Transcript:
Welcome to the fifth and final episode of Sanremo as Far as I Could See, covering the final night of the 74th Sanremo Festival. Before I dive into that evening, I want to address a couple of things. First, the whistling after Geolier won. I didn't agree with his victory in the cover competition—though his Sanremo entry wasn't bad. But whistling is never respectful. Someone in the press room today said, "Well, we weren't whistling at him; we were whistling at the result." Look, maybe so—but it wasn't kind. He was there, he brought his sound, he was voted for, and he won. Whistling and walking out isn't nice or respectful to a twenty-year-old kid. As for the other comments—let's move on. Geolier needs to brush it off and keep moving forward.
I also want to touch on the fourth night. Amadeus greeted Carolina Costner, who was in the audience. For those who don't know, Costner is a figure skating champion, and she gave Amadeus her uniform as a gift. The other guests included actresses Elena Sofia Ricci and Margherita Buy, who presented their film coming to theaters on February 22, called "Volare"—which Margherita Buy also directed.
On the fifth night, all thirty competitors performed. I won't list them again—you know them by now. I've done that for four episodes; this time I'm sparing you the rundown, and myself too! The evening opened with the Italian Army's military band performing the national anthem, "Mameli." Speaking of Mameli, there's a film about Goffredo Mameli airing on Rai Uno on February 12 and 13.
Amadeus read the provisional standings early in the evening—a cumulative ranking from viewer votes, radio, and the press. The top five going in were: fifth, Irama; fourth, Ghali; third, Annalisa; second, Angelina Mango; first, Geolier. The co-host for this final night was Fiorello, taking the stage with Amadeus one last time during their final year at the festival. Fiorello greeted the crowd and performed with Light Balance, a Ukrainian dance group from Kyiv, dancing to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Domenico Modugno's "Vecchio frac."
There was a tribute by Amadeus to the Foibe massacres on Remembrance Day, set to Sergio Endrigo's "Io che amo solo te." Endrigo was born in Pola and was forced to leave his homeland when Istria was ceded to Yugoslavia, emigrating south as a refugee like thousands of others who lost their homes and country. Many died—victims of Marshal Tito. To honor their memory, Amadeus noted that the Day of Remembrance has established a "Train of Remembrance" departing from Trieste station, aboard which an exhibition chronicles the journey of Giulian-Dalmatian exiles. The train stops at twelve stations so we do not forget.
Roberto Bolle was also a guest, bringing his art—dance—to audiences worldwide. He performed the Bolero alongside the Béjart Ballet of Lausanne, moving everyone present.
Fiorello spoke about the importance of prevention, living well, and taking care of yourself. He talked especially about heart health, mentioning his own cardiologist, and urged people to get their moles checked periodically. Joking, he said that if twenty people go get skin checks after this message, he'd be happy.
Gigliola Cinquetti performed "Non ho l'età," sixty years after her Sanremo victory. Amadeus introduced the song using the same format as competition entries, and afterward Cinquetti spoke about Sanremo as a home for all Italians, a place through which so much affection and love have passed. That love, she said, in these difficult times, has the power to lift us up and makes us hope that everything will be all right.
Then came the Amarello ballet—Amadeus and Fiorello celebrating their friendship with a dance number. In the days before, there had been controversy over the "Qua Qua Dance," and Fiorello joked about it again, singing the Qua Qua Dance reimagined with Luca Carboni's song "Farfallina," creating "Farfallina Qua Qua."
Lazza also performed his song "100 messaggi." At the end, he wanted to honor his piano teacher, saying that even though he only became famous last year, he's been working in music for many years. He introduced his piano teacher and added about the song: "I'm too attached to this one. I don't want it competing."
Tananai also performed his hit "Tango." Those were the highlights of the fifth and final night. Now for the awards: the Lucio Dalla press award went to Angelina Mango; the Mia Martini critics' prize, assigned by the Ariston press room, went to Loredana Berté; the Sergio Bardotti award for best lyrics went to Angelina Mango for "La noia."
And now the final rankings: fifth place, Irama with "Tu No"; fourth, Ghali with "Casa mia"; third, Annalisa with "Sinceramente"; second, Geolier with "I pe' te Tu pe' me"; and the winner of this edition of the Italian Song Festival is Angelina Mango with "La noia."
A victory I agree with. The song is beautiful, so I'm glad Angelina Mango won. After so long, a woman has finally managed to win at the festival. She was completely emotional, she cried, she hugged Amadeus, and at the end she practically sang "La noia" again.
The festival closed with Amadeus and Fiorello walking out of the Ariston to the notes of "I sogni son desideri," thanking Sanremo for these five years. That's the end of an era. After five years, Amadeus and Fiorello are leaving. I have to say I'm a bit sad about it. After all these years, Amadeus gave so much to the festival, and both he and Fiorello gave so much in comedy, spectacle, music, viewership, and quality. Congratulations to them. Whoever succeeds them has a big responsibility ahead. We'll see how it goes.
So these five podcasts on the Sanremo Festival come to a close. It's been a wonderful experience. I want to say thank you to a few people: thank you to Ombre e Luci, thank you to Matteo for the editing, thank you to Emanuele and Cristina, and especially thank you to my friend Antonietta Pantone, who introduced me to this beautiful organization. That's all. This is Davide Passeri signing off.