* Spotlight on the 2006 Festival di Sanremo *
The 56th Anniversary of the Festival of the Italian Song
February 27 to March 4, 2006


·  Listen online!

·  Host

·  The participants

·  Guest Stars

·  Notes about this year's Festival

·  Results

·  Last year's Spotlight on Sanremo


·  Looks like MB Radio is your best bet for all day Sanremo coverage. Also, listen and watch post-Festival coverage on Radio Italia.

Visit the RAI Official Festival di Sanremo site for more information! Like last year, many of this year's songs will be heard on Italian radio while the Festival is taking place. The compilation will be released immediately after the Festival ends and, in some cases, artists will be releasing albums with their new songs during the competition.


·  The hosts of this year's festival will be comedian Giorgio Panariello. Assisting him will be Ilary Blasy-Totti, wife of Roma soccer player Francesco Totti and Victoria Cabello, comedian and MTV VJ.


·  H ere is the lineup for the 2006 edition of il Fesitval di Sanremo:

Male

Alex Britti
Luca Dirisio
Gianluca Grignani
Povia
Ron - winner in 1996, "Vorrei incontrarti fra 100 anni"
Michele Zarrillo - winner of New Artists in 1987, even though he had already appeared in Sanremo a year earlier

Female

Anna Oxa - winner in 1989, "Ti lascer?#034; with Leali, and in 1999, "Senza piet?#034;
Dolcenera
Simona Bencini
Anna Tatangelo - winner of New Artists in 2002
Nicky Nicolai
Spagna

Groups

Figli di Scampia - led by Gigi Finizio
Noah and Carlo Fava & Solis String Quartet
Nomadi - Probably the favorites to win the competition
Mario Venuti and Arancia Sonora
Sugarfree
Zero Assoluto

The participants in the New Artists competition are Ameba 4, Andrea Ori, Deasonika, Helena Hellwig, Ivan Segreto, L'Aura, Riccardo Maffoni, Simone Cristicchi, Virginio, Antonello (Antonio Carozza), Antonio Tiziano Orecchio and Monia Russo.
Simone Cristicchi has already achieved success in Italy this past year with the hit "Vorrei Cantare Come Biagio."

Guest Stars

Guests for the competition include:

Monday: John Travolta
Tuesday: Riccard Cocciante, Hillary Duff, Jesse McCartney, Francesco Totti(maybe)
Thursday: John Cena, Shakira
Friday: Orlando Bloom, Gavin DeGraw
Saturday: Christina Aguilera, Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti with Anastacia



The Festival this year ushers in yet a another format. There are 18 "big," well known artists, and 12 "giovani," the new artists. Here is how the fesival will go down (note: there will be no festival on Wednesday, March 1):

Day One (2/27): "I big" will all sing. Jury will be able to vote for the "big" at this point. "I giovani" are introduced for the first time.

Day Two (2/28): Three artists from each of the 3 main "big" groups will perform. One artist from each group will be eliminated; the other 2 will move on to the semi-finals on Day Four. There will be 6 "giovani" performing tonight and 3 will be eliminated. The remaining 3 move on to Day Four as well.

Day Three (3/02): Similar to Day Two. The remaining artists perform and a vote to decide who will take part in the semi-final on Day Four will take place again.

Day Four (3/03): "I big" winners from Day Two and Three will perform again, joined by special Italian and international artists. The winning 6 "giovani" also perform. The top 2 vote getters in each group, Male, Female, Group and New, move on to tomorrow's finale.

Day Five - The Final (3/04): Winning 8 members from yesterday perform their songs in full. Italian public will vote for the winner.






Results

First night of eliminations
Category: Male
Eliminated: Gianluca Grignani

Category: Female
Eliminated: Anna Oxa

Category: Groups
Eliminated: Mario Venuti and Arancia Sonora

Category: Giovani
Eliminated: Antonello, Deasonika and Virginio

Second night of eliminations
Category: Male
Eliminated: Luca Dirisio
Category: Female
Eliminated: Spagna
Category: Group
Eliminated: Noah and Carlo Fava and Solis String Quartet
Category: Giovani
Eliminated: Ameba 4, Andrea Ori, Ivan Segreto

Last night of eliminations
Category: Male
Eliminated: Alex Britti, Ron
Category: Female
Eliminated: Simona Bencini, Nicki Nicolai
Category: Group
Eliminated: Sugarfree, Ragazzi di Scampia
Category: Giovani
Eliminated: L’Aura, Helena Hellwig, Tiziano Orecchio, Monia Russo

Finalists are: Povia, Michele Zarrillo, Nomadi, Zero Assoluto, Dolcenera, Anna Tatangelo, Simone Cristicchi and Riccardo Maffoni.

Final Night Results

1. Povia
2. Nomadi
3. Anna Tatangelo
4. Riccardo Maffoni

Critic's Award (Mia Martini award): Noa con Carlo Fava e i Solis string Quartet


For more news on Sanremo '06, visit the RAI Official Festival di Sanremo site, Italian newspaper sites such as La Stampa or sites like: 
MusicaItaliana's page.
Sanremo Online TV.


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