Stefano De Martino has officially revealed major changes to the format of the Festival di Sanremo 2027, confirming that this year's edition will feature two winners and introduce an additional performance night aimed at selecting Italy's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Speaking to journalists during Rai's schedule presentation in Ancona, the artistic director and host explained that preparations for the festival have been underway for months thanks to the early handover from Carlo Conti.
Everything is going well. Thanks to Carlo Conti entrusting me with the festival so early, I was able to start working immediately. We've already begun building the entire structure of this machine and have been fully operational since the end of last year's festival.
A More International Sanremo
De Martino made it clear that one of his main goals is to make Sanremo more internationally focused.
The idea is to open Sanremo even more to Europe and the rest of the world. After studying the festival, I realised it's a unique event. For five nights, an entire country stops to listen to songs. I find that incredibly romantic and something that represents Italian culture beautifully.
He added that he wants to expand the festival's international visibility and reminded journalists that the Eurovision Song Contest itself was originally inspired by Sanremo.
New Friday Performance Night
The biggest announcement concerns the structure of the competition.
As previously confirmed, all competing artists will perform their entries on Tuesday and Wednesday, while Thursday will continue to host the traditional Covers Night.
However, Friday will now become a completely new performance show, giving artists the opportunity to present a creative staging of their competing song.
According to De Martino, the performances will be designed to showcase each artist's artistic identity and live vision.
I've realised that many artists truly come alive on stage. Their live performances add something extra through their creative ideas and visual world, so I felt it was right to bring part of that to Sanremo.
He added that the Ariston production team will support artists in bringing their concepts to life, describing the new evening as "a small step towards making the festival more international."
Two Winners
The new Friday night will also determine Italy's Eurovision representative, meaning Sanremo 2027 will effectively crown two winners.
One winner will receive the traditional Festival di Sanremo title, while a separate winner will earn the right to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest. De Martino also revealed plans to reduce the number of competing entries in order to give more space to each performance and allow greater focus on every artist.
The goal is to give the performances more room to breathe, give the festival's storytelling more space, and pay greater attention to every artist.
MÃ¥neskin Reunion?
Asked about recent rumours surrounding a possible reunion of MÃ¥neskin, De Martino joked that while he could not confirm anything, he had heard the band had "a meeting" scheduled in Sanremo during festival week.
I don't know if they'll reunite, but I've been told they have a meeting to attend in Sanremo... and it might happen during the festival week.
Learning from Experience
De Martino also praised former Sanremo artistic director Amadeus for his hugely successful five-year run and welcomed the possibility of his return to Rai in the future.
Finally, he revealed his personal method for selecting songs. Every entry is listened to three times: first with headphones, then while driving, and finally while running.
If a song survives those three listens, then there's already something there.
Whether De Martino's new vision will successfully take Sanremo onto a bigger international stage will become clear when the curtain rises in February 2027.
