The Florentines who made the Sanremo Festival great

Let's discover together which Tuscan singers have made the festival great and those on stage this year

Next week - from 7 to 11 February - the appointment with the Sanremo Festival returns, with Amadeus once again at the helm. Accompanying the presenter on this journey into music, in addition to Gianni Morandi, who will be present every evening, are several co-hosts: from Chiara Ferragni to Francesca Fagnani, passing through Paola Egonu and arriving at the Florentine Chiara Francini (Qui la nostra ultima intervista all'attrice).

Today, the duets of the cover night on Friday 10 February were also revealed: among the stars accompanying the competing singers on stage are Baustelle, an indie group formed in 1996 in Montepulciano, the Florentine Paolo Vallesi and BNKR44, an Italian music collective formed in Florence in 2019.

Below is our focus on the great Florentine personalities who have made the Festival great!

• NARCISO PARIGI- 1955
  The legendary singer from Campi Bisenzio participated in the Sanremo Festival. Twice. In 1955 lip-syncing made its first appearance on the stage of the Ariston because of a hoarseness that prevented Claudio Villa from singing live. And it is precisely with Villa that Narciso Parigi presents the song Incantatella and comes 4th. In 1962 together with Giorgio Consolini he presents "Vita" but fails to reach the final.

narciso parigi

• RICCARDO DEL TURCO -1969
  The singer from Fiesole has collected 4 participations at the Festival. The first was in 1969 with a beautiful song by Giancarlo Bigazzi that talks about dangerous aphrodisiac coffees.
  

• BEPPE CARDILE – 1965
  Known to the radios for his band I Samurai, Beppe Cardile presented himself at the Sanremo Festival in 1965 with Anita Harris. The beautiful song by Franco Battiato "L'Amore è partito" did not make it to the final. Bobby Solo and Ornella Vanoni won.

• ROBERTA VOLTOLINI -1979
  The singer from Florence Roberta Voltolini, also known as Roberta Rei or simply Roberta, participates in the Festival in 1979 with "Il Sole, La Pioggia". Unfortunately she didn't manage to get among the 10 finalists in an edition marked by the enormous success of Camaleonti and the great Enzo Carella.

• ALBERTO CHELI -1980
  A fantastic voice, Alberto Cheli participates in the 1980 edition of the Sanremo festival (which sees Roberto Benigni on stage as co-presenter) having had great success with his album Cavalli Alati published the previous year. He came in 19th place.

• RICCARDO AZZURRI – 1983
  Riccardo Azzurri arrives only 15° with his "Amare Te", while on the radio it is a resounding success. That same year the same thing happens to Vasco Rossi with "Vita Spericolata" that, because of the jury, arrives 25th.

• RODOLFO BANCHELLI – 1984
  World champion of acrobatic rock, actor and then singer, Rodolfo Banchelli arrives at Sanremo in 1984 thanks to his victory of the previous year at the Castrocaro Festival. The song "Madame" did not make it to the final but then became a hit thanks to its transporting rhythms.

rodolfo banchelli

• LAURA LANDI -1985
  Laura Landi makes her debut in the world of music with the Extra, the backup band of Claudio Baglioni. In 1985 she arrives at Sanremo and wins the critics' prize with the love song "Firenze, piccoli particolari" written by Amedeo Minghi, which also becomes the theme song of Povera Clara, a soap opera of the late 80's.

• ANNA BUSSOTTI – 1986
  Anna presents "Nessun Dolore", a song written by Mango that does not have much luck and does not make it to the final.

• STEFANO PALATRESI -1988
  The singer and musician from Cerreto Guidi wins second place in the New Proposals section at the 1988 Sanremo Festival with "Una Carezza D'Aiuto". In 1995, Palatresi forms the Trio Melody together with Gigi Proietti and Peppino Di Capri, who came in 12th with the entertaining "Ma Che Ne Sai".

• MARCO MASINI – 1990
  He made his debut at Sanremo in 1990 with "Disperato" and won the Youth competition. The following year he returns and comes 3rd with "Perché lo fai". In 2004 he won with "L'Uomo Volante".

marco masini

• ALESSANDRO CANINO – 1992
  Alessandro Canino brought his "Brutta" to the Sanremo stage, which was a great success and led him to publish his first album in which a very young Irene Grandi participated as a chorister.

• PAOLO VALLESI – 1992
  The other Florentine singer-songwriter of the 1992 edition was Paolo Vallesi, who had already won the Youth section the previous year. He brings to the Festival stage a song that has become a true anthem of the 90's, "La Forza della Vita". He will arrive sixth.

paolo vallesi

• ALEANDRO BALDI -1994
  The singer from Greve partecipated with Francesca Alotta with the song "Non Amarmi", which became a radio hit and a great classic of those years. Two years later he returns with "Passerà" which remains to this day his best known song.

• IRENE GRANDI -1994
  Irene Grandi's determination arrives on the Ariston stage in 1994 in the New Proposals category, and she places 4th with "Fuori", produced with the collaboration of Jovanotti.
  Then 2000, 2010, 2015. Every year a success.

irene grandi

• DIROTTA SU CUBA – 1997
  In the 90's Dirotta Su Cuba had a great success thanks to the homonymous album that made them become the symbol of Italian funky. In 1997 they presented at Sanremo the song "È andata così" that was placed 12th.
  

• SIMONA BENCINI – 2006
  The singer of Dirotta su Cuba presented herself alone at the Sanremo Festival 10 years ago with her song "Tempesta". The song did not make it to the finals but was remembered for the beautiful Italian-English duet with a great voice, Sarah Jane Morris, a British jazz singer. The Festival that year was won by Povia, who is not Florentine but lives in Florence.

• LORENZO BAGLIONI - 2018
  The Florentine professor of mathematics presented himself in 2018 in the category of new proposals with the song "Il congiuntivo" that although not successful for the jury of the festival managed to go viral on the web with over 8 million views.

Lorenzo Baglioni

• PIERO PELU’- 2020 

The singer-icon of the famous group Litfiba celebrated his 40 years of artistic activity during the last edition of the event, presenting himself with the song Gigante and reaching the final of the competition.

Piero Pelù