SAN REMO SONG FESTIVAL,FEB 14-18

Gianni Morandi, main presenter of the Sanremo Music Festival 2012.The Sanremo Music Festival 2012 will be the 62nd annual Sanremo Music Festival. It will be held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, province of Imperia, during the five nights between 14 February 2012 and 18 February 2012, and it will be broadcast by Rai 1.



The show, presented by Gianni Morandi with Ivana Mrazova and Rocco Papaleo, will be a competition divided in two different sections. The "Big Artists Section" will include 14 established Italian artists, performing a previously unreleased song. During the third night, each act in the Big Artists ection will also perform a foreign-language cover of a popular Italian song, together with an international artist. The "Newcomers Section" will be a competition starring eight debuting or little-known artists. Two of them were chosen through the contest Area Sanremo, and six of them were chosen as the winners of the web contest SanremoSocial.



As in 2011, the Italian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 will be chosen by a specific jury among the participants in the Sanremo Music Festival. Alessandro Casillo will be excluded from the selection, since he will be under the age of 16 during the Eurovision Song Contest.





 Presenters and personnel

Italian actor Rocco Papaleo, co-presenter of the show.A few hours after the final of the Sanremo Music Festival 2011, Rai 1 director Mauro Mazza expressed his willing to confirm Gianni Morandi as the main presenter of the show for the 2012 contest. In an interview released in April 2011, Morandi revealed he was considering the opportunity to present the contest for a second time, and on 13 October 2011 Morandi was officially confirmed as the presenter of the Sanremo Music Festival 2012. On the same day, Gianmarco Mazzi, who had signed a 2 years long contract with RAI in late 2010, was confirmed as the artistic director of the show. It will be Mazzi's seventh Sanremo Music Festival.



In late december 2011, Gianmarco Mazzi also announced that Italian actor and director Rocco Papaleo, Czech model Ivana Mrazova and English-Croatian model Tamara Ecclestone would have been Morandi's co-presenters of the show. Despite this, on 20 January 2012, Gianmarco Mazzi officially announced that Tamara Ecclestone would not be one of the presenters, following her refusal to be in Sanremo during the rehearsal for the show. During an interview released to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Ecclestone claimed that she had never signed any contract, and that, according to her informal agreement with RAI, she should have been in Sanremo starting from 12 February 2012, but she was later asked to start working on the show on 1 February 2012



The authors of the show, directed by Stefano Vicario, will be Ivano Balduini, Simona Ercolani, Michele Ferrari, Francesco Valitutti and Federico Moccia. For the nineteenth time, the shenography, inspired by a spacecraft, was created by Gaetano Castelli, together with his daughter Chiara. For the tenth consecutive year, each artist will be accompanied by the Sanremo Festival Orchestra, conducted by Marco Sabiu, as in 2011.



 Newcomers section/ AreaSanremo
The artists competing in the newcomers section were selected through two different contests. The first one, organized by the Comune di Sanremo and titled AreaSanremo, was divided into two sections—SanremoLab, reserved to Italian-language songs, and SanremoDoc, featuring songs in an Italian dialect. The jury evaluating the SanremoLab contestants was composed of Niccolò Agliardi, Beppe Carletti, L'Aura and Mauro Ermanno Giovanardi, while the jury for the SanremoDoc section included Massimo Morini, Davide Van De Sfroos, Peppe Voltarelli and Edoardo Bennato



The 10 winners of the contest—Levy Prato, Kachupa, Erika Mineo, Andrea Devis Mozzate, Bidiel, Giuseppe Franchino, Lavinia Desideri and Io Ho Sempre Voglia in the SanremoLab section, Luca Bussoleti and the duo composed of Stefano Cherchi and Maurizio Chisari for the SanremoDoc section—were announced on 8 December 2011. On 9 December 2011, a jury composed of Gianni Morandi, Gianmarco Mazzi, Giorgio Giuffra and Claudia Lolli selected two acts among the ten winners. Therefore, the bands Bidiel and Io Ho Sempre Voglia became the first two confirmed contestants of the Sanremo Music Festival 2012.



SanremoSocial
The remaining six contestants were selected through a web contest, titled SanremoSocial. 400 out of 1,574 participants in the contest were excluded because their songs did not fulfill the rules to participate in the Sanremo Music Festival, mainly concerning the length of the song or the inclusion of advertisers' brands in their lyrics.



