Sanremo 2026 opens big: Pausini trembles, Can Yaman charms, and the press picks its five
Sanremo has started, which means Italy has collectively agreed to stop functioning normally for a week and to treat a song contest like it’s a national referendum with sequins. Night one of the 76th Festival di Sanremo landed at the Teatro Ariston with the kind of confidence only this show can pull off, the kind that says “we were here before your favourite festival existed, and we’ll be here after your group chat calms down.”
At the helm: Carlo Conti, who’s not just hosting but also steering the ship as artistic director, flanked by Laura Pausini, visibly emotional in that very human way where you look like you’re holding it together while your eyes quietly betray you. And because Sanremo never misses a chance to add extra sparkle, Can Yaman joined as a special co-host for the first night only, delivering exactly what you’d expect: presence, camera love, and the kind of charisma that makes the Ariston look like it’s flirting back.
Running order
Ditonellapiaga – “Che fastidio!”
Michele Bravi – “Prima o poi”
Sayf – “Tu mi piaci tanto”
Mara Sattei – “Le cose che non sai di me”
Dargen D’Amico – “Ai ai”
Arisa – “Magica favola”
Luchè – “Labirinto”
Tommaso Paradiso – “I romantici”
Elettra Lamborghini – “Voilà”
Patty Pravo – “Opera”
Samurai Jay – “Ossessione”
Raf – “Ora e per sempre”
J-Ax – “Italia Starter Pack”
Fulminacci – “Stupida sfortuna”
Levante – “Sei tu”
Fedez & Masini – “Male necessario”
Ermal Meta – “Stella stellina”
Serena Brancale – “Qui con me”
Nayt – “Prima che”
Malika Ayane – “Animali notturni”
Eddie Brock – “Avvoltoi”
Sal Da Vinci – “Per sempre sì”
Enrico Nigiotti – “Ogni volta che non so volare”
Tredici Pietro – “Uomo che cade”
Bambole di pezza – “Resta con me”
Chiello – “Ti penso sempre”
Maria Antonietta & Colombre – “La felicità e basta”
Leo Gassmann – “Naturale”
Francesco Renga – “Il meglio di me”
LDA & Aka 7even – “Poesie Clandestine”
Guests, nostalgia, and the name everyone kept saying
Sanremo night one also did what it does best: it didn’t just run through songs, it ran through Italy. There was a headline guest spot from Tiziano Ferro, because if you’re launching a week of national obsession you might as well start with a voice that already lives in everyone’s memory.
And the tribute thread was unmistakable: Pippo Baudo. Sanremo 2026 has been repeatedly presented as an edition dedicated to him, following his death in August 2025, and the references felt less like a formal segment and more like a shared cultural pause, the Ariston acknowledging the man who hosted this stage more times than most of us have had hot dinners.
Results
Now for the bit that makes Italian music journalism feel like sport. After night one, the Sala Stampa (TV, Web & Press)revealed only the top five, because Sanremo loves transparency… in carefully measured doses.
Press top five (night one)
Arisa – “Magica favola”
Fulminacci – “Stupida sfortuna”
Serena Brancale – “Qui con me”
Ditonellapiaga – “Che fastidio!”
Fedez & Masini – “Male necessario”
What happens next
All 30 artists return, split across the next two nights: 15 on Wednesday, 15 on Thursday, because Sanremo is a marathon that insists you feel every kilometre. By the end of the week we’ll have shifting standings, growing narratives, and at least three songs that suddenly “make sense” on second listen, which is how Sanremo always wins: it doesn’t ask for instant love, it demands time.
For now, night one did its job perfectly: it opened the festival with star power, emotion, and a press top five that already tells you what kind of Sanremo this might be… the kind where classic names, sharp writing, and a couple of surprises all sit at the same table, and none of them plan to leave early.
