Emma has won the 62nd Festival di Sanremo with Non è l’inferno. Her victory was announced shortly after Nina Zilli had been revealed as the Italian choice for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.
The final evening of the festival is still considered to be a very important event in the Italian calendar. The more formal clothes of everyone involved was noticeable. It was estimated that about 50% of the Italian population would be watching.
Host Gianni Morandi explained how the evening would unfold and then introduced his co-hosts, Rocco Papaleo and a very glamorously attired Ivana Mrazova, whose striking dress immediately drew the attention of the photographers’ zoom lenses.
The Ultima Serata was in two parts; all ten remaining songs would be performed and then reduced to three for the second part of the show. The first task was for all the remaining ten singers in the Artisti section for established acts to sing. In order of appearance, these were:
Nina Zilli – Per Sempre (R. Casalino, N. Zilli, R. Casalino)
Gigi D’Alessio e Loredana Bertè – Respirare (G. D’Alessio, V. D’Agostino, G.D’Alessio)
Emma – Non è l’inferno (F. Silvestre, E. Palmosi, L Sala)
Samuele Bersani – Un Pallone (Samuele Bersani)
Dolcenera – Ci Vediamo a Casa (Dolcenera)
Pierdavide Carone e Lucio Dalla – Nanì (P. Carone, L. Dalla)
Noemi – Sono Solo Parole (Fabrizio Moro)
Arisa – La Notte (G. Anastasi)
Eugenio Finardi – E tu lo Chiami Dio (Roberta Di Lorenzo)
Francesco Renga – La tua Bellezza (Francesco Renga, Diego Mancino, Dario Faini)
The votes of Sanremo Festival Orchestra, the assembled members of the press and a public phone vote were added together to leave three singers still in with a chance of winning. The lucky three were:
Noemi – Sono Solo Parole
Arisa – La Notte
Emma – Non è l’inferno
The top six were revealed and Arisa, Emma and Gigi D’Alessio e Loredana Bertè made up the top three. However, after the ‘Golden Share’ vote of the press had been added, Noemi moved into the top three at the expense of Gigi and Loredana. The phone lines were opened again and this time, it was a public only vote, the orchestra and press took no part in the voting.
Tension rose in the Ariston as the time came for the results of the phone vote Before the winner was announced, Ell and Nikki, who are the reason the Eurovision Song Contest will be in Baku this year, came on to the stage to reveal who will represent Italy in May. Nina Zilli had been chosen to sing her Sanremo song, Per Sempre.
The winner of the 2012 Sanremo Festival is Emma, who achieved nearly 50% of the public vote. Her song, Non è l’inferno, is about the troubles Italy currently faces. She told one magazine, “In my opinion, the crisis is enough to makes us rediscover patriotism."