After uploading a video of the proposed song through the social network Facebook, contestants were voted by users, and the 30 most voted acts, together with 30 additional artists chosen by a specific jury, were asked to perform live on 12 January 2012, during the Sanremo Social Day, broadcast live on the Festival's official website. At the end of the live performances, the artists were selected by a jury composed of presenter Gianni Morandi, artistic director Gianmarco Mazzi, Rai Radio 1's Gianmaurizio Foderaro and Silvia Notargiacomo, Rai Radio 2's Federica Gentile and Facebook account manager Saverio Schiano Lomoriello. The six winners of the contest—Dana Angi, Erica Mou, Celeste Gaia, Marco Guazzone, Giulia Anania and Alessandro Casillo— were announced on 14 January 2012 during the TV show SanremoSocial Day - La scelta.



 Big Artists section
The acts participating in the Big Artists section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2012 were chosen through an internal selection. In early December 2011, during an interview released to the Italian magazine TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, Emma Marrone announced she would be one of the contestants of the festival. On 24 December 2011, Eugenio Finardi also confirmed he would compete in the Big Artists section, performing the song "E tu lo chiami Dio". The complete list of the participants in the Big Artists section was announced on 15 January 2012, during the TV programme L'arena. Alongisde Marrone and Finardi, the list included Dolcenera, Arisa, Samuele Bersani, Chiara Civello, Francesco Renga, Irene Fornaciari, Marlene Kuntz, Nina Zilli, Noemi, Matia Bazar, Pierdavide Carone with Lucio Dalla, and the duo composed of Gigi D'Alessio and Loredana Bertè

Immediately after the list's announcement, some fans claimed that Gigi D'Alessio and Loredana Bertè had already released a small portion of their song through their official Facebook accounts, despite the contest rules, according to which the competing songs cannot be publicly performed or released before the show On the same day, Alessandro Fabrizi, manager of Italian singer Daniele Magro, claimed that Chiara Civello's song was publicly performed by Magro, Civello herself, and by Daiana Tejera, co-writer of the song.However, on 2 February 2012, RAI released a press statement announcing that the two songs fulfilled the requirements for being considered "new songs", therefore Civello, D'Alessio and Berté were confirmed as participants in the show.

 First night/ Big Artists section
On 14 February 2012, each act in the "Big Artists" section will perform a previously unreleased song. Each member of a jury composed of 300 people will give a minimum of 1 point and a maximum of 10 points to each song, and at the end of the night, the two artists receiving the lowest points will be eliminated


Artist(s) Order Song and author(s) Result

Arisa "La notte" (Giuseppe Anastasi)

Chiara Civello "Al posto del mondo" (Chiara Civello, Daiana Tejera)

Dolcenera "Ci vediamo a casa" (Dolcenera)

Emma Marrone "Non è l'inferno" (Francesco Silvestre, Enrico Palmosi, Luca Sala)

Eugenio Finardi "E tu lo chiami Dio" (Roberta Di Lorenzo)

Francesco Renga "La tua bellezza" (Francesco Renga, Diego Mancino, Dario Faini)

Gigi D'Alessio & Loredana Bertè "Respirare" (Gigi D'Alessio, Vincenzo D'Agostino)

Irene Fornaciari "Il mio grande mistero" (Davide Van De Sfroos)

Marlene Kuntz "Canzone per un figlio" (Cristiano Godano, Riccardo Tesio, Luca Bergia)

Matia Bazar "Sei tu" (Piero Cassano, Giancarlo Golzi, Fabio Perversi)

Nina Zilli "Per sempre" (Roberto Casalino, Nina Zilli)

Noemi "Sono solo parole" (Fabrizio Moro)

Pierdavide Carone & Lucio Dalla "Nanì" (Pierdavide Carone, Lucio Dalla)

Samuele Bersani "Un pallone" (Samuele Bersani)


 Second night/ Big Artists section
During the secon night, that will be held on 15 February 2012, each one of the 12 acts still in competition in the "Big Artists" section will perform for a second time the chosen song. As in the first night, each artists will receive a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 10 points from each member of a jury, composed of 300 people, and the two artists receiving the lowest points will be eliminated from the competition

 Newcomers section
Each artist in the Newcomers section will perform for the first time the competing song on 15 February 2012. Four different matches will be determined by votes received through Facebook during the previous weeks—the act receiving the most votes will compete with the one receiving the fewest votes, and so on. The outcome of each match will be determined by televoting only. In each match, the artist receiving the lowest votes will be eliminated from the competition, while the remaining four acts will be admitted to the fourth night.



