| Sanremo Music Festival | |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Competing: | artists |
| Theme: | La parola alla musica |
| Semi1: | 25 February 2008 |
| Semi2: | 26 February 2008 |
| Semi3: | 27 February 2008 |
| Semi4: | 28 February 2008 |
| Final: | 1 March 2008 |
| Presenters: | Pippo Baudo and Piero Chiambretti, Bianca Guaccero, Andrea Osvárt |
| Artistic Director: | Pippo Baudo |
| Musdirector: | Pippo Caruso |
| Host: | Rai 1 |
| Venue: | Teatro Ariston Sanremo, Liguria, Italy |
| Vote: | Mixed (popular jury, "quality jury" and televotes) |
| Section1: | Big Artists section |
| Entries1: | 20 |
| Winner1: | Giò Di Tonno & Lola Ponce "Colpo di fulmine" |
| Section2: | Newcomers' section |
| Entries2: | 14 |
| Winner2: | Sonohra "L'amore" |
The Sanremo Music Festival 2008 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 2008), officially the 58th Italian Song Festival (Italian: 58º Festival della canzone italiana), was the 58th Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo and broadcast by Rai 1. The first and the second night of the show were held on 25 and 26 February 2008, while the last three nights were held from 28 February and 1 March 2008. The contest was presented by Pippo Baudo and Piero Chiambretti with Bianca Guaccero and Andrea Osvárt.
The competition included two different sections. The Big Artists section, featuring 20 established singers, was won by the duo composed of Giò Di Tonno and Lola Ponce with the song "Colpo di fulmine", while the newcomers' section, featuring 14 debuting or little known artists, was won by Sonohra with "L'amore".
The festival received poor ratings compared previous editions. All of the five nights of the show were watched by less than 10,000,000 people, the worst result in the contest's history.[1]
In June 2007, RAI vice director Giancarlo Leone officially announced Pippo Baudo and Piero Chiambretti as the presenters of the Sanremo Music Festival, also confirming Baudo as the artistic director of the show.[2] [3] It was Baudo's thirteenth Sanremo Music Festival as the presenter of the competition.[4] Italian actress Bianca Guaccero and Hungarian fashion model and actress Andrea Osvárt were later selected as the co-presenters of the show.[5]
Gaetano Castelli was the creator of the scenography for the fifteenth time,[6] while theatre director Gino Landi, assisted by Massimo Fusi, was chosen as the director and choreographer of the show[7] for the sixth time.[8] The Sanremo Festival Orchestra was directed by Pippo Caruso.[7]
During the first night of the competition, held on 25 February 2008, ten out of twenty acts competing in the Big Artists section performed their songs. They were voted by a jury composed of 1,000 people, 20 in each different region of Italy.[9] The awarded points were not revealed, but they contributed to determine the final result of the competition. Additionally, 5 acts composing the Newcomers' section sang their entries and were voted by the same jury. The detailed ranking was not revealed, but the three acts receiving the fewest votes were eliminated from the competition.[10]
Key:
– Contestant competing in the "Big Artists" section.
– Contestant competing in the "Newcomer Artists" section.
| +Performances of the contestants on the first night[11] [12] | ||||
| Artist(s) | Order | Song and writer(s)[13] | Result[14] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paolo Meneguzzi | 1 | "Grande" (Paolo Meneguzzi, Danilo Melotti, Gatto Panceri) | ||
| L'Aura | 2 | "Basta!" (Laura Abela) | ||
| Milagro | 3 | "Domani" (Antonio Capolupo) | Advanced | |
| Toto Cutugno | 4 | "Un falco chiuso in gabbia" (Davide De Marinis, Toto Cutugno) | ||
| Frankie Hi-NRG MC | 5 | "Rivoluzione" (Francesco Di Gesù, Francesco Bruni, Carolina Galbignani) | ||
| Andrea Bonomo | 6 | "Anna" (Andrea Bonomo, Luca Chiaravalli) | Eliminated | |
| Fabrizio Moro | 7 | "Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita" (Fabrizio Moro) | ||
| Frank Head | 8 | "Para parà ra rara" (Francesco Testa, Domenico Cardella) | Advanced | |
| Anna Tatangelo | 9 | "Il mio amico" (Gigi D'Alessio) | ||
| Michele Zarrillo | 10 | "L'ultimo film insieme" (Michele Zarrillo, Giampiero Artegiani) | ||
| Melody Fall | 11 | "Ascoltami" (Fabrizio Panebarco) | Eliminated | |
| Eugenio Bennato | 12 | "Grande sud" (Eugenio Bennato) | ||
| Daniele Battaglia | 13 | "Voce nel vento" (Daniele Battaglia, Simona Ruffino, Goffredo Orlandi) | Eliminated | |
| Max Gazzè | 14 | "Il solito sesso" (Francesco Gazzè, Max Gazzè) | ||
| Valerio Sanzotta | 15 | "Novecento" (Valerio Sanzotta) | Advanced | |
| Giua | 16 | "Tanto non vengo" (Maria Pierantoni Giua, Gianluca Martinelli) | Advanced | |
| Tricarico | 17 | "Vita tranquilla" (Francesco Tricarico) | ||
The second night of the competition was held on 26 February 2008, with the same rules of the preceding one. The ten "Big Artists" which didn't perform on the first night, sang their entries for the first time and were voted by a brand new jury, composed of 1,000 people, 20 in each different region of Italy.[9] As for the first night, the awarded points were not revealed, but they contributed to determine the final result of the competition. The last five acts composing the Newcomers' section also performed their songs, being voted by the same jury. Although the complete ranking was not revealed, the three acts receiving the fewer votes were eliminated from the competition.[10]
Key:
– Contestant competing in the "Big Artists" section.
