Organisers have presented the
lineup for the 65th Sanremo song competition and televised
prime-time entertainment extravaganza, which will take place
February 10-14.
The five-evening RAI broadcast from the Ariston theatre in
the seaside resort town of Sanremo will be hosted for the first
time by television show host Carlo Conti.
In another first, the show will broadcast competition
debutants during high audience, prime-time slots.
But Sanremo is hardly taking chances, having fished
"emerging" stars from a pool of proven television contest
veterans, like Lorenzo Fragola - the latest winner of the
Italian version of the X Factor - Dear Jack, Chiara and
Annalisa, who all been champions of the hit TV talent programs.
Dear Jack has already become a top pop band among Italian
teens, after featuring on the Amici show.
Chiara and Annalisa are now noted vocalists.
Multilingual Belgian-Italian singer Lara Fabian is
returning to the festival after an eight-year absence for an
encore duet with Italian singer Gigi D'Alessio, with whom she
performed at Sanremo in 2007.
The soprano, known for her French songs and Canadian hits,
sings in French, English and Italian, but has also performed in
seven other languages.
Fabian has been compared to one of her muses, the
Egyptian-Italian singer Dalida, who sang in more than 10
languages before passing away in 1987 at the age of 54.
In the category of established, big talent, Sanremo
participants Marco Masini, Nek, Anna Tatangelo will be pitted
against Italian pop stars vying for comebacks like Alex Britti,
Irene Grandi, Raf and Gianluca Grignani.
Musical genres will range from hip hop star Nesli to the
operatic music trio Il Volo.
Singer Bianca Atzei is entering the contest among the
established talents, although she is still considered by many to
be "emerging", prompting some to speculate that Sanremo is
banking on her future success.
Italian pop music will be not only venerated, but possibly
parodied, with performances by comedians from the Italian sitcom
I Soliti Idioti (The Usual Idiots) and the Italian drag queen
entertainer Mauro Coruzzi-Platinette.
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