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.
Not my favorite song, but I think they performed beautifully... Il Volo "Capolavoro"
One of my personal favorites, Ricchi e Poveri contano "Ma non tutta la vita" is a jam, and her enthusiasm is just off the charts.
Gahli was superfinalist Top 5 Act (Ask me in person what that means, it's a lot to type out). But NOTABLY there's a hippo.
Mahmood has participated in Eurovision twice, most recently with 'Brividi' and entered not expecting to win (repeats don't do too well in voting) but just wanted to be in the Sanremo performance and promote his new album. His song 'Tuta Gold' is pretty good I think. This was also a favorite going in.
There were a bunch of favorites in the competition. I'm going to post a few more videos. There was great disappointment at home when Annalisa did not win... but her song "Siceremente" is just on repeat in our minds and house.