Earlier today, Rai – the Italian public broadcaster – revealed the 22 artists that will compete in the upcoming Sanremo festival.

The 70th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival is Italy’s biggest music event. The winner of this festival is given the chance to represent the country to Eurovision. This year’s show will be held on Ariston Theatre – as usual – between 4th and 8th of February.

The 22 artists will be competing in the Big Artists category and among them is two former Eurovision participants.

The Artists

Anastasio	Achille Lauro
Giordana Angi	Levante
Bugo feat. Morgan	Le Vibrazioni
Diodato	Marco Masini
Elodie	Enrico Nigiotti
Francesco Gabbani*	Piero Pelù
Irene Grandi	Pinguini Tattici Nucleari
Raphael Gualazzi*	Rancore
Paolo Jannacci	Riccardo “Riki” Marcuzzo
Junior Cally	Alberto Urso
Elettra Lamborghini	Michele Zarrillo

Raphael Gualazzi

Raphael Gualazzi represented Italy in the 2011 edition of the contest. It was the first entry of Italy in almost 15 years. The song “Madness Of Love” managed to finish in second place, losing by Azerbaijan.

Francesco Gabbani

Francesco was the ultimate fan-favourite song of the 2017 edition of the contest since its victory in the Sanremo Festival. However, in the final of Eurovision “Occidentali’s Karma” – the name of the entry – not only didn’t win but also didn’t place in the Top-5, finishing 6th!

What do you think about the artists? What do you believe about the national final? Let us know in the comment box below!