The Sanremo Music Festival 1997 (), officially the 47th Italian Song Festival (), was the 47th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo in late February 1997 and broadcast by (RAI). The show was presented by Mike Bongiorno (at his eleventh and final hosting of the festival), supported by Piero Chiambretti and Valeria Marini. Composers Pino Donaggio and Giorgio Moroder and lyricist Carla Vistarini served as the artistic directors.
In this edition, a "Quality Jury", responsible for rewarding the best music, best lyrics and best arrangement, was introduced. The 1997 jury was headed by Luciano Pavarotti and consisted of Bill Conti, Gino Paoli, Nicola Piovani and Mario Missiroli (who replaced Gabriele Salvatores, who suffered a flu). The winner of the Big Artists section was the pop duo Jalisse with the song "Fiumi di parole", while Patty Pravo won the Critics Award with the song "...E dimmi che non vuoi morire". Paola e Chiara won the Newcomers section with the song "Amici come prima". For the newcomers, only the winner was revealed; for the big artists section, initially only the first three positions were announced, while the complete final ranking was disclosed only several weeks after the end of the festival.
As a result of their victory, Jalisse represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, in which they eventually ranked fourth. It was Italy's first participation in the contest since , as well as the first song to win Sanremo and represent the country since 1972. The country would once again withdraw following the 1997 contest and would not return until .
Starting from the second night, the journalist Bruno Vespa hosted DopoFestival, a talk show about the Festival with the participation of singers, politicians and journalists.
Participants and results
Big Artists
+ Big Artists section Song Artist(s) Songwriter(s) Rank Notes "" Jalisse 1 Winner of the "Big Artists" section "" Anna Oxa 2 "" Syria 3Award for Best Arrangement "" Silvia Salemi 4 "" Fausto Leali Roberto Pacco5 "" O.R.O. 6 "" Nek 7 "" Patty Pravo 8 Mia Martini Critics Award Volare Award for Best Music "" Massimo Ranieri 9 "" Tosca 10 "" Francesco Baccini 11 "" Dirotta su Cuba 12 "" Marina Rei 13 "" Albano Carrisi 14 "" Cattivi Pensieri 15 "" Pitura Freska 16 "" Toto Cutugno Toto Cutugno17 "" Ragazzi Italiani 18 "" New Trolls ft. Greta 19 "" Loredana Bertè 20 "" Alessandro Mara Alessandro Mara "" Camilla "" Carmen Consoli Carmen Consoli "" Alessandro Errico "" Leandro Barsotti Leandro Barsotti "" Maurizio Lauzi Maurizio Lauzi Volare Award for Best Lyrics "" Olivia "" Adriana Ruocco "" Petra Magoni Rodolfo Banchelli
Newcomers
+ Newcomers section Song Artist(s) Songwriter(s) Notes "" Paola e Chiara Paola & Chiara Iezzi Winner of the Newcomers' section "" Niccolò Fabi Winner of the Mia Martini Critics Award - Newcomers' section "" Alex Baroni Best Vocal Performance Award (shared) "" Domino Best Vocal Performance Award (shared) "" MikiMix "" Tony Blescia "" Vito Marletta "" Randy Roberts Claudio Mattone "" Paolo Carta "" Massimo Caggiano "" D.O.C. Rock "" Luca Lombardi
Guests +Guests Artist(s) Song(s) Mark Owen"Clementine" Jamiroquai"Cosmic Girl" Spice Girls"Wannabe" "Say You'll Be There" Lionel Richie"Amo, T'amo, Ti amo" David Bowie"Little Wonder" Bee Gees"Alone" Fugees"No Woman, No Cry" Warren G"I Shot the Sheriff" Al Jarreau"Medley" Kula Shaker"Tattva" Natalie Cole"Stardust" Blackwood "Ride on the Rhythm" Mireille Mathieu"La Vie en rose"
References