Sanremo 76 Ends With Sal Da Vinci… and Italy Pretends It’s Fine

Four nights, thirty songs, one theatre that looks like it’s powered by hairspray and unresolved feelings, and at the end of it all the Teatro Ariston curtain finally came down with Sal Da Vinci crowned winner of Sanremo 76 with “Per sempre sì”. If you’re sensing a slight national identity crisis in the air, that’s just Italy doing Italy: voting, gasping, arguing, then voting again, all while insisting it’s just music.

The final was hosted by Carlo Conti and Laura Pausini, with Giorgia Cardinaletti joining for the last night alongside Nino Frassica, returning after last year’s stint and once again proving that comic relief at Sanremo is less “fun extra” and more “necessary public service”. The winner was decided through the classic Sanremo balancing act: press, radio and the public all having their say, which is basically the Italian equivalent of “everyone gets a microphone, nobody agrees, we call it culture”.

And because Sanremo never misses a chance to set up next year’s storyline before we’ve even digested this one, Carlo Conti also announced his successor: Stefano De Martino. Yes, that Stefano. Italy has chosen a new ringmaster. Start practising your deep breaths now.

Running order

01 – FRANCESCO RENGA “Il meglio di me”
02 – CHIELLO “Ti penso sempre”
03 – RAF “Ora e per sempre”
04 – BAMBOLE DI PEZZA “Resta con me”
05 – LEO GASSMANN “Naturale”
06 – MALIKA AYANE “Animali notturni”
07 – TOMMASO PARADISO “I romantici”
08 – J-AX “Italia starter pack”
09 – LDA & AKA 7EVEN “Poesie clandestine”
10 – SERENA BRANCALE “Qui con me”
11 – PATTY PRAVO “Opera”
12 – SAL DA VINCI “Per sempre sì”
13 – ELETTRA LAMBORGHINI “Voilà”
14 – ERMAL META “Stella stellina”
15 – DITONELLAPIAGA “Che fastidio!”
16 – NAYT “Prima che”
17 – ARISA “Magica favola”
18 – SAYF “Tu mi piaci tanto”
19 – LEVANTE “Sei tu”
20 – FEDEZ & MASINI “Male necessario”
21 – SAMURAI JAY “Ossessione”
22 – MICHELE BRAVI “Prima o poi”
23 – FULMINACCI “Stupida fortuna”
24 – LUCHÈ “Labirinto”
25 – TREDICI PIETRO “Uomo che cade”
26 – MARA SATTEI “Le cose che non sai di me”
27 – DARGEN D’AMICO “AI AI”
28 – ENRICO NIGIOTTI “Ogni volta che non so volare”
29 – MARIA ANTONIETTA & COLOMBRE “La felicità e basta”
30 – EDDIE BROCK “Avvoltoi”

Results

Sanremo results always read like a family group chat: passionate, chaotic, and somehow everyone’s convinced they were personally wronged by a number.

06 – Nayt “Prima che”
07 – Fulminacci “Stupida fortuna”
08 – Ermal Meta “Stella stellina”
09 – Serena Brancale “Qui con me”
10 – Tommaso Paradiso “I romantici”
11 – LDA & AKA 7EVEN “Poesie clandestine”
12 – Luchè “Labirinto”
13 – Bambole di Pezza “Resta con me”
14 – Levante “Sei tu”
15 – J-AX “Italia starter pack”
16 – Tredici Pietro “Uomo che cade”
17 – Samurai Jay “Ossessione”
18 – Raf “Ora e per sempre”
19 – Malika Ayane “Animali notturni”
20 – Enrico Nigiotti “Ogni volta che non so volare”
21 – Maria Antonietta & Colombre “La felicità e basta”
22 – Mara Sattei “Le cose che non sai di me”
23 – Francesco Renga “Il meglio di me”
24 – Patty Pravo “Opera”
25 – Chiello “Ti penso sempre”
26 – Elettra Lamborghini “Voilà”
27 – Dargen D’Amico “AI AI”
28 – Leo Gassmann “Naturale”
29 – Michele Bravi “Prima o poi”
30 – Eddie Brock “Avvoltoi”

Finalists

Fedez & Masini “Male necessario”
Arisa “Magica favola”
Ditonellapiaga “Che fastidio!”
Sal Da Vinci “Per sempre sì”
SAYF “Tu mi piaci tanto”

Top 5

1 – Sal Da Vinci “Per sempre sì”
2 – SAYF “Tu mi piaci tanto”
3 – Ditonellapiaga “Che fastidio!”
4 – Arisa “Magica favola”
5 – Fedez & Masini “Male necessario”

The awards say one thing… the Ariston says another

If you want proof that Sanremo is actually several parallel universes running at once, here you go: the trophies spread out like party favours.

The Critics’ Prize went to Fulminacci, while Serena Brancale took both the Press Prize and the Social Prize, which is a very specific flex: loved by the rooms that matter, and by the internet that never sleeps. Meanwhile, Best Lyrics went to Fedez & Marco Masini, and Best Musical Composition was awarded to Ditonellapiaga. So yes, the “best” of several categories didn’t win the whole thing, which is the most Sanremo sentence you’ll read all year.

From Basel to Vienna: the baton passes again

With this win, Sal Da Vinci follows Lucio Corsi, who represented Italy last year in Basel and landed 5th in the Grand Final with “Volevo essere un duro”. Different vibe, different era, same Italian mission: arrive with a song Italy believes in, and let Europe do whatever it’s going to do with it.

Now comes the real game: how “Per sempre sì” is packaged from Ariston classic to Eurovision weaponry. Because Sanremo crowns the winner… and then Eurovision asks, kindly, for a concept.