Sanremo 2025 might not take place until February next year, but big changes have already been announced. Notably, the number of entries, show length, and even voting weight of each night have all had tweaks. And of course, to top it all off, when you tune into the first show, a different face will be welcoming you to the Ariston stage.
Before Sanremo Giovani takes place and the Sanremo lineup is announced later in the year, let’s look though the details we know so far.
Carlo Conti is the new artistic director
You may remember the bittersweet moment at the end of Sanremo 2024. After Angelina Mango was announced as the winner with ‘La noia’, which went on to place 7th for Italy in Malmö, now former artistic director and host Amadeus and his right-hand man Fiorello rode off together in a horse and carriage in a big spectacular goodbye.
Amadeus was at the head of the contest from 2020 onwards. Within a Eurovision standpoint, he achieved Italy’s first win since 1990 with Måneskin’s ‘Zitti e buoni’, a chart topping 6th place host entry with Mahmood & Blanco’s ‘Brividi’, an impressive 4th place with Marco Mengoni’s ‘Due Vite’, and Angelina Mango’s aforementioned 7th place. On top of that, he brought a fan favourite ‘potential contender’ in Diodato’s ‘Fai rumore’ to the cancelled 2020 contest. From an Italian standpoint, he absolutely revolutionised the contest, both reaching record high engagement and viewing figures, revitalising interest from the younger generation, bringing the entries submitted into a more current sound, and encouraging entries from artists so big, a few years ago they would have never considered getting involved.
Given all of that, it’s no secret that there are some big boots to fill. And in order to do that, Rai have brought back Carlo Conti, who was in charge of the contest from 2015-2017. While we can’t tell yet how Conti will handle a modern-day edition, back then he put together some very respectable lineups, and once he gained experience two editions deep, created what people consider one of the best lineups of all time in 2017. One can only hope 2025 will be stronger yet. In terms of Eurovision results, he certainly has experience in placing well with the entries chosen. Il Volo’s ‘Grande amore’ won 3rd place in 2015, as well as topping the televote, and Francesco Gabbani earned a respectable 6th place in 2017 with ‘Occidentali’s Karma’ as a fan favourite. Francesca Michielin’s ‘No Degree of Separation’ may not have reached the left-hand side of the scoreboard in 2016, but 16th place was still impressive, especially when you consider that the song was the Sanremo 2016 runner up, rather than the winner.
Again, it’s hard to tell yet how Conti will shape the lineup a whole decade after his first edition, but optimism is encouraged.
Riccardo Bocchini returns as the stage designer
After an impressive run of futuristic stages from Maria Chiara and Gaetano Castelli, it has been announced that Riccardo Bocchini will return as the stage designer for the upcoming edition. Bocchini previously designed the stages for the 2015-2017 editions. With a scene change upcoming to freshen up the contest, it can be speculated that perhaps certain features will return. Will the iconic tall Sanremo staircase make a comeback? And will there be an LED screen, as was used in previous editions?
Sanremo Giovani will be entirely separate
Over the past few years, the case has been that Sanremo Giovani in its entirety takes place in the December before the main contest, with the winners going on to compete in Sanremo. However, this edition, that is not the case. Sanremo Giovani will begin in late November (hosted by Eurovision 2022 host Alessandro Cattelan), with contestants being whittled away to eventually reach a final, currently scheduled for the 18th December. Six artists will compete for three further spots, and two more artists from Area Sanremo will compete for one more place. This will altogether leave four artists, who will go on to compete in the newcomer’s section of Sanremo 2025. This will take place during the course of the main show, but these artists will not be competing alongside the big names, and therefore will not be eligible to go to Eurovision – at least not this edition.
With that information, you would think it’s not necessary to follow Sanremo Giovani in a Eurovision context. However, it’s worth at least keeping an eye on it given the man in charge. Carlo Conti is responsible for what is widely considered the strongest newcomers lineup in recent years.
In the newcomers section of Sanremo 2016, names such as Francesco Gabbani, Ermal Meta, Mahmood, and Irama were shortlisted, all of which have gone on to have great success, with the former three all winning in a future edition and competing in Eurovision in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and 2022 respectively. With that in mind, if you don’t want to follow the contest in December, it’s worth paying attention to those who go on to perform in February. Given Conti’s record in finding future stars, you may just be seeing the birth of the next big name.
Covers night will not count towards the final score, and other voting tweaks
One of the biggest changes introduced into 2025, is that unlike previous years, covers night will not count towards the final score. That night alone will feature voting (from the televote, press jury, and radio jury), a final tally and a winner, but this is entirely standalone. Considering this, it’s not necessary to watch if you’re only really interested in a final result, but no doubt this edition will once again promise iconic duets and viral covers, and is usually a nice break away from the usual feeling of nervousness.
Furthermore, during the superfinal voting on the final night, instead of all votes being reset and a winner being decided on a clean slate, all voting rounds will be combined in order to draw up an exact top five.
As well as that, Conti will be keeping the results slightly more hidden during the week. Instead of the top scorers of each night being revealed in order, the top five every evening will be revealed in random order. So you will be able to see who is on track to contend for the win, but an element of surprise for the final placings is retained.
The amount competing entries is lowered to 24
Whilst Amadeus was known for loving so many submissions, he would increase the number of competitors to fit as many in as possible, Conti is on a mission to keep the show length as short as possible. Therefore, he has lowered the amount of participants to 24 for 2025. These artists will be comprised of both public submissions, and direct invitations. It has been requested that Conti select said entries with the help of a committee, and basing the choices on music alone, rather than name, although it can be expected that it would be hard to say no to some bigger names should they want to compete.
So that’s it, all of the information we know so far. Even with changes taking place, Sanremo 2025 promises to be a great edition. And as reassurance, the winner will go forward to represent Italy in Basel next May.
You can begin following Sanremo Giovani on the 12th November, or if just the main contest interests you, it all starts on the 11th February next year, with a final set for the 15th February.
What do you think of the Sanremo 2025 details? How do you think Carlo Conti will do in charge? And who would you like to see compete? Let us know!
