The Sanremo Music Festival 2009 (), officially the 59th Italian Song Festival (), was the 59th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo between 17 and 21 February 2009, and broadcast by (RAI). It was hosted by Paolo Bonolis and Luca Laurenti. Bonolis, supported by Gianmarzo Mazzi, was also the artistic director of the contest.
The competition was divided into two different sections. The Big Artists section included sixteen well-known singers, performing a previously unheard song, and it was won by Marco Carta's "La forza mia". The Newcomers section, featuring ten debuting or little known artists, was won by Arisa, performing the song "Sincerità". For the first time, a third section was added. Called Sanremofestival.59, it was completely held through the web, and it was won by Ania with the song "Buongiorno gente".
The first half of the inaugural episode was the most viewed TV programme in Italy in 2009, with more than 14 million viewers. The last night of the show was also broadcast live by RTV21 in Albania, RTK in Kosovo and by RSI in Switzerland.
Presenters and personnel
The presenter of the festival, Paolo Bonolis, was announced during a press conference on 11 September 2008 by Rai 1 director Fabrizio Del Noce. Bonolis was also the artistic director of the show, while Gianmarco Mazzi was the musical director of the contest.
Bonolis later confirmed Luca Laurenti, his long-time stage partner, as the co-presenter of the show. During each night, they were joined by a male model and a female celebrity co-presenting the show—Paul Sculfor and Alessia Piovan on the first night, Nir Lavi and Eleonora Abbagnato on the second one, Thyago Alves and Gabriella Pession on the third night, Ivan Olita on the fourth night, David Gandy and Maria De Filippi on the final.
During the show, the Sanremo Festival Orchestra was directed by Bruno Santori. The scenography was created by Gaetano Castelli, while the authors of the show were Barbara Cappi, Cesare Lanza, Marco Salvati and Sergio Rubino.
Selections Newcomers section Two of the artists competing in the newcomers section were selected through the contest SanremoLab, organized by the Comune di Sanremo. During the first step of the contest, eight artists were selected by a jury composed of Massimo Cotto, Franco Zanetti, Paolo Giordano, Massimo Poggini, Andrea Rodini and Maurilio Giordana. The winners—Emily Novak, Simona Molinari, Elisa Casile, Arisa, Edea, Manola Moslehi, Federica Celio and Erika Mineo—were announced on 5 December 2008. On 11 December 2008, they auditioned in front of a different jury, presided by Paolo Bonolis and Gianmarco Mazzi, and on the following day Arisa and Simona Molinari were announced as the first two confirmed competing artists in the Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival 2009.
The remaining eight artists—Karima Ammar, Silvia Aprile, Irene Fornaciari, Iskra, Filippo Perbellini, Chiara Canzian, Malika Ayane and Barbara Gilbo—were chosen through an internal selection, and announced on 22 December 2008, together with the list of participants in the "Big Artists" section.
Big Artists section All the artists in the Big Artists section were selected through an internal selection. 104 songs were submitted for the selection, and the sixteen chosen artists—Afterhours, Albano, Alexia with Mario Lavezzi, Marco Carta, Dolcenera, Gemelli Diversi, Fausto Leali, Nicky Nicolai with Stefano Di Battista, Patty Pravo, Povia, Pupo with Paolo Belli and Youssou N'Dour, Francesco Renga, Sal da Vinci, Francesco Tricarico and Iva Zanicchi—were announced on 22 December 2008, together with the selected songs.