– Contestant competing in the "Newcomer Artists" section.
| +Performances of the contestants on the second night[17] | ||||
| Artist(s) | Order | Song and writer(s) | Result[18] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Venuti | 1 | "A ferro e fuoco" (Mario Venuti, Kaballà) | ||
| Amedeo Minghi | 2 | "Cammina cammina" (Amedeo Minghi, Giuseppe Marcucci) | ||
| La Scelta | 3 | "Il nostro tempo" (Roberto Cardelli, Fabrizio Ferraguzzo, Mattia Del Forno, Francesco Caprara, Emiliano Mangia) | Advanced | |
| Giò Di Tonno & Lola Ponce | 4 | "Colpo di fulmine" (Gianna Nannini) | ||
| Sonohra | 5 | "L'amore" (Luca Fainello, Roberto Tini, Diego Fainello) | Advanced | |
| Gianluca Grignani | 6 | "Cammina nel sole" (Gianluca Grignani) | ||
| Jacopo Troiani | 7 | "Ho bisogno di sentirmi dire ti voglio bene" (Stefano Cenci) | Advanced | |
| Mietta | 8 | "Baciami adesso" (Daniele Ronda, Pasquale Panella) | ||
| Rosario Morisco | 9 | "Signorsì" (Antonio De Carmine, Rosario Morisco, Antonio Spenillo, Mauro Spenillo) | Eliminated | |
| Little Tony | 10 | "Non finisce qui" (Danilo Amerio, Little Tony) | ||
| Ariel | 11 | "Ribelle" (Alex Gaydou, Luca Chiaravalli) | Advanced | |
| Tiromancino | 12 | "Il rubacuori" (Federico Zampaglione) | ||
| Finley | 13 | "Ricordi" (Daniele Persoglio, Carmine Ruggiero, Marco Pedretti, Danilo Calvio, Stefano Mantegazza) | ||
| Francesco Rapetti | 14 | "Come un'amante" (Mogol, Francesco Rapetti) | Eliminated | |
| Sergio Cammariere | 15 | "L'amore non si spiega" (Sergio Cammariere, Roberto Kunstler) | ||
| Valeria Vaglio | 16 | "Ore ed ore" (Valeria Vaglio) | Eliminated | |
| Loredana Bertè | 17 | "Musica e parole" (Alberto Radius, Oscar Avogadro, Loredana Bertè) | ||
During the third night, held on 28 February 2008, each contestant of the Big Artists section performed the competing song with a guest. No artist from the Newcomers' section performed during the night. Each performance was voted by a jury of 1,000 people, as in the previous two nights. Public votes were also introduced during the third night. No details about the rankings were revealed and no one of the competing acts was eliminated, but the collected votes contributed to determine the winner of the competition, during the final night held on 1 May 2008.[10]
| +Performances of the contestants on the third night[22] | |||
| Artist(s) | Order | Song | Guest(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finley | 1 | "Ricordi" | Belinda |
| Tricarico | 2 | "Vita tranquilla" | Mago Forest |
| Mietta | 3 | "Baciami adesso" | Neri per Caso |
| Fabrizio Moro | 4 | "Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita" | Gaetano Curreri |
| Sergio Cammariere | 5 | "L'amore non si spiega" | Gal Costa |
| Max Gazzè | 6 | "Il solito sesso" | Marina Rei, Paola Turci |
| Frankie Hi NRG MC | 7 | "Rivoluzione" | Simone Cristicchi |
| Eugenio Bennato | 8 | "Grande sud" | Pietra Montecorvino |
| Mario Venuti | 9 | "A ferro e fuoco" | Denovo |
| Giò Di Tonno & Lola Ponce | 10 | "Colpo di fulmine" | Los Vivancos |
| Gianluca Grignani | 11 | "Cammina nel sole" | Nomadi |
| Anna Tatangelo | 12 | "Il mio amico" | Michael Bolton |
| Paolo Meneguzzi | 13 | "Grande" | Tony Hadley |
| Little Tony | 14 | "Non finisce qui" | Gipsy Kings Family |
| Amedeo Minghi | 15 | "Cammina cammina" | Giuliana De Donno, Paola Berardi |
| L'Aura | 16 | "Basta!" | Rezophonic |
| Michele Zarrillo | 17 | "L'ultimo film insieme" | Paola e Chiara |
| Tiromancino | 18 | "Il rubacuori" | Stefano di Battista |
| Toto Cutugno | 19 | "Un falco chiuso in gabbia" | Annalisa Minetti |
During the fourth night, the eight remaining artists competing in the Newcomers' section performed their entries. Each act was voted by a "Quality jury", composed of celebrities, and by televotes.[10] The "Quality jury" was composed of actors Nicolas Vaporidis and Sarah Felberbaum, music producer and talent scout Claudio Cecchetto, swimmer Alessia Filippi and writer Federico Moccia.[25] At the end of the night, the duo Sonohra was announced the winner of the competition.[25] The artists competing in the "Big Artists" section didn't appear during the night. Several other established Italian artists were invited to perform as guests, including Jovanotti, Giorgia and Fiorella Mannoia.
| +Performances of the contestants on the fourth night[26] [27] | |||
| Artist(s) | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonohra | 1 | "L'amore" | |
| Ariel | 2 | "Ribelle" | Bottom five |
| Jacopo Troiani | 3 | "Ho bisogno di sentirmi dire ti voglio bene" | |
| La Scelta | 4 | "Il nostro tempo" | |
| Frank Head | 5 | "Para parà ra ra ra" | Bottom five |
| Valerio Sanzotta | 6 | "Novecento" | Bottom five |
| Giua | 7 | "Tanto non vengo" | Bottom five |
| Milagro | 8 | "Domani" | Bottom five |
During the fifth night, each song competing in the "Big Artists" section was performed again. Each performance was voted by a "Quality jury", composed of dancer Eleonora Abbagnato, TV author Gianni Boncompagni, TV presenters Giancarlo Magalli, Fabrizio Frizzi and Martina Colombari, journalists Emilio Fede and Tiziana Ferrario, actress Gloria Guida, writer and columnist Giampiero Mughini, and journalist Mariolina Simone.[30] Public votes were also collected, and a final ranking was compiled, also combining the votes collected during the first and the second night.[10] At the end of the night, Giò Di Tonno and Lola Ponce with the song "Colpo di fulmine" were announced the winners of the competition.[31]
| +Performances of the contestants on the fifth night[32] [33] | |||
| Artist(s) | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paolo Meneguzzi | 1 | "Grande" | |
| Gianluca Grignani | 2 | "Cammina nel sole" | |
| Little Tony | 3 | "Non finisce qui" | |
| Toto Cutugno | 4 | "Un falco chiuso in gabbia" | |
| L'Aura | 5 | "Basta!" | Bottom nine |
| Anna Tatangelo | 6 | "Il mio amico" | |
| Amedeo Minghi | 7 | "Cammina cammina" | Bottom nine |
| Mario Venuti | 8 | "A ferro e fuoco" | Bottom nine |
| Giò Di Tonno & Lola Ponce | 9 | "Colpo di fulmine" | |
| Michele Zarrillo | 10 | "L'ultimo film insieme" | Bottom nine |
| Fabrizio Moro | 11 | "Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita" | |
| Tiromancino | 12 | "Il rubacuori" | Bottom nine |
| Frankie Hi NRG MC | 13 | "Rivoluzione" | Bottom nine |
| Finley | 14 | "Ricordi" | |
| Mietta | 15 | "Baciami adesso" | Bottom nine |
| Max Gazzè | 16 | "Il solito sesso" | Bottom nine |
| Sergio Cammariere | 17 | "L'amore non si spiega" | |
| Eugenio Bennato | 18 | "Grande sud" | |
| Tricarico | 19 | "Vita tranquilla" | Bottom nine |
The Critics' Award, entitled to Italians singer Mia Martini, was awarded by journalists following the contest, and was given to Tricarico for his entry "Vita tranquilla". Loredana Bertè's "Musica e parole", after being disqualified from the main competition, was declared ineligible for the Critics Award too.[34]
| Artist | Song | Points | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tricarico | "Vita tranquilla" | 30 | Winner |
| Sergio Cammariere | "L'amore non si spiega" | 28 | Second place |
| Frankie Hi-NRG MC | "Rivoluzione" | 11 | Third place |
| Max Gazzè | "Il solito sesso" | 10 | Fourth place |
| Giò Di Tonno & Lola Ponce | "Colpo di fulmine" | 5 | Fifth place |
| Eugenio Bennato | "Grande sud" | 4 | Sixth place |
| Anna Tatangelo | "Il mio amico" | ||
| Tiromancino | "Il rubacuori" | ||
| Mario Venuti | "A ferro e fuoco" | ||
| Toto Cutugno | "Un falco chiuso in gabbia" | 3 | Tenth place |
| Paolo Meneguzzi | "Grande" | ||
| Finley | "Ricordi" | 2 | Twelfth place |
| L'Aura | "Basta" | ||
| Gianluca Grignani | "Cammina nel sole" | 1 | Thirteenth place |
| Little Tony | "Non finisce qui" | ||
| Mietta | "Baciami adesso" | ||
| Fabrizio Moro | "Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita" | ||
| Amedeo Minghi | "Cammina cammina" | 0 | Eighteenth place |
| Michele Zarrillo | "L'ultimo film insieme" | ||
| Artist | Song | Points | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Head | "Para parà ra rara" | 30 | Winner |
| Valerio Sanzotta | "Novecento" | 29 | Second place |
| La scelta | "Il nostro tempo" | 22 | Third place |
| Giua | "Tanto non vengo" | 19 | Fourth place |
| Ariel | "Ribelle" | 8 | Fifth place |
| Valeria Vaglio | "Ore ed ore" | 7 | Sixth place |
| Sonohra | "L'amore" | 4 | Seventh place |
| Milagro | "Domani" | 3 | Eighth place |
| Jacopo Troiani | "Ho bisogno di sentirmi dire ti voglio bene" | 1 | Ninth place |
| Andrea Bonomo | "Anna" | 0 | Tenth place |
| Melody Fall | "Ascoltami" | ||
| Rosario Morisco | "Signorsì" | ||
| Francesco Rapetti | "Come un amante" | ||
| Daniele Battaglia | "Voce nel vento" | ||
| Artist | Song | Points | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loredana Bertè | "Musica e parole" | 13 | Winner |
| Giò Di Tonno & Lola Ponce | "Colpo di fulmine" | 11 | Second place |
| Mietta | "Baciami adesso" | 7 | Third place |
| Frankie Hi NRG MC | "Rivoluzione" | 6 | Fourth place |
| Anna Tatangelo | "Il mio amico" | ||
| Max Gazzè | "Il solito sesso" | ||
| Eugenio Bennato | "Grande sud" | 5 | Seventh place |
| Tricarico | "Vita tranquilla" | ||
| Mario Venuti | "A ferro e fuoco" | ||
| L'Aura | "Basta!" | 4 | Tenth place |
| Sergio Cammariere | "L'amore non si spiega" | 3 | Eleventh place |
| Gianluca Grignani | "Cammina nel sole" | ||
| Fabrizio Moro | "Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita" | ||
| Toto Cutugno | "Un falco chiuso in gabbia" | 2 | Fourteenth place |
| Tiromancino | "Il rubacuori" | ||
| Little Tony | "Non finisce qui" | 1 | Sixteenth place |
| Amedeo Minghi | "Cammina cammina" | ||
| Michele Zarrillo | "L'ultimo film insieme" | 0 | Eighteenth place |
| Finley | "Ricordi" | ||
| Paolo Meneguzzi | "Grande" | ||
| Artist | Song | Points | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ariel | "Ribelle" | 18 | Winner |
| La Scelta | "Il nostro tempo" | 17 | Second place |
| Frank Head | "Para parà ra rara" | 14 | Third place |
| Giua | "Tanto non vengo" | 8 | Fourth place |
| Sonohra | "L'amore" | 7 | Fifth place |
| Milagro | "Domani" | 4 | Sixth place |
| Valerio Sanzotta | "Novecento" | 3 | Seventh place |
| Jacopo Troiani | "Ho bisogno di sentirmi dire ti voglio bene" | ||
| Daniele Battaglia | "Voce nel vento" | 2 | Ninth place |
| Francesco Rapetti | "Come un'amante" | ||
| Valeria Vaglio | "Ore ed ore" | ||
| Melody Fall | "Ascoltami" | 0 | Twelfth place |
| Rosario Morisco | "Signorsì" | ||
| Andrea Bonomo | "Anna" |
| Episode | Date | Viewers | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Night 1[39] | 25 February 2008 | 7,068,000 | 36.46% |
| Night 2[40] | 26 February 2008 | 6,500,000 | 32.33% |
| Night 3[41] | 28 February 2008 | 6,152,000 | 33.20% |
| Night 4[42] | 29 February 2008 | 5,305,000 | 30.28% |
| Night 5[43] | 1 March 2008 | 8,124,000 | 44.90% |