There are now less than two months to go before the opening of the 56th installment of the most famous festival in the world, The Sanremo Festival of Italian Song. From the 27th of February till the 4th of March eyes, photo camera lenses and T.V. cameras will be focused on the stage of the Ariston theatre in order to capture every move of, and all the gossip on, the participants. The 2006 edition will be presented by Giorgio Panariello who already promised this will be a festival of “velvet and steel”, in other words, of tradition and innovation. There will be many departures from the traditions of the festival but, the most controversial is certain to be the banishing of a sacred taboo. From this year onwards it will be possible to hear snippets of the songs to be performed before the artists appear onstage. Also the songs will available for use as ring- tones on mobile phones.
There will be 30 artists, in 4 groups, competing for the prize: 6 Women, 6 Men, 6 groups and 12 in the young artist category. The first eliminations will take place as early as the second evening. There are many famous names already confirmed for the renewal, with many stars being whispered of as likely participants. Gianluca Grignani, Alex Britti, Dolcenera, Mario Venuti, Nicky Nicolai, Povia, Ron, Al Bano, Ivana Spagna, Anna Oxa, Loredana Bertè, Salisse (winners in 1997 with “Fiumi di Parole”), Simona Bencini (ex “Dirotta su Cuba”), Michele Zarrillo and perhaps also Renato Zero., much to the delight of his legions of fans. There are also rumours as to the identities of the guest celebrities, both from Italy and from overseas. From Laura Pausini to Eros Ramazzotti and from Woody Allen to Julio Iglesias by way of Leonardo Pieraccioni…..along with last minute showstoppers! Naturally enough there will be a female presence alongside Panariello, which is another source of rumour and gossip as names are bandied about. Among those already in circulation are la Littizzetto, Tosca D’ Aquino, Victoria Cabello, Kate Moss, Beatrice Borromeo according to latest “surveys”. The potential cast-list of T.V. journalists and presenters includes some of the most famous names on the small screen such as Paola Ferrari, Maria Cuffaro, Marialuisa Busi and Bianca Belinguer. There may a long list of names but one rule must be applied: whoever eventually emerges to accompany Panariello for the five evenings of the festival, they must be Italian.
However, amongst all the guess work and supposition there is something assured: the list of artists, and the names of their songs, in the “Young Artist” category. ,
Ameba 4 – “Rido…forse mi sbaglio”
Andrea Ori –“Nel tuo mare”
Deasonika – “Non dimentico più”
Helena Hellwig –“Di luna morirei”
Ivan Segreto –“Con un gesto”
L’Aura –“Irraggiungibile”
Ricardo Maffoni -“Sole negli occhi”
Simone Cristicchi – “Che bella gente”
Virginio –“Davvero”
Antonello – “Capirò Crescerai”
Antonio Tiziano Orecchio – “Preda innocente” Monia Russo – “Un mondo senza parole”
