 1 in mid-February, the eventual winner of the Main section of Sanremo 2025 will have first refusal to represent Italy in Basel, although the last act to turn down this offer was Stadio, who won back in 2016. In 2024, Angelina Mango helped her country to 7th place in Malmö with her winning entry La noia.
Which song are you most looking forward to hearing at Sanremo 2025? Remember to follow ESCBubble across social media to stay up-to-date with the latest Eurovision news!
