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Interest from rival broadcasters
Italy: RAI commits to San Remo
Terms of the deal were not released, but it is known that broadcast rights for San Remo has attracted interest from rival broadcasters. This is in marked contrast to Italy's other big broadcast contract, for the country's top soccer league, which attracted only limited interest before RAI won the rights last month at a steep discount.
The San Remo Music Festival, which takes place each spring, is one of Italy's most popular non-soccer TV programmes. The five-day event was broadcast by RAI's radio networks for the first four years of its history and by RAI television since 1955. Over this time the Festival has been strongly associated with the Eurovision Song Contest. Traditionally, the winner for the San Remo Music Festival would be offered the opportunity to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest. The festival has been used as the way of choosing Italy's Eurovision entry from 1956 to 1966, in 1972 and most recently by Jalisse in 1997 with their song Fiumi di parole.
It remains to be seen whether the long tern commitment to the San Remo Festival and changes to the scoring procedure, announced today by the Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest, will convince RAI to send a song from the Festival to represent Italy in Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 11 years.
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In 1972 the italian entry was actually the winning song of Sanremo Festival, but Nicola Di Bari had won the right of representing Italy at Edinburgh with the Canzonissima victory.
Canzonissima ("super-song" 
was the popular tv show that has been used for selecting the italian act at ESC from 1970 to 1975.
It's unlikely Italy will enter again, because you have to remember, they didn't withdraw for political reasons or the voting system (the withdrew long before it was such a big problem), their reason is that Eurovision simply isn't big in Italy, their viewing figures were too low to keep the contest around. I agree with what some other people said, Eurovision just isn't for Italy. It's a shame though, because I generally love Italy in eurovision!
@ marc x
please do not preach me what i need to think or say
i have right to say what i really think ...
Italy is not country i admire so much generally
Grazie mille, Cristina!
Christina,
That perhaps is a reason for them as well not to participate or broadcast the contest.
@Chef d'Orchestre, you have a great musical taste! I agree with your choice of songs. In fact, I think that in San Remo there has been even too much quality in the last years - and in some way this makes it a bit boring: too many quality songs don't give you a chance to relax and enjoy a good old "silly" song, as it happens in the ESC. That is one reason why I love the ESC: you really hear "all kinds of everything" in it!
@Muireanne, surely that's not the reason. They keep talking about "low viewing figures, low interest". But I'm sure the main reason is that they do not want to have to broadcast a show which they cannot use as an advertising vehicle. Two small breaks is way too little for RAI!
so I don't think their reasons for leaving had to do with the voting system...they've never tried the current system.
It never occured to you they might keep out of the contest to prevent having to deal with this crappy voting system?
I bet they will do just fine in the ESC, I want Italy in ESC...
I am just curious how would Italy find them self in Euroviion this years. A lot has change since 1997, I am just can't imagine ho would their comeback look like.... hmmmmm
Stockholm
Yeah I have 2 pet gerbils 
Jonny
Thanks And that gerbil is cute. Have you got one at home?
Stockholm: I like your name also
marc
I so agree. Italy, please please come back 
Jonny
Thanks for the warning. I hope my email address won't change. I like my name
Euro Sheep
I will update my top 20 don't worry! I just haven't had very much time recently And I watched some videos of San Remo aswell, it seemed very dated to me 
Jonny
A few days?! It felt like much longer for me - I could see all the articles but I couldn't say I thing!!! SexyWool thanks you for the compliment and yes, you're profile is even better than before (although Helena was fabulous) and I've been meaning to ask you, why haven't you updated your chart!?
Btw, I watched one of the videos from San Remo 2008 - I expect that sort production from Albania but not from Italy...and it least Albania's music is good. Italy can come back if they want, I don't really care or have the time for countries that exclude themselves from ESC.
San Remo is the annual national onanist exercice in Italy.
Euro Sheep
Aaah I remember you dissappearing for a few days and then returning with a different (much muh cooler 
) name, but I didn't remember it was cos you tried to change your email lol! 
Oh well, my new profile is just as good (if not better) than my old one!
Jonny
Yes I did try to change my eMail, that's why I disappeared for a while and then came back as Euro Sheep the second a.k.a. SexyWool! Do you not remember?
http://78.109.162.140/news/read/12231
Euro Sheep
Lmao! I feel permanantly scarred after the traumatic experience of the possiblility of not having a esctoday account lol! Did you try to change your email aswell?
Zohar
Eurovision is totally wrong for Italy, they don't like that sort of stuff that Eurovision had become. Very technical and fast paced. They like their San remo slow paced, lots of talking and very Italian. Eurovision totally different
I agree with that though, the eurovision format seems too cheesy, materialistic and maybe modern for Italian tastes, but I will still love to see them back in the contest
Eurovision is totally wrong for Italy, they don't like that sort of stuff that Eurovision had become. Very technical and fast paced. They like their San remo slow paced, lots of talking and very Italian. Eurovision totally different.
Actually , Eurovision is also wrong for Israel, the whole structure of songs and show and presentation is just not for Israeli viewers. However, because of past success, israelies still see ESC as a national operation to show off the country, so we're still singing.
I really don't enjoy San Remo... I just don't like this festival.. But I miss Italy in competition and their beautiful language (thank you Switzerland and San Marino in 2008 )
Italy left competition with one of best songs ever "Fiumi di parole" and on my opinion they should won that year. But I really don't know why Italy don't participate any more, they always had good score in ESC.
I really really hope they will return in recent years.
Jonny
Oh no! Did you learn nothing from my mistake!?
But at least it was a swift return for you hail to the gerbils!!!
Phew!! I had a very heated few minutes there! I tried to change the email address on my profile and I couldn't log in after I changed it! So I had to go to all the effort of creating a new profile and pasting my "story" into my new profile!!
But its all good, cos this time, my new name has stars around it (*| Jonny |* lol) and I have a gerbil for my picture cos GERBILS ROCK!!
So "*| Jonny |*" is just "Jonny K" with a new name & profile
@ Liberato Antonio
Without being disrespectful to your opinion, of course I disagree with you. So many Sanremo entries over the last years were quite spectacular, because of the originality of their composition, the striking lyrics and/or the beautiful arrangements. A couple of examples, just from the last three years (check out You Tube, they are fantastic) - all of these songs are in every way far more interesting than any recent Eurovision entry (except for some gems from the Balkans):
- Nomadi - "Dove si va" (2006)
- Ron - "L'uomo delle stelle" (2006)
- Fabio Concato - "Oltre il giardino" (2007)
- Tosca - "Il terzo fuochista" (2007)
- Johnny Dorelli - "Meglio così" (2007)
- Sergio Cammariere - "L'amore non si spiega" (2008)
- Valerio Sanzotto - "Novecento" (2008)
- Tiromancino - "Il rubacuori" (2008)
san remo is boring..
but italy should return to eurovision to make it more interesting
Italy is one of the countries I miss most. I love the Italian language very much. So melodic.... Fiumi di parole, Per Lucia, Genti di mare, Si, Avrei voluto and so many more. Please Italy come back and sent us some more beautiful pieces in the future.....
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