Italy: Sanremo Festival 2022 to take place the first week of February

Italy: Sanremo Festival 2022 to take place the first week of February
Tuesday, 22 June 2021

  • Sanremo Festival  will return to its traditional dates for the 2022 edition and will take place in the first week of February. 

    After a one year break the iconic Italian music competition, Sanremo Festival, will be held during the dates it usually is set to take on annual basis. During a press conference it was confirmed that the next edition will take place in the first week of the February, bringing the contest back on track during its customary period. 

    Last year due to the covid-19 pandemic and hoping that the circumstances might improve enough to allow an audience atend the competition, decided to hold the festival in the first week of March, with the event taking place from March 2 to 6. However, next year's dates are still to be confirmed. 

    In addtion, during the same press conference it was revealed that the host of the next edition of Sanremo festival will not be the same with those in Eurovision 2022 which RAI has the responsibility of organising also after this year's Maneskin's victory in Rotterdam. 

     

    Italy in Eurovision 

    Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 45 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956.  After a 14-year absence from 1998 and on, the country returned to the contest in 2011. Italy has won the contest twice  in 1964 with Gigliola Cinquetti and her song “Non ho l’età”.  Italy’s second victory in the contest came in 1990 with Toto Cutugno and the song “Insieme: 1992”.

    Italy’s come back to the contest has proved to be very successful, the country having finished in the top ten in seven times of the last eight contests (2011–2019), with Raphael Gualazzi second in 2011, Nina Zilli ninth in 2012, Marco Mengoni seventh in 2013 and Il Volo third in 2015, Francesco Ghabbani 6th in Kiev. In 2018  the winners of Sanremo 2018 ,Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro, represented Italy in Eurovision in Lisbon with their song “Non mi avete fatto niente”. The Italian duo achieved an honorable 5th place in the Grand final with 308 points and a remarkable 3rd placing in the public voting.

    In 2019 , Mahmood, winner of Sanremo 2019 represented the country in Tel Aviv with his entry Soldi. The Italian representative kept the good results for Italy achieving a 2nd place in the Grand Final in Tel Aviv. In 2020 Diodato might have won the Sanremo festival with 'Fai Rumore' but unfortunately didn't have the chance to perform in Rotterdam as the contest was cancelled de to the coronavirus pandemic.

    This year the rock band Maneskin won Saremo 2021 and went on representing the nation on Rotterdam where they triumphed with their song 'Zitti e Buoni' bringing the 2022 contest to Italy. 

     

    News Source: Eurovoix/  TizianoFerro

    Image: RAI