After five nights and a six-hour-long final, the Sanremo Music Festival has concluded and Marco Mengoni was crowned the winner with the song “Due Vite” (Two lives)!
Tonight’s final was composed of two rounds. First, all 28 acts performed again with a new running order for the public televote alone. Once these televotes were added to the provisional ranking from the last four days, the Top 5 qualified for the Superfinal. The Top 5 (presented in no particular order) was:
- Ultimo – Alba
- Tananai – Tango
- Lazza – Cenere
- Marco Mengoni – Due vite
- Mr. Rain – Supereroi
At this point, all of the scores from the week reset, and these five acts performed once more for the press room, demoscopic jury, and televote. After four days in the top spot, it wasn’t an overwhelming surprise when Mengoni came out once more as the winner of Sanremo 2023!
Remember, Sanremo is not officially a national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, but Mengoni will now have the chance to accept or deny the invitation to perform at Eurovision. If he turns it down, then the 2nd place artist Lazza may still have a chance to go to Liverpool…
Update: during the winner’s press conference. Marco Mengoni confirmed that he will represent Italy at ESC this May!
Other moments and highlights
Amadeus, Chiara Ferragni, and Gianni Morandi were back together to host to final.
Attiviamo il piano: siamo alla finale di #Sanremo2023 💐 pic.twitter.com/MTEeqvHNUG
— Festival di Sanremo (@SanremoRai) February 11, 2023
Morandi got the show started with a musical tribute to Lucio Dalla, a well-known Italian jazz artist who passed away in 2012.
On the outdoor stage was none other than Achille Lauro! Achille Lauro has competed in Sanremo three times before – in 2019, 2020, and 2022 – and even traveled over to San Marino to compete in their national selection after Sanremo 2022. He won with the song “Stripper” and went on to represent the micronation at ESC last May, though he did not qualify for the Grand Final.
Other performances included synth-pop legends Depeche Mode, long-time singer and songrwriter Gino Paoli, the rapper Salmo on the Costa Smeralda, and six-time Sanremo participant Ornella Vanoni (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, and 1989!).
How do #YOU think Italy’s choice will fair at Eurovision in May? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!
