The Sanremo Music Festival 1981 (), officially the 31st Italian Song Festival (), was the 31st annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo between 5 and 7 February 1981 and broadcast by (RAI). The show was hosted by Claudio Cecchetto, assisted by the actress Eleonora Vallone and by the singer Nilla Pizzi (winner of the festival in 1951 and 1952).
The winner of the festival was Alice with the song "Per Elisa".
Massimo Troisi should have participated in the final night of the festival with three segments as a comedian, but just before he took the stage, he decided not to appear because of the cuts to his monologues that were required by RAI executives.
Participants and results
+ Participants and results Song Artist(s) Songwriter(s) Rank "" Alice 1 "" Loretta Goggi 2 "" Dario Baldan Bembo 3 "" Luca Barbarossa Luca Barbarossa 4 "" Ricchi e Poveri 5 "" Paolo Barabani 6 "" Marinella 7 "" Michele Zarrillo 8 "" Marcella 9 "" Passengers 10 "" Eduardo De Crescenzo Finalist "" Leano Morelli Finalist "" Orietta Berti Finalist "" Sterling St. Jacques Finalist "" Fiorella Mannoia Finalist "" Carmen & Thompson Finalist "" Stefano Tosi Finalist "" Bobby Solo Finalist "" Gianni Bella Finalist "" Collage Finalist "" Enzo Malepasso "" Sebastiano Occhino "" Jo Chiarello "" Opera Antonello Barilà "" Umberto Napolitano Umberto Napolitano "" Tom Hooker "" Domenico Mattia Gian Pietro Felisatti "" Franco Fasano
Guests Guests Artist(s) Song(s) Lio"Amoureux solitaires" Alberto Sordi"E va'... E va'..." Charles Aznavour"Poi passa" Milva"La Rossa" Bad Manners"Lorraine" Hall & Oates "Private Eyes" Dire Straits"Tunnel of Love" "Romeo and Juliet" Robert Palmer"Johnny and Mary" Barry White"Just the Way You Are"
Broadcasts Local broadcast All shows were broadcast live on Rete Uno, after eight years in which the live broadcast was restricted only to the final night of the festival.
International broadcast Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
+International broadcasters of the Sanremo Music Festival 1981 Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Canal 13
Notes and references Notes
References