From the winners Mahmood and Blanco to the young old men, from Dargen D'Amico's "zero fucks given" to 'Ciao ciao' which goes straight to Tormentonia, the best and worst of the latest performances of the 25 competing
It started badly with Mameli's anthem, it ended well with the proclamation of the winners Mahmood and Blanco. Maybe obvious, but right. The Sanremo final lacked the surprise effect of the first performances, it wasn't a disjointed evening like that of the covers, but it clarified which songs we won't listen to again (many), those that will remain (few), those that float in the middle. Pandemic balance sheet: no singer ended up in isolation during the five days of the Festival. It wasn't obvious. Blanco's maxim that we would like to share: «I want to become like Gianni Morandi».
Matteo Romano “Viral” Rating: 4
He is part of the young old patrol. And instead they are the grandparents, while Morandi and Zanicchi are the grandchildren. Tonight, then, he lets himself go a little with his voice, to use the expression of his piece. Generic pop: what do we do with it in 2022?
Giusy Ferreri “Honey” Rating: 4
He held an anonymous Festival, what a shame. Also missing was the crafty but brilliant touch of Takagi & Ketra, the couple of authors and producers capable of transforming atmospheres and styles into contemporary hits. But in the final Giusy Ferreri brings out her best performance.
Rkomi “Unsurpassable” Rating: 6
The character came through, the song a little less, the voice not so much. «I don't take all the notes, but I put my heart into it», he says at the end, like a kid Friends . He arrived in Sanremo fresh from reinvention and perhaps, to use the metaphor of Unsurpassed , his new identity needs to do a few more kilometers on stage. Tonight he seemed more relaxed than usual.
Iva Zanicchi “I want to love you” Rating: 6.5
On the eve she was considered the Orietta Berti of Sanremo 2022, the grandmother of the kids competing. She appeared more credible than Berti, even if as the days went by her piece normalized. The voice remains: ancient, powerful, marked by the years just enough. In his honor we have also coined a new musical genre: Ivacore, which can be read both in English and in Italian.
Aka 7even “Perfect like this” Rating: 4
A twenty-one year old soon enlisted in the young old men patrol. We heard it several times and immediately forgot. The miracle of a forgettable song: tonight was like listening to it for the first time.
Massimo Ranieri “Letter from beyond the sea” Rating: 7.5
With each rerun, Massimo Ranieri's big film about immigration is a little less effective, but the musical theme is there, the interpretation is there too (very theatrical tonight), ditto the glimpse of an Italy that no longer exists. We like to think that Ranieri returned to the Festival to remind us softies of him.
Naomi “I love you, I can't say it” Rating: 6.5
Naomi is there. And with one dress more beautiful than the other, in the final she rocked so much!!! She made the Festival alone, in the sense that she was never in the competition. For her, Sanremo was a pure showcase of a song that is very popular, but with an extra touch of panache. A songwriting hypothesis that is not revolutionary, but reformist yes (for Noemi, of course). One thing won out tonight: a quote from Cardinal Ravasi.
Fabrizio Moro “It's you” Rating: 3
Who knows, maybe Fabrizio Moro sings so angrily because he has realized that music has changed and now in Sanremo he risks being the outsider. The Sergio Bardotti award for best text goes to Sei tu , the song of “it's you who crosses my oxygen when you touch me”: but how?
Dargen D'Amico “Where we dance” Rating: 5.5
Zero fucks given. The king of piacioni goes on stage as if he doesn't care and brings out his chorus from a party in the square, perhaps from a stadium since it's deliberately coarse. And in fact he will rock the radio, on Spotify he is already listened to more than Elisa. Explain why it is Sanremo: with concerts stopped and music on TV done poorly and poorly, if you are a singer where do you go?
Elisa “Or maybe it's you” Rating: 9
Elisa's miracle: she brings a song that is not at all easy to interpret and unlike almost all the other Festival competitors she makes it work better live than in the version recorded in the studio, with a special that is as good as the chorus, or rather more. It happens with the good ones.
Irama “Wherