Sanremo Night 2 tightens the race: radios speak, the public joins in, and the Top 5 lands
Sanremo doesn’t “settle in”. It locks in. Night one is the grand parade where everyone arrives, waves, and tries not to look like they’ve forgotten how to breathe. Night two is where the festival quietly turns competitive, because suddenly the songs aren’t “new”, they’re familiar, and Italy begins doing what it does best: comparing, ranking, and forming opinions with the confidence of a Supreme Court verdict.
The second night of the 76th Festival di Sanremo saw 15 of the 30 Big acts return to the Ariston, this time judged by the Radio Jury and the televote in equal measure, which is basically a polite way of saying: “if the song doesn’t work outside the theatre, we’ll find out fast.”
Carlo Conti was, as ever, in full conductor mode, while Laura Pausini looked noticeably looser than her opening-night nerves, the kind of relaxed you get once you realise the Ariston hasn’t eaten you alive and the stairs haven’t claimed another victim. Joining them as co-hosts were Lillo, Pilar Fogliati, and Achille Lauro (yes, the same Achille Lauro who once turned up for San Marino 2022 and made “normal” look optional).
A night with extra layers: Giovani battles and a Vanoni moment
This wasn’t just “Bigs sing again”. The show also included the Nuove Proposte semi-finals, with two direct face-offs producing tomorrow’s category final: Nicolò Filippucci made it through over Blind, El Ma & Soniko, and Angelica Bove beat Mazzariello.
And then came the tribute that made the room sit up properly: Ornella Vanoni, honoured after her death at 91 in November 2025. Sanremo knows how to do nostalgia, but when it’s a name like Vanoni, it stops being nostalgia and becomes something closer to national memory.
Running order
01- PATTY PRAVO “Opera”
02 – LDA & AKA 7EVEN “Poesie clandestine”
03 – ENRICO NIGIOTTI “Ogni volta che non so volare”
04 – TOMMASO PARADISO “I romantici”
05 – ELETTRA LAMBORGHINI “Voilà”
06 – ERMAL META “Stella stellina”
07 – LEVANTE “Sei tu”
08 – BAMBOLE DI PEZZA “Resta con me”
09 – CHIELLO “Ti penso sempre”
10 – J-AX “Italia starter pack”
11 – NAYT “Prima che”
12 – FULMINACCI “Stupida sfortuna”
13 – FEDEZ & MASINI “Male necessario”
14 – DARGEN D’AMICO “AI AI”
15 – DITONELLAPIAGA “Che fastidio!”
Results
Nuove Proposte finalists (for tomorrow):
Nicolò Filippucci (winner vs Blind, El Ma & Soniko)
Angelica Bove (winner vs Mazzariello)
Big – Top 5 (Radio Jury + Televote, in random order):
Tommaso Paradiso – “I romantici”
LDA & Aka7even – “Poesie clandestine”
Nayt – “Prima che”
Fedez & Masini – “Male necessario”
Ermal Meta – “Stella stellina”
What Night 2 actually changes
A Top 5 in random order is Sanremo’s favourite kind of information: enough to inflame the narrative, not enough to settle it. But it still matters, because the moment the radios and the public align around a handful of names, the week’s gravity shifts. Suddenly, people stop saying “nice song” and start saying “that one’s in the mix”.
Tomorrow the other 15 Big acts perform and face the same Radio Jury + televote combination, and by the end of that night the festival will look less like a cast list and more like a contest. Sanremo always does this: it starts as a showcase, and then, almost politely, it becomes a fight.