Shows First night Big Artists section +Performances of the contestants of the Newcomers section on the first night Artist(s) Song Songwriter(s) Result 1 Dolcenera "" Safe 2 Fausto Leali "" Safe 3 Francesco Tricarico "" Francesco TricaricoEliminated 4 Marco Carta "" Paolo CartaSafe 5 Patty Pravo "" Andrea CutriSafe 6 Marco Masini "" Safe 7 Francesco Renga "" Safe 8 Pupo, Paolo Belli & Youssou N'Dour"L'opportunità"Safe 9 Gemelli Diversi"Vivi per un miracolo"Safe 10Albano "" Safe 11Afterhours "" Eliminated 12 Iva Zanicchi "" Eliminated 13 Nicky Nicolai & Stefano Di Battista "" Safe 14 Povia "" Giuseppe PoviaSafe 15 Sal Da Vinci "" Safe 15Alexia & Mario Lavezzi "" Safe
Newcomers section +Performances of the contestants of the Newcomers section on the first night Artist(s) Song Songwriter(s) 1 Malika Ayane "" Giuliano Sangiorgi 2 Irene Fornaciari "" 3 Simona Molinari "" Simona Molinari 4 Filippo Perbellini ""
Second night Big Artists section +Performances of the contestants of the Big Artists section on the second night Artist(s) Song Result 1 Alexia & Mario Lavezzi"Biancaneve"Safe 2 Povia"Luca era gay"Safe 3 Albano"L'amore è sempre amore"Eliminated 4 Nicky Nicolai & Stefano Di Battista"Più sole"Eliminated 5 Sal Da Vinci"Non riesco a farti innamorare"Eliminated 6 Gemelli Diversi"Vivi per un miracolo"Safe 7 Pupo, Paolo Belli & Youssou N'Dour"L'opportunità"Safe 8 Francesco Renga"Uomo senza età"Safe 9 Marco Masini"L'Italia"Safe 10 Patty Pravo"E io verrò un giorno là"Safe 11 Marco Carta"La forza mia"Safe 12 Fausto Leali"Una piccola parte di te"Safe 13 Dolcenera"Il mio amore unico"Safe
Newcomers section +Performances of the contestants of the Newcomers section on the second night Artist(s) Song Songwriter(s) 1 Silvia Aprile "" Pino Daniele 2 Karima Ammar "" 3 Arisa "" 4 Chiara Canzian "" 5 Iskra Menarini "" 6 Barbara Gilbo ""
Third night Newcomers section +Performances of the contestants of the Newcomers section on the third night Artist Guest artist(s) Song 1 Filippo PerbelliniRiccardo Cocciante"Cuore senza cuore" 2 Silvia AprilePino Daniele"Un desiderio arriverà" 3 Karima AmmarBurt Bacharach & Mario Biondi"Come in ogni ora" 4 Irene FornaciariAdelmo e i suoi Sorapis"Spiove il sole" 5 Chiara CanzianRoberto Vecchioni"Prova a dire il mio nome" 6 Iskra MenariniLucio Dalla"Quasi amore" 7 Simona MolinariOrnella Vanoni"Egocentrica" 8 ArisaLelio Luttazzi"Sincertià" 9 Barbara GilboMassimo Ranieri"Che ne sai di me" 10 Malika AyaneGino Paoli"Come foglie"
Repechage round +Performances of the eliminated "Big Artists" Artist(s)SongResult 1 Nicky Nicolai & Stefano Di Battista"Più sole"Eliminated 2 Iva Zanicchi"Ti voglio senza amore"Eliminated 3 Sal Da Vinci"Non riesco a farti innamorare"Back in competition 4 Albano"L'amore è sempre amore"Back in competition 5 Afterhours"Il paese è reale"Eliminated 6 Francesco Tricarico"Il bosco delle fragole"Eliminated
Fourth night Big Artists section +Performances of the contestants of the Big Artists section on the fourth night Artist(s) Guest artist(s) Song Result 1 Pupo, Paolo Belli & Youssou N'DourGianni Morandi"L'opportunità"Safe 2 Patty PravoDave Weckl, Nathan East, Todd Rundgren"E io verrò un giorno là"Safe 3 Sal Da VinciGigi D'Alessio"Non riesco a farti innamorare"Safe 4 Fausto LealiFabrizio Moro"Una piccola parte di te"Safe 5 DolceneraSyria"Il mio amore unico"Eliminated 6 Francesco RengaDaniela Dessì"Uomo senza età"Safe 7 Alexia & Mario LavezziTeo Teocoli, Orphin"Biancaneve"Safe 8 AlbanoMichele Placido"L'amore è sempre amore"Safe 9 Marco MasiniFrancesco Benigno"L'Italia"Safe 10 PoviaMassimiliano Varrese, Rossella Infante, Alessandro Matta"Luca era gay"Safe 11 Marco CartaTazenda"La forza mia"Safe 12 Gemelli DiversiBMB Marching Band"Vivi per un miracolo"Eliminated
Newcomers section
+Performances of the contestants of the Newcomers section on the fourth night Artist Song Result 1 Barbara Gilbo"Che ne sai di me"—— 2 Malika Ayane"Come foglie"—— 3 Chiara Canzian"Prova a dire il mio nome"—— 4 Simona Molinari"Egocentrica"—— 5 Arisa"Sincerità"Winner 6 Karima Ammar"Come in ogni ora"—— 7 Irene Fornaciari"Spiove il sole"—— 8 Iskra Menarini"Quasi amore"—— 9 Silvia Aprile"Un desiderio arriverà"—— 10 Filippo Perbellini"Cuore senza cuore"——
