Italian national broadcaster RAI have announced the artists who will be taking part in Festival di Sanremo 2025. The winner of the 75th edition of Sanremo, officially known as the Italian Song Festival, will be granted first refusal rights to become Italy’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, to be held in Basel, Switzerland in May.
30 artists have been included in the Big Artists’ section, including some names that may be familiar to Eurovision fans. The competitors are:
- Achille Lauro
- Gaia
- Coma Cose
- Francesco Gabbani
- Willie Peyote
- Noemi
- Rkomi
- Modà
- Rose Villain
- Brunori Sas
- Irama
- Clara
- Massimo Ranieri
- Emis Killa
- Sarah Toscano
- Fedez
- Simone Cristicchi
- Joan Thiele
- The Kolors
- Bresh
- Marcella Bella
- Tony Effe
- Elodie
- Olly
- Francesca Michielin
- Lucio Corsi
- Shablo ft. Guè, Joshua and Tormento
- Serena Brancale
- Rocco Hunt
- Giorgia
Massimo Ranieri, who represented Italy at Eurovision in 1971 and 1973 with “L’amore è un attimo” and “Chi sarà con te” respectively, is making a return to Sanremo more than 50 years since his last performance on the Eurovision stage. Sanremo 2025 also sees the return of Francesca Michielin, who represented Italy in 2016 with “No Degree of Separation“, and her successor Francesco Gabbani, who performed “Occidentali’s Karma” in 2017. They are joined by Italian artist Achille Lauro, who was the Sammarinese representative in 2022 with “Stripper“.
As well as these artists, a further 4 acts will be chosen for the song festival when Sanremo Giovani (Newcomers) 2024 draws to a close on December 18th.
Sanremo 2025 will take place over five nights, from February 11th to 15th. The schedule remains largely the same as previous years, but with one significant change on Night Four of the competition. The festival will take place as follows:
- Night One: All artists will perform their songs. The top five performers of the night will be announced in a random order.
- Night Two: Half of the artists will perform their songs for a second time. The top five will be announced in a random order.
- Night Three: The remaining half of the artists will perform their songs again. Once again, the top five will be announced in a random order.
- Night Four: The artists will each perform a cover of a song as a duet. The winner of the night will be decided and announced, but unlike previous years, this result will not count towards the overall scores of the contest. Artists will now also be allowed to duet with each other if they so choose.
- Night Five: The big one! All artists perform their songs again. The top five as decided by the combined rankings of nights 1, 2, 3 and 5 will advance to a superfinal, where they perform their songs once more. Juries and public televotes will then decide the winner.
Sanremo 2024 was won by Angelina Mango, with the song “La noia“. Angelina accepted the invitation to perform at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, receiving direct entry to the Grand Final as a member of the Big Five. “La noia” achieved 7th place in the final, with a score of 268 points.
Who are #YOU most excited to see at Festival di Sanremo 2025? Let us know on our social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord – or on our forum page!