Artist(s) Song and author(s)

Dana Angi "Incognita poesia" (Giordana Angi)

Erica Mou "Nella vasca da bagno del tempo" (Erica Musci)

Celeste Gaia "Carlo" (Celeste Gaia Torti)

Marco Guazzone "Guasto" (Marco Guazzone, Stefano Costantini, Dario Ceruti)

Giulia Anania "La mail che non ti ho scritto" (Giulia Anania, Dario Faini, Emiliano Cecere)

Alessandro Casillo "È vero" (Matteo Bassi, Emiliano Bassi)

Io Ho Sempre Voglia "Incredibile" (Vittorio Nacci)

Bidiel "Sono un errore" (Brando Madonia, Mattia Madonia)

 Third night/ International duets
During the third nigh, each participant in the "Big Artists" section, including the eliminated ones, will perform a foreign-language version of a popular Italian song, together with an international guest. The artists and the songs were announced together with the participants in the festival On 26 January 2012, it was announced that Nina Hagen, originally included in the list released on 15 January 2012 as the team partner of Loredana Bertè and Gigi D'Alessio, was replaced by Macy Gray, performing the English version of Mia Martini's "Almeno tu nell'universo" instead of a German-language cover of "Piccolo uomo

Italian artist(s) International artist(s) Song Original title and artist(s)

Arisa José Feliciano "Que Sera" "Che sarà" (Ricchi e Poveri and José Feliciano)

Chiara Civello Shaggy "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" "Io che non vivo (senza te)" (Pino Donaggio)

Dolcenera Professor Green "My Life Is Mine" "Vita spericolata" (Vasco Rossi)

Emma Marrone Gary Go "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" "Il paradiso" (La Ragazza 77 & Patty Pravo)

Eugenio Finardi Noa "Surrender" "Torna a Surriento" (Mario Massa)

Francesco Renga Sergio Dalma "El mundo" "Il mondo" (Jimmy Fontana)

Gigi D'Alessio & Loredana Bertè Macy Gray "The Flame" "Almeno tu nell'universo" (Mia Martini)

Irene Fornaciari Brian May and Kerry Ellis[40] "I (Who Have Nothing)" "Uno dei tanti" (Joe Sentieri)

Marlene Kuntz Patti Smith "The World Became the World" "Impressioni di settembre" (Premiata Forneria Marconi)

Matia Bazar Al Jarreau "Speak Softly Love" "Speak Softly Love" (Nino Rota)

Nina Zilli Skye Edwards "Never, Never, Never" "Grande grande grande" (Mina)

Noemi Sarah Jane Morris "To Feel in Love" "Amarsi un po'" (Lucio Battisti)

Pierdavide Carone & Lucio Dalla Mads Langer "Anema e core" "Anema e core" (Tito Schipa)

Samuele Bersani Goran Bregović "My Sweet Romagna" "Romagna mia" (Secondo Casadei)


 Repechage round
The four songs eliminated during the first and the secon night will be performed again, and televoting will determine the two songs to be reinstated in the competition.

 Fourth night/ Big Artists section
During the fourth night, each artist still in competition in the Big Artists section will duet with a guest, performing a new version of the competing song. At the end of the night, a ranking will be combiled by combining televoting with the votes determined by the Sanremo Festival Orchestra, and the bottom two artists will be eliminated


Artist Order Song Guest Result

Performances of the Big Artists on the fourth night[41] Arisa "La notte" Mauro Ermanno Giovanardi

Chiara Civello "Al posto del mondo" Francesca Michielin

Dolcenera "Ci vediamo a casa" Max Gazzé

Emma Marrone "Non è l'inferno" Alessandra Amoroso

Eugenio Finardi "E tu lo chiami Dio" Peppe Servillo

Francesco Renga "La tua bellezza" Scala & Kolacny Brothers

Gigi D'Alessio & Loredana Bertè "Respirare" Fargetta

Irene Fornaciari "Il mio grande mistero" Davide Van De Sfroos

Marlene Kuntz "Canzone per un figlio" Samuel Umberto Romano

Matia Bazar "Sei tu" Platinette

Nina Zilli "Per sempre" Giuliano Palma & the Bluebeaters

Noemi "Sono solo parole" Gaetano Curreri

Pierdavide Carone & Lucio Dalla "Nanì" Gianluca Grignani

Samuele Bersani "Un pallone" Paolo Rossi



 Newcomers section
The final of the newcomers section will be held on 17 February 2012. The four artists still in competition will perform their songs, and a ranking will be obtained by combining televoting with the votes determined by the Sanremo Festival Orchestra. The ranking could be changed by two different "Golden shares". The first one will be determined by votes expressed through Facebook, while the second one will be obtained considering votes expressed by Italian radio stations. In both the "golden share" mechanisms, the most voted artist will gain one slot in the previous ranking


 Fifth night/ First round
The final of the Big Artists section will be held on 18 February 2012. During the first round, the ten artists still in competition will perform their entries, and a ranking will be obtained by combining televoting with the votes determined by the Sanremo Festival Orchestra. Each journalist in the press room will also vote one of the competing artists, and the one receiving the most votes will obtain the "golden share", gaining one slot in the previous ranking. The top three artists will be admitted to the second round.


 Second round
During the second round, the top three artists will perform for the last time their entries, and the final ranking will be determined by televoting only