Fifth night First round +Performances of the "Big Artists" on the first round of the final Artist Song Result 1 Sal Da Vinci"Non riesco a farti innamorare"Top three 2 Pupo, Paolo Belli, Youssou N'Dour"L'opportunità"Eliminated 3 Povia"Luca era gay"Top three 4 Patty Pravo"E io verrò un giorno là"Eliminated 5 Francesco Renga"Uomo senza età"Eliminated 6 Marco Carta"La forza mia"Top three 7 Albano"L'amore è sempre amore"Eliminated 8 Marco Masini"L'Italia"Eliminated 9 Fausto Leali"Una piccola parte di te"Eliminated 10 Alexia & Mario Lavezzi"Biancaneve"Eliminated
Second round
+Performances of the "Big Artists" on the second round of the final Artist Song Result 1 Marco Carta"La forza mia"1 2 Povia"Luca era gay"2 3 Sal Da Vinci"Non riesco a farti innamorare"3
Other awards Critics Award "Mia Martini" Big Artists section +Points received by the "Big Artists" for the Critics Award Artist Song Points ResultAfterhours"Il paese è reale"21WinnerNicky Nicolai & Stefano Di Battista "Più sole"20Second placeFrancesco Tricarico"Il bosco delle fragole"Patty Pravo"E io verrò un giorno là"12Fourth placeFrancesco Renga"Uomo senza età"8Fifth placeGemelli Diversi"Vivi per un miracolo"5Sixth placeAlbano"L'amore è sempre amore"4Seventh placeAlexia & Mario Lavezzi"Biancaneve"3Eighth placeMarco Masini"L'Italia"Povia "Luca era gay"Dolcenera "Il mio amore unico"2Eleventh placeIva Zanicchi "Ti voglio senza amore"1 Twelfth place
Newcomers section +Points received by the newcomers for the Critics Award Artist Song Points ResultArisa"Sincerità"47WinnerMalika Ayane "Come foglie"17Second placeSimona Molinari "Egocentrica"13Third placeKarima Ammar"Come in ogni ora"12Fourth placeIskra Menarini "Quasi amore"5Fifth placeChiara Canzian "Prova a dire il mio nome"4 Sixth placeIrene Fornaciari"Spiove il sole"1Seventh placeFilippo Perbellini"Cuore senza cuore"
Press, Radio & TV Award Big Artists section
+Points received by the newcomers for the Press, Radio & TV Award Artist Song Points ResultPovia"Luca era gay"19WinnerPatty Pravo"E io verrò un giorno là"14Second placeMarco Masini"L'Italia"6Third placeDolcenera"Il mio amore unico"Afterhours"Il paese è reale"5Fifth placeFrancesco Renga"Uomo senza età"4Sixth placeSal Da Vinci"Non riesco a farti innamorare"3Seventh placeGemelli Diversi"Vivi per un miracolo"Nicky Nicolai & Stefano Di Battista"Più sole"Francesco Tricarico "Il bosco delle fragole"Alexia & Mario Lavezzi"Biancaneve"1Eleventh placeFausto Leali"Una piccola parte di te"Pupo, Paolo Belli & Youssou N'Dour "L'opportunità"
Newcomers section Winner: Arisa with "Sincerità".
Sanremofestival.59 The contest Sanremofestival.59 was a singing contest held through the web and strictly related to the Sanremo Music Festival 2009. 470 songs were submitted and published on the official website of the Sanremo Music Festival. Each artist was later auditioned by a jury composed of Paolo Bonolis, Gianmarco Mazzi, Gigio D'Ambrosio, Mariolina Simone and Maria Cristina De Amicis, and 100 songs were admitted to the next stage of the competition.
The winner of the contest was determined by the public's vote only. On 19 February 2012, it was announced that Ania placed first with the song "Buongiorno gente". During the last night of the show, she received the award and she performed her song at the Teatro Ariston.
Ratings Episode Date Viewers ShareNight 117 February 200910,114,00047.93%Night 218 February 20099,856,00042.63% Night 319 February 20099,238,00047,17%Night 420 February 200910,219,00047.47%Night 521 February 200912,309,00054.25%
Controversy
Povia's entry "Luca era gay" (), went on to place second at the festival, was considered by some gay rights organizations as an anti-gay song. The controversy was also based on the name of the song's character: according to Aurelio Mancuso, president of the Arcigay, the name refers to Luca Tolvi, who claimed that Joseph Nicolosi cured his homosexuality. Povia denied this thesis and claimed that the song is about a man he met on a train, whose real name was Massimiliano.
References