With the announcement of the 22 Big of Sanremo 2022, Amadeus continues its work of updating the festival formula, in the name of Generation Z and great returns. The cast is largely composed of young artists, favorites of millennials and champions on Spotify, from Blanco paired with Mahmood to Aka7even, from Sangiovanni to Rkomi.
A separate discussion deserves the return, for the fourth consecutive year to the Ariston, of Achille Lauro, able to churn out hits but also to guarantee moments of great show and some controversy for his staging in the name of desecration and ‘excess. Irama is also back, forced to participate only in video last year in the final phase of the festival due to the quarantine, after a case of positivity in his staff. Then there is the refined pop of Michele Bravi, the Latin pop of the Spanish Ana Mena (former queen of the Italian charts paired with Rocco Hunt), the indie songwriter of Giovanni Truppi, the rap of Dargen D’Amico and that of Highsnob in paired with Hu.
But the conductor and artistic director also makes concessions to the less young audience, the hard core of the Rai1 audience, with the return to the race of Massimo Ranieri (absent from the Big race since 1997), of Iva Zanicchi (10 active participations) , the last in 2009, and three victories), by Gianni Morandi (50 years after his first time in 1972 with ‘I go to work’) and by Donatella Rettore. Artists, however, ready to get involved, if it is true that Morandi will probably compete with a piece by Jovanotti (hoping for an encore of the radio success of ‘L’allegria’ this summer) and the Rector with the young Roman artist Ditonellapiaga, at the registered office Margherita Carducci.
There is no shortage of artists who have made the history of the festival in more recent years, from Elisa (who triumphed with ‘Luce’ twenty years ago in 2001) to Emma (winner in 2012), from Noemi to Fabrizio Moro (winner in couple with Ermal Meta in 2018), to Giusy Ferreri. Finally, the groups, from the alternative rock of Le Vibrazioni to the sophisticated pop of The Representative of the List.
The Amadeus update also involves the elimination of the New Proposals category from the February festival: the two singers who will win Sanremo Giovani on December 15th, will compete with the Big at the Ariston Theater. And on the other hand, it would have been difficult to create a category of rookies with a cast of the Big that, already in the first 22 names announced tonight, is full of artists in their early twenties and idols of generation Z.
In an attempt not to subtract too much appeal from the final of Sanremo Giovani on December 15, Amadeus tonight announced 22 artists but not the titles of the songs. Presenting them will be those directly interested in the live broadcast of Rai1 which will decide the other two members of the cast, bringing the total number of artists in the competition to 24. Except for last minute additions. “The great Pippo Baudo will be with me for the evening of December 15”, announced Amadeus.