(Adnkronos) – 24 hours before its start, Sanremo 2026 is preparing for an edition that has the flavor of a review and a celebration. Carlo Conti “high-fives”: his fifth Festival, announced as his last, presents itself with a cast and a production setup that mixes firsts, symbolic returns, and a declared self-celebration of the Festival’s history, in memory of Pippo Baudo, the great host who is effectively the inventor of modern Sanremo.
Sanremo 2026 will pick up where Sanremo 2025 left off. Before the start of the competition among the 30 Big artists, Olly will return to sing ‘Balorda Nostalgia’, the song with which he won the 2025 edition, in an ideal handover to this year’s contestants.
Among the 30 Big artists in the competition, ten are stepping onto the Ariston stage for the first time. This is a striking fact, because it tells of a Festival that continues to update itself, cultivating its future audience, opening its doors to a generation of artists who, until a few years ago, had only watched Sanremo from the outside. Debuting are Sayf, Eddie Brock, Bambole di Pezza, Samurai Jay, Maria Antonietta & Colombre, LDA & Aka 7even, and even Tommaso Paradiso, who, despite a consolidated pop career, had never participated in the competition.
Alongside them return familiar faces who have graced the Ariston stage many times: from veteran Patty Pravo to Raf, but also Arisa, Levante, Ermal Meta, Fulminacci, Ditonellapiaga, Dargen D’Amico, Elettra Lamborghini, J‑Ax, and Marco Masini with Fedez. A cast that spans three generations and promises a more unpredictable Festival than expected, even in the predictions for victory.
If the Big artists and the festival’s production look to the future (the event will be broadcast in 4K also on digital terrestrial and for the first time the audio will be in Dolby Atmos), the guests look to the festival’s history. Conti has invited Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti (who will arrive with Alicia Keys to duet to the notes of ‘L’Aurora’), and Andrea Bocelli, three artists who were born on that very stage, launched by editions led by Pippo Baudo.
Their presence is not accidental: it will be an opportunity for a tribute to the great host, who passed away in August. According to rumors, Baudo could “reappear” in virtual form to introduce the three artists he helped make known to the world. The career awards that Conti has decided to bestow this year on Caterina Caselli, Mogol, and Fausto Leali, three names intertwined with the festival’s history, also naturally fit into the celebratory theme.
Conti will be joined every evening by Laura Pausini, the sole fixed co-host of this edition. Conti also wanted Gianluca Gazzoli (already host of the ‘Sanremo Giovani’ contest) to manage the New Proposals competition with him (two direct challenges on Wednesday and the final on Thursday). But every evening, other co-hosts for one night and guests will join them: on Tuesday 24th, for the debut, there will be Can Yaman and Tiziano Ferro; on Wednesday 25th, Achille Lauro, actress Pilar Fogliati, and comedian Lillo Petrolo; on Thursday 26th, there will be Russian supermodel Irina Shayk, Eros Ramazzotti with Alicia Keys, and comedian Ubaldo Pantani; Friday 27th will see the return of Bianca Balti (whose presence, a year later, will also be a testimony of hope against illness); Saturday, February 28th, for the grand finale, there will be Tg1 anchor Giorgia Cardinaletti, Nino Frassica (who will also launch the Sanremo Top appointments with Conti), and Andrea Bocelli.
Alongside the Ariston stage, the Suzuki stage in Piazza Colombo will also speak to multiple generations: from Pooh, a symbol of Italian music history, to Bresh, among the most listened-to names by Generation Z. In between, Gaia, The Kolors, and Gabbani, forming a mosaic that reflects the same plurality of the competing cast. No less intergenerational is the choice of Max Pezzali as the sole protagonist of the “stage on the water”, that of the Costa Toscana cruise ship: Pezzali has a transversal audience ranging from adults who grew up with 883 to their grandchildren who flock to his latest concerts.
With this mix of ingredients suitable for all tastes, designed to keep the entire Italian family together on the sofa, Conti naturally hopes to repeat last year’s audience records, but he knows it won’t be easy. The Festival will have to contend not only with Gerry Scotti and La Ruota della Fortuna (Wheel of Fortune), but above all with the Champions League. In the first two evenings, February 24th and 25th, three Italian teams – Inter, Juventus, and Atalanta – will take to the field, and even if the matches will be broadcast on Sky, the appeal of the cup could subtract a not insignificant share of the audience from the Festival.
Controversies are naturally part of the ingredients of any respectable festival. And they haven’t been long in coming this year either. The Pucci case opened the dance of tensions: invited by Carlo Conti as co-host for Thursday 26th, the comedian withdrew after critical comments and online threats received for some past posts in which he celebrated the successes of the center-right and mocked the leader of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein. After the announcement of his withdrawal, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intervened, speaking of “political lynching.”
On the other hand, Mario Adinolfi called the Festival “propal,” pointing the finger at Ermal Meta’s song about a child who died in Gaza. Not to mention the tensions over Eurovision, which remain very high: Israel’s presence has led some countries to announce a boycott of the 2026 edition, and some competing artists, starting with Levante, have announced that they would not participate in Eurovision if they won. As always, the spotlights on Sanremo also attract labor disputes (history is full of them, from ItalSider workers to the tractor movement), and the Fnsi (Italian National Press Federation) announced a flash mob on the opening night to demand the renewal of the national journalists’ contract, which has been stalled for ten years.
Yet, beyond the noise, the heart of the Festival remains the same: the songs. The songs listened to in preview tell of an Italy that falls and rises again, that discovers itself fragile but not resigned. There are stories of precariousness, adult loves, irony, social anger, resistance. Ermal Meta brings the most political song; Sayf talks about floods, taxes, squares; Ditonellapiaga ironizes about social constraints; Tredici Pietro makes falling a generational manifesto; Fulminacci and Levante recount wounded intimacy; Eddie Brock surprises with very lucid irony. It is a Festival that photographs a country that is tired but not immobile, seeking light in the night (one of the most cited words in the competing songs).
Among the most anticipated evenings is, as always, the cover night, which this year is particularly varied. Conti described it as “overwhelming, incredible, and even improbable,” and the list confirms the definition: unexpected pairings, double tributes to Vanoni, Dalla, Mina, and Nannini, seven international songs, performances that mix genres and generations, and a certain curiosity for J‑Ax who chose to sing ‘E, la vita la vita’ with the Ligera County Fam, which will bring back one of the original performers, Cochi Ponzoni, but also Paolo Jannacci, Ale e Franz, and Paolo Rossi. An evening that will become a challenge not only for victory but also for the start time of the Dopofestival, entrusted this year to Nicola Savino, who will be joined by comedians Aurora Leone and Federico Bassi and maestro Enrico Cremonesi.
Andrea Bocelli will be a guest on the final evening. Some have hypothesized that the tenor might sing ‘Nessun Dorma’. A choice (unconfirmed) that, in a Sanremo with 30 Big artists in competition, could sound like an ironic warning to the viewers of the event who, as always, will keep the entire country awake for a week. (by Antonella Nesi)
