Angelina Mango won the 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival with her song 'Noia (Boredom)', while Geolier finished runner-up and Annalisa third. Euronews Culture takes a look at the fifth and final night of the contest.
ADVERTISEMENT"I die because dying makes days more human, I live because suffering makes joys greater."
So goes Angelina Mango's song, "La Noia (Boredom)" which won the 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival.
With this song, the 22-year-old daughter of the late singer-songwriter Pino Mango, discusses her approach to life, acknowledging how it comprises both positive and negative moments, and how the full spectrum of emotions is part of existence.
"The song highlights the way I look at life, smiling and dancing over the things that hurt me. It's a way to exercise the pain. I manage to see things with irony, and that's what I want to convey to people, especially my peers," Angela Mango said in an interview with Italian state broadcaster Rai.
The piece was co-written by the singer herself and Madame in collaboration with Dardust. The urban folk production blends contemporary sounds with traditional elements, ranging from Mexican cumbia to Balkan musicality (featuring violin and classical guitar).
The rapper Geolier came second, followed by Annalisa, Ghali, and Irama.
In this way, the 74th edition of the Sanremo Festival, hosted by Amadeus and co-hosted on its last evening by Rosario Fiorello, comes to an end.
On the final night, there were 30 competing singers, with The Italian Army Band opening the event by performing the 'Inno di Mameli', the Italian national anthem.
1964 Sanremo winner takes the stage as a dancing star shines bright
Among the guests of the evening, Roberto Bolle, étoile at La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan, stepped onto the Ariston stage to perform an excerpt from Béjart's Bolero alongside 18 dancers from the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. This marked the first televised airing of the iconic piece of dance history in Italy.
Another enthusiastically awaited guest was Gigliola Cinquetti, the winner of the 1964 Sanremo Festival, then hosted by Mike Bongiorno. She performed her winning song 'Non ho l’età ('I'm not old enough (to love you))', while the audience sang along and held their cell phones with the lights on, swaying their arms.
Tribute to Michael Jackson and four-time Sanremo winner Domenico Modugno
One of the highlights of the night was Rosario Fiorello's tribute to Michael Jackson and Domenico Modugno. Fiorello performed Domenico Modugno's 'L'uomo in frack (A man in tuxedo)' to the melody of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' with the Ukrainian hi-tech dance company.
Domenico Modugno won the Sanremo Festival a remarkable four times (1958, 1959, 1962, 1966). One of his most well-known songs is 'Nel blu, dipinto di blu (In the blue-painted blue sky)', also known as 'Volare (To fly)', which won in 1958, and became one of the most famous Italian songs worldwide.
This year, for the first time, Sanremo became the most listened-to playlist worldwide on Spotify.
