I have never watched Sanremo because it's 5 days in a row, and each night is 6+ nights of music.
This year Il Volo participated, and they did a charity event for the School of Architecture when I was a student, so I started getting invested. And let me tell you the event... is DENSE.
But it was also a lot of fun. And very different feel from Eurovision or the tear-them-down singing shows in the US. It really is a beautiful event. The stage is a piece of art. Every act (and there are 30) play with a full orchestra+ backing them. And honestly my favorite piece so far... on night 4 every contestant performs a cover of a song and can bring special guests.
This song didn't win, but I thought it was really a capsule of the national pride and family comraderie that I saw on screen, even though everything's in Italian so how do I really know...
Alea andRoberto Veccioni perform "Sogna ragazzo sogna". Alea didn't do well in the overall contest, but I really love what they have on stage here. https://youtu.be/7ZsTphUP9dM?feature=shared Two generations of music bringing their own creativity and heart to the stage. Truly enjoying the moment. It also shows how ridiculous the stage is :)
Bonus link: Roberto Vecchioni's original version. It's a rock ballad :) https://youtu.be/4ew2dO7gLIw?feature=shared
Annalisa should have won. This is baloney.