Some consider it immoral, outdated or kitsch, but the Italian song festival of Sanremo is above all an institution that captivates millions of fans every year.
Read also: Salvini, Djokovic and controversies ... For its 70 years, the Sanremo Festival ignites Italy
Whether it is for its bombastic melodies, its polemics or the outfits bordering on the bad taste of some guests, the five-day festival starting this Tuesday, broadcast live on television, has over the years become an inspiring national pastime in France. both nostalgia and derision.
This year, the pandemic deprived the singers of the public, and model Naomi Campbell had to forgo an appearance due to travel restrictions.
As a consolation prize, charismatic AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will guest star on the opening night, which each year draws some ten million spectators to see the stars of Italian song and comment on controversies over accusations of play-back and plagiarism, ego bickering between people or wardrobe missteps.
Paolo Soddu, co-author in 2001 of a book on the festival, sees it as “
a national ritual
”, a shared experience which reveals “
the collective dream
” of the Italian nation.
"
Whether you like it or not, we're talking about it.
Even if you hate the festival, you watch it,
”he told AFP.
The 2021 edition gave birth to a scandal before it even started: the star presenter of the evening, Amadeus, who stubbornly requested that an audience be physically present despite the pandemic, drew a torrent of criticism as the health crisis has put many artists out of work.
The management of La Scala in Milan and the Bishop of Sanremo even lobbied until the Culture Ministry confirmed the ban on a live audience.
"
Ciao amore
"
The festival was born in 1951 to promote tourism in the seaside town of Sanremo in Liguria (north-west).
The public television RAI saw there a channel to present the new faces of the Italian variety in front of an audience which puts on its 31 for the occasion.
Having become over the years a must, Sanremo has welcomed the elite of interpreters from the peninsula, from the shy Lucio Dalla to the incomparable Mina, including the brilliant Lucio Battisti and the elegant Ornella Vanoni, and even the tenor Andrea Bocelli.
One of the first to gain fame thanks to Sanremo was Domenico Modugno in 1958: his heady chorus
Volare
captured the carefree spirit of Italy in the midst of an economic boom, too happy to have turned the dark pages of war.
Beyond the big names in Italian song, the festival has also welcomed world-famous stars like Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springflied, Sonny and Cher or Louis Armstrong.
Controversies are legion: Adriano Celentano caused a scandal in 1961 by turning his back on the public, in 2010 a song on euthanasia was deemed in bad taste.
The festival was also marked by tragedy, especially in 1967 when Luigi Tenco committed suicide a few hours after the elimination of his song
Ciao amore, ciao
, sung with his then famous girlfriend, Dalida.
Kitschissime
In recent decades, the festival has become more and more kitsch, which should come as no surprise from an event that served as a model for the Eurovision Song Contest, known to be the pinnacle in the matter.
Roberto Benigni, the star of the film
La vie est belle
, entered the stage astride a white horse, Dita von Teese performed a striptease inside a giant martini glass.
Last year, rapper Achille Lauro unbuttoned his richly embroidered black velvet cape to reveal an almost transparent tight-fitting jumpsuit, according to this platinum blonde covered in tattoos to recall the gesture of Saint Francis of Assisi stripping off his clothes. to signify his renunciation of material wealth.
The heavyweights of the music scene, nicknamed the “
big
”, monopolize the attention with new songs, but the festival is also an opportunity to make a name for themselves for less known young people.
The winners are chosen after a vote involving the public, journalists and viewers.
