The third evening of the prolific Sanremo Music Festival draws to a close. If you missed Night 1 and Night 2 and don't have a spare 10 hours up your sleeve to catch up, we've got you covered. For those who are unfamiliar - the competition is held in the picturesque town of Sanremo in the North-Western pocket of Italy. Beginning in 1951, many of the best known names in Italian music took part as competitors, guests or composers. For Italians it is *the* music event on the calendar and will propel artists straight to the top of the charts.
Allora, let's get into the important stuff... All 28 artists performed this evening, here are the provisional results. Voting tonight was split between a demoscopic jury (50%) and televote (50%). The provisional ranking combined results:
Results
Notable Performances
*** Note RAI has not uploaded tonight's performances to YouTube so their earlier performances are linked instead. Tonight's performances can be found here on RAI Play.
Marco Mengoni - 'Due vite'
Marco's performance this morning elevated an already incredible start to to the festival and was rewarded with a standing ovation. He's back at Sanremo with another sublime entry that has social media excited. 'Due vite' has the hallmark of a classic Sanremo entry: the dramatic vocals, range and most importantly a standout melody. Marco gives the song a raw and passionate presentation with stage presence to burn.
It truly does feel similar to the landslide victory of Mahmood and Blanco last year which each performance being a victory lap. Both the juries and the charts seem to be in agreement this is the strongest song of the festival. Surely he has this in the bag? Most Eurovision fans will recognise him for representing Italy at Eurovision 2013 with 'L'essenziale', placing 7th.
Elodie - 'Due'
Huge fan favourite Elodie is back with another great pop song. She competed in 2020 with 'Andromeda' winning over the Eurovision fan community. This year she's brought 'Due' to the competition with all of her usual class and stage presence.
Plenty of vocal opportunities for her to show off and is one of the more sophisticated upbeat songs of the night. Once again - Elodie comes through with a contemporary, radio-friendly number and one of the best looks. This is her year to crack the Top 5. Brava!!
Madame - 'Il bene nel male'
Madame did not disappoint this evening. She won the hearts of Eurofans with the dark-pop number 'Voce' in 2021, placing 8th. 'Il bene nel male' is another superb show of her unique and diverse vocals - allowing for her to really hit the crux of the emotional moments.
Madame has the ability to sing straight and then drop into a more raspy, emotional vocal seemingly effortlessly. Lyrically the song stands out - especially with her emotive performances. Musically the song is well produced, catchy and memorable. It wouldn't be surprising to see her in the Top 5 come final night.
Colapesce Dimartino - 'Splash'
The lads from Sicily are back with another fun tune at Sanremo. Many will remember them for their 4th place effort at Sanremo 2021 with 'Musica leggerissima'. This year 'Spash' has all the hallmarks of being another grower at the festival with all that Italian-retro-charm. The lads look like they've got both the public and juries won over and are on track for another strong result.
Mr.Rain - 'Supereroi'
As far as streaming goes - Mr.Rain is the only artist coming close to Marco Mengoni. 'Supereroi' is #2 on the Top 50 on Spotify Italy and also second in views on YouTube (to Marco). The imagery and message are extremely powerful, elevating a fairly standard Sanremo entry. His performance tonight improved on the first evening. The juries have given 'Supereroi' some attention - putting it in good standing for the final evening.
Ultimo - 'Alba'
Another classic, quintessential Sanremo entry from Ultimo. After his dramatic and memorable second place at Sanremo 2019 with 'I tuoi particolari' he returns with a more commercial song 'Alba'. Very much a song that lends itself to the Sanremo stage, orchestra and juries but has more mainstream appeal than his previous attempt. Improved vocals tonight. We can't overlook his huge fanbase and large presence at Sanremo this year.
Rosa Chemical - 'Made in Italy'
Rosa Chemical certainly made waves at Sanremo this evening. 'Made in Italy' perfectly walks the line between a comedy entry and a genuinely good pop song with rap. The lyrics are tongue and cheek, delivered masterfully by Rosa Chemical. It's hard to ignore the stage presence, persona and craft on stage - even if the song isn't the most sophisticated it still makes a great show. I will be dancing to and streaming this for years to come.
Iconic Moments
One or Mr. Rain's on stage children (watch the performance for that sentence to make more sense) decided to bait Amadeus by exclaiming "Forza Milan" ("Go Milan") - making reference to the running gag that every year someone will annoy Amadeus by mentioning his least favourite team: Milan Football Club. In protest - Amadeus carried the boy off stage (in jest).
Wonderful co-host Paola Egonu, a professional volleyball player, doing a fantastic job on stage and delivering a poignant monologue about racism in Italy.
Gianluca Grignani giving a HUGE performance after technical issues and doing a grand and dramatic strut off stage after his performance...inadvertently forgetting he was to stay on stage and be given flowers by Amadeus. Leaving him lonely at the alter.
Aussievision's favourite reoccurring backing vocalist Naomi Rivieccio is back!
This morning was the third night of the five day festival - the rest of the week will proceed as follows: Fourth Night - Saturday (06:40am AEDT)
All 28 artist will perform covers of iconic Italian or international songs from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s or noughties.
Artists may perform solo or together with an acclaimed Italian or international guest
Voting will be televote (34%), combined press jury (33%) and demoscopic jury (33%)
A provisional ranking combining results from all four evenings will be given
Notable special guest: The cast of Mare fuori
Final Night - Sunday (06:40am AEDT)
All 28 artists will perform their songs for the third and final time
At the end of televoting, the final ranking will be drawn up, determined by the average between the percentages of the final evening and those of the previous evenings, which will establish the final ranking from the twenty-eighth to the sixth position. The top 5 ranked acts will proceed to super final to decide the winner.
Votes will be reset. Of the top five in the super final - the winner will be decided by televote (34%), press jury (33%) and demoscopic jury (33%).
Notable special guest: Depeche Mode
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