Sanremo

Marco Carta has won the 59th Sanremo festival with the song, La Forza Mia, which he also wrote. His victory was decided with a combination of votes from a jury and the public.

It was an eventful evening in the Teatro Ariston on Friday. Arisa won the Proposte, while Al Bano was voted back into the festival after being eliminated on the second evening. Iva Zanicchi was not so lucky.

So far, it’s not a good year for Italy’s former Eurovision singers. Two of the three singers who have represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest are now out of the festival.

After the first evening of the 2009 Sanremo Festival, three of the 16 acts in the Artisti section, containing all the established singers competing in the festival, had their hopes dashed at the first hurdle. 

The 59th Festival della Canzone Italiana, otherwise known as Sanremo, begins on Tuesday 17th February in the Teatro Ariston in the Ligurian town. All through the week EuroVisionary will bring you up to date with the latest news.

RAI have released the names of the singers and songs competing in the 2009 Sanremo festival. Among the names are some which will be familiar to Eurovision fans.

Many fans of the Eurovision Song Contest would love to see the return of Italy. They haven’t participated in the contest since 1997 but there may be a glimmer of hope about their return.

Paolo Meneguzzi, Switzerlands choice to represent them in Belgrade, last night performed in Sanremo during the first night of the festival.