Sanremo 2026, the report cards of the final

“Learning from mistakes”, as in the song by Fedez & Masini. With the chorus with the voice that pushes, tonight perhaps even more and beyond, The best of me it is the first “Repupplica” of Sanremo. Friday, with Lonely boy, lonely girlRenga paired with Giusy Ferreri chose the wrong Bowie, the one Italianized and trivialized by Mogol. In the 60s it used to be used, in 2026 it makes no sense.

He's out of tune and when he gets on stage he looks like he was dragged up there by force. He is an intruder in Sanremo and is the only one who is a little rock'n'roll, undisciplined in his interpretation, melancholic without magic and without emphasis, with a well-constructed piece with the complicity of Tommaso Ottomano, supporter of Lucio Corsi and a thousand other things. You can almost forgive him for the “fucking bed”.

In terms of veterans, even if his 66 years seem at least ten years younger, Raf had a not particularly brilliant Festival due to the not very incisive piece on his marriage. The theme of the rest is usually a recipe for disaster, especially if you don't look for a key to telling a common story – the couple who hold each other tightly in a world that “screams and screeches”, the chances of staying together for a lifetime – in an uncommon way. To create a greater connection, the director looks for his wife in the audience.

Le Bambole di Pezza are certainly not avant-garde rock, yet in Italy an entirely female formation of this type had never been seen before 2026 in Sanremo and therefore it is a good thing that they were there. For this reason their sisterhood must be rewarded despite the very popular piece and the madness of uniting, in the cover evening, Cat's eyes to Whole Lotta LoveCristina D'Avena to Led Zeppelin. They have fun and it shows.

In Sanremo we should bring pieces capable of clearly expressing a personality. This personality must also be strong and distinguishable from the crowd of 30s and this is not a given. Natural it doesn't have these characteristics and even if Gassmann is talented, it could be the song of at least 10 other competitors at the latest Festivals.

There was a whole strand of Sanremo 2026 in which music and images evoked other times, in every sense. It's nothing new, but in the context of this old Festival it almost seems like a declaration: if I return to the past it must be a happy past, not that of conservation, but that of liberation. In Malika's case the past is a very 70s sexy groove, orchestral Italo soul-funk brought to the stage with lightness and style.

A song like The romantics you accept it from someone like him, “easily destructible from an emotional point of view”, someone with a slap face who isn't ashamed of his obsessions, nervous on his legs, someone who sweats too much (he always says so) and before going down the stairs he fans himself with a small battery-powered fan. After two listens the song grows. All the way forward on Friday with the Stadio in the name of Dalla.

This is a non-votable idea of ​​showing up dressed as a retired Texan surrounded by cheerleaders and cowboys and singing a country/bluegrass/pop song. Tonight branded hats also for the conductor and orchestra, oh well. The Milanese choir on Friday was much better, but at that point the mess had been made and only the appearance of the revived Johnny Cash could have saved it.

They have a song that isn't particularly original, but they interpreted it with a lightness that doesn't hurt Ariston. They have the merit of having brought Tullio De Piscopo to the evening of covers and duets: half a point more.

What counts in Conti's Sanremo are the expressiveness of the old school, the affected gestures, the soaring voice, the heartfelt interpretation, the heart metaphorically thrown into the tunnel and above. Maximum respect, the topic is serious, Here with me talks about the death of his mother, but the emphasis with which it is expressed takes it far from what Italian pop should be like in 2026, even the melodic one. There is a way and a way.

The moves were also redone by the Del Piero-Mahmood couple. The promise “with hand on chest” and “before God”. The party with relatives, friends, the square. The piece with the staccatos. The dance with Mara Venier, waiting Sunday In. The shameless and above all funny expressiveness makes the rounds, and it is so even for those who don't take it seriously. Ariston has always been local and is therefore crazy about it. And in the end he wins.

Very strong outside the Ariston: thank goodness she was there to liven up a short Festival. Under tone when it came to interpreting his piece. She did it in a static way, without fun for her and therefore for the audience. Voila and Carrà's quote deserved a sparkling interpretation. She knows it too, since she's at least trying to score points at FantaSanremo.

We reiterate: vote 6. Political.

He brought an ironic and winking song-list. It started off like this, but it progressed and even though she wasn't able to get the most out of the piece she finished third. It was a winning move to bring TonyPitony to Ariston, in a cleaned up version. Ditony was a meeting-clash of imaginaries, pop for the LGBTQ+ audience (she says so) and the song for eighth grade sex addicts interpreted as if it were a romance. Ditonellapiaga's Sanremo scored as much as How annoying!. The common point: pop shouldn't be taken too seriously.

One of the surprises of the Festival, entered as an unidentified singer object, left beloved, second like Lucio Corsi in 2025. Never seen before in the mainstream, yet already master of the stage and finished in front of Arisa on the covers evening. Thanks to the lovable character of I like you a lota folk-rap ditty about an Italy that isn't going well, but that we still love and for which we stubbornly have hopes. Instant mainstreaming of the maranza that brings mammà, true Italian, to the stage.

They were the couple to beat from the start. As a reference they took their cover from last year: similar team and idea, Masini's melodic refrain à la Masini, verses with Fedez's lessons and self-criticism, a bit of confession and a bit of an operation to strengthen the brand of a sensitive singer after so much gossip and controversy about his private life. We like the song, perhaps because it seems like a summary without imagination or irony of the styles and profiles of the two.

Of course he is right: Obsession it is already one of the most listened to songs in Italy in streaming with those of Sayf, Ditonellapiaga, Fedez-Masini. It is also one of the most played on the radio. A very tough Italian summer is expected.

It's the usual script and with all due respect to those who recite it, it got boring: the studied poses, the torment of love, the small domestic miseries, the mannered pop melodrama. Michele Bravi is a good performer, but something more is needed than an exercise in style which was also the sacrosanct cover of Tomorrow is another day.

Quietly, with that oversized jacket and always serious air he had a nice Sanremo. The credit goes to Stupid bad lucka particularly lovely song in this context, and to the stylistic choice of evoking another time, another Rai (see Ayane). The idea of ​​reversing the male-female roles in the cover with Francesca Fagnani is nice, but more verve was needed. Otherwise Rubble: he built a beautiful little house in Sanremo and the (sports) buildings will arrive soon.

Old story: the advantage of being there, the disadvantage of being considered son-of. But Thirteen Pietro was the best nepo baby during the week, especially on Wednesday when he gave everything. Dimartino, co-author of the piece, says that he did it “by not hiding his fragilities and by putting himself on the line with purity”. Not an obvious song, it comes later. Then ok, he played dirty on Friday, but if your father is Gianni Morandi, what do you do, leave him at home?

It is the song that is always halfway, never a peak, never an imprudence, never a jolt, always the usual sentimental story complete with a sky “of that light pink cotton candy”, a love tale without the enchantment of a fairy tale. It could be the symbol of the “Christian and democratic” Festival that Carlo Conti spoke about, if it weren't for the fact that it cannot represent it having remained on the margins. Bad bad on the cover night.

Essence of Dargen, with and without shoes. Both in AI AImixture of badass attitude and serious themes, commitment and disengagement, adult and kid song. Both in the mash-up proposed in the covers, which was published with the title Armistice Day and inside it has Pupo, Boris Vian, Gam Gam, The great dictator and Pope Francis. An intentional mess, but at least it created a bit of havoc.

The idea of ​​bringing a song essentially without a chorus is good, but in the final sum there is a surplus of staleness in the lyrics and a deficit of personality. It's a piece about time passing, but time doesn't seem to have passed. Old proposals.

One of the surprises of the Festival. Not because we didn't know them, individually and as a couple, but because when you come from the bottom and get to the top, at Rai 1, it's not guaranteed that you'll be able to get by. They did it very well, perhaps because unlike many others they studied a project that lasted five days and because they had a tender and easily hummable duet, retro settings, smiles, a tandem ride, a desire for lightness.

Out of 30 competitors there are always at least a couple who make the leap to the Festival too early, not having a style yet formed. This is for example the case of Eddie Brock, a sort of melodico de Roma (large representation this year) driven by the success of TikTok and at least for now without a strong story to tell.