The Sanremo Music Festival 1996 (), officially the 46th Italian Song Festival (), was the 46th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo in late February 1996 and broadcast by (RAI). The show was presented by Pippo Baudo, who also served as the artistic director, with actress Sabrina Ferilli and model Valeria Mazza.
The winners of the Big Artists section were Ron and Tosca with the song "Vorrei incontrarti fra cent'anni", while Syria won the Newcomers section with the song "Non ci sto".
In this edition, the Critics Award was named after Mia Martini, who died the year before and was the first recipient of the award in 1982. It was awarded to the song "La terra dei cachi" by Elio e le Storie Tese.
Bruce Springsteen opened the first night of the festival performing, out of competition, the song "The Ghost of Tom Joad".
After every night Rai 1 broadcast DopoFestival, a talk show about the festival with the participation of singers and journalists. It was hosted by Ambra Angiolini with Luciano De Crescenzo, Roberto D'Agostino, Gianni Ippoliti and Pippo Baudo.
Participants and results Big Artists
+ Big Artists section Song Artist(s) Songwriter(s) Rank Notes "" Ron & Tosca Rosalino Cellamare 1 Winner of the "Big Artists" section Volare Award for Best Lyrics Snac Award for Best Music "" Elio e le Storie Tese 2 Mia Martini Critics Award "" Giorgia 3 "" Spagna 4 "" Neri per Caso Claudio Mattone 5 "" Massimo Di Cataldo 6 "" Albano Carrisi 7 "" Aleandro Baldi ft. Marco Guerzoni 8 "" Amedeo Minghi 9 "" Paola Turci 10 "" Michele Zarrillo 11 "" Luca Barbarossa Luca Barbarossa12 "" Federico Salvatore 13 "" Rossella Marcone 14 "" Enrico Ruggeri 15 "" Raffaella Cavalli 16 "" Gigi Finizio 17 "" Paolo Vallesi 18 "" Riccardo Fogli 19 "" New Trolls & Umberto Bindi 20 Fonopoli Award for Best Arrangement "" Dhamm "" Mara "" Fedele Boccassini
Newcomers
+ Newcomers section Song Artist(s) Songwriter(s) Rank Notes "" Syria Claudio Mattone 1 Winner of the Newcomers' section "" Adriana Ruocco 2 "" Marina Rei 3 Winner of the Mia Martini Critics Award - Newcomers' section "" O.R.O. 4 "" Silvia Salemi 5 "" Jalisse 6 "" Olivia 7 "" Carmen Consoli 8 "" Petra Magoni 9 "" Camilla 10 "" Alessandro Errico Alessandro Errico 11 "" Leandro Barsotti Leandro Barsotti 12 "" Alessandro Mara Alessandro Maraniello 13 "" Maurizio Lauzi Maurizio Lauzi14
Guests +Guests Artist(s) Song(s) Bruce Springsteen"The Ghost of Tom Joad" Pat Metheny and Rita Marcotulli"Don’t Forget" Blur"Charmless Man" Cher"One By One" Kenny G"Forever in Love" Tina Turner"Whatever You Want" East 17"Do U Still?" Vanessa-Mae"Toccata and Fugue in D minor" Celine Dion"Callin’ You" "Falling into You"Simply Red"Never Never Love" Andreas Vollenweider"Sotto l’albero della speranza" Take That"How Deep Is Your Love" The Kelly Family"Why Why Why" Bon Jovi"Lie to Me" George Benson"The Long and Winding Road"Michael Bolton"When a Man Loves a Woman"Alanis Morissette"You Oughta Know" The Cranberries"Salvation"
References