Perché Sanremo è Sanremo II
Meet the Artists
Richard Decker
From 2-6 March , twenty-four “big artists” will take to the stage of the Teatro Ariston in an attempt to be crowned the winner of the 71st Sanremo Music Festival. In this article, I will introduce you to eight of the key contenders for the crown, giving you an idea of what to expect from them this year.
Francesca Michielin and Fedez (Chiamami per nome)
Rapper Fedez and 2016 Eurovision star Francesca currently sit at the top of the bookies’ odds. Although this is Fedez’s debut at Sanremo, the pair are no stranger to working together, with previous collaborations including the top 10 hit “Cigno Nero” (Black Swan) in 2013 and “Magnifico” in 2014, which topped the Italian charts and achieved no fewer than 6 Platinum Awards. They combine two popular styles at Sanremo, rap and ballad, and if they carry this combination into their 2021 entry, they hopefully can appeal to a wider audience. They aren’t the first rap/pop duo to grace the Sanremo stage, however. In 2019, Shade and Federica Carta teamed up for “Senza farlo apposta,” though Francesca and Fedez will be hoping to place better than their 18th place.
Fedez and Francesa Michielin
Credit: Fabrizio Cestari for Rolling Stone Italia
But last week, the pair were almost disqualified from the competition. Fedez accidentally uploaded a video of himself and some friends in a jam session which included a 10-second snippet of their song for the 2021 competition. Sanremo organisers have very strict rules about releasing songs before the first night of the competition to avoid those with a larger social media following any sort of advantage. Thankfully for the duo, Sanremo bosses ruled that the video, which was swiftly taken down, gave the pair no advantage in the competition.
Should the pair win Sanremo this year, Francesca will be looking to improve on her 16th place at Eurovision in 2016, although this year’s song is likely to be a little more inspiring than her solo effort, whose chorus spent its time meandering around the interval of a minor second. Don’t get me wrong: it was a nice song, but I’m hoping for something even better this year. You can’t deny her popularity either: it was the only one of Italy’s recent Eurovision entries I heard multiple times on commercial radio whilst on my year abroad, for example.
Overall, the duo is mainstream and current and certainly will appeal to the public vote on Night 5. The question is, will they also impress the juries? Elodie’s mainstream 2020 entry, also written by Mahmood, was similarly popular with audiences, but she ended up only placing 7th. . Will Francesca and Fedez suffer a similar fate? Personally, I find their previous collaborations rather disjointed, with the two voices not really fitting together, particularly compared to the aforementioned Shade and Federica, who complement each other very well. Then again, 2021 may well be a different story.
Arisa (Potevi fare di più)
From the bookies’ favourites now onto my own personal favourite. Arisa is my number 1 contemporary Italian singer for a number of reasons, but largely due to the incredible control she holds over her voice. Her use of vibrato is some of the most poised and considered I’ve ever heard in modern pop singing, and in all the live performances I’ve listened to I’ve never heard any breathiness or anything less than full, rounded tone throughout.
Arisa is one of the contest’s most successful artists, having placed second in 2012 with “La Notte” and then winning the competition in 2014 with “Controvento.” The latter was a real musical showcase, making full use of the orchestra with pizzicato strings and a lovely oboe obbligato . In 2019, her entry took a different tack with “Mi Sento Bene,” a feel-good belter which really showcased her higher register, even though she only placed 8th. Outside of Sanremo, Arisa has also released an Italian language cover of the 2017 Portuguese Eurovision winner Amar Pelos Dois, with a gentle piano accompaniment perfectly matching her voice. For me, it’s even more beautiful than Salvador Sobral’s touching original. Arisa also enjoyed wearing masks before they became cool, as she participated in the first series of Italy’s Il Cantante Mascherato (The Masked Singer), dressed as Il Barboncino, the poodle.
Il Barboncino is revealed to be Arisa in disguise on Italy’s program Il Cantante Mascherato, in which famous singers perform anonymously in front of a jury and are unmasked at the end of each episode.
Credit: Visto.tv
Ermal Meta (Un milione di cose da dirti)
Ermal Meta is another Sanremo winner, having placed third in 2017 with the song “Vietato Morire” and going on to win a year later alongside Fabrizio Moro with the song “Non mi avete fatto niente,” which went on to achieve 5th at Eurovision. Moro is principally a songwriter and composer, which is likely why his song lyrics are often so powerful; “Non mi avete fatto niente” provided hard-hitting social commentary about the futility of war, a decision which won him high praise from juries at Sanremo. His singing style is often referred to as “alternative rock”, which, I will admit, is not my cup of tea at all. That being said, though, this style is a very popular one at Sanremo (and indeed worldwide), and Meta is certainly one of the best Italy has to offer. It is little wonder, then, that Ermal Meta is currently sitting in the top 10 of the bookies’ odds. The title suggests another emotional, powerful song from the skilled composer, but we’ll have to wait until March to find out for sure.
Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro perform Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente at Eurovision in 2018
Irama (La genesi del tuo colore)
Irama is a young singer who is going from strength to strength, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he finally lands a spot in the top 3 this year. He has taken part in Sanremo twice before: in 2016 as part of the Newcomers category, and then in 2019 in the Big Artists section with the song “La ragazza con il cuore di latta,” which placed 7th, just one position above Arisa. Real name Filipo Maria Fanti, Irama has been riding high after the success of 2019 hit “Arrogante,” followed by last year’s summer bop “Meditteranea,” which topped the Italian charts. He also has an incredibly active presence on social media, with frequent shirtless Instagram pool pics sure to draw in televoters. Is 2021 the year for this upcoming young artist?
Måneskin (Zitti e buoni)
Pop-rock band Måneskin rose to fame when they placed 2nd on the Italian X Factor in 2017 and went on to top the Italian charts with their triple platinum-winning album Il ballo della vita in 2018. This is their debut at Sanremo, but if popularity is anything to go by, this band is looking at the prospect of a very good result. The question is, how will the juries react to their song?
Annalisa (Dieci)
Annalisa is what I would describe as having a typical Italian pop-rock voice, low and rich in timbre, with a distinct earthiness. This is perhaps best demonstrated in her most recent Sanremo offering “Il mondo prima di te,” which placed third. This is a powerful pop-rock ballad that has my head banging (in a good way) at every listen. If I were being ultra-critical, I would say that her live performance perhaps lacks support at the extremes of her range – you can hear the breaths mid-phrase – but there is no doubt that she is a great singer with a lot of power to her voice. This was shown further by the fact that she won the OGAE second chance contest in 2018. This competition gives songs that didn’t win their country’s national final a second chance at glory, as voted on by fans. Annalisa’s win gave Italy their second win in three years. She is definitely one to watch this year, though her success in the competition will depend largely on her song.
Bugo (E invece sì)
Bugo isn’t currently thought of as a contender (though of course anything can happen at Sanremo!), but I just had to include him on this list. Readers of the first article in this series will recall how Bugo stormed off the stage during the night 4 performance of his duet with Morgan, after the pair had argued the night before. The video of the incident became the most-viewed non-musical video in Italy of 2020. Amadeus, the host of Sanremo, said he wanted to give this upcoming artist a second chance. Quite honestly, Bugo will have won in my eyes if he just makes it through all five nights of the festival!
Orietta Berti (Quando ti sei innamorato)
Orietta Berti is this year’s “veteran’ performer,” having last participated at Sanremo 1992. This is her 12th time appearing at the contest, now 77 years old. However, we should not count her out just yet; in 2019 she performed alongside younger singer Barbara Cola, and if I’m entirely honest, Orietta completely outshone the younger star. There’s still a good level of control in her voice, and I’m looking forward to her vintage style shining through on the Sanremo stage. Interestingly, Orietta participated in the same series of Il Cantante Mascherato as Arisa, dressed as l’Unicorno, the unicorn.
Orietta Berti began her career in 1962 and has competed in Sanremo 11 times between 1966 and 1992, so her upcoming performance in this year’s festival marks a huge comeback for the singer.
Of course, the winner might not come from this list of 8. In last year’s edition, eventual winner Diodato was completely overlooked by the bookies before the songs were released, while pre-show favourite Alberto Urso ended up in eventual 14th position. The full list of participants can be found here: there are a lot of first-time entrants this year who might surprise us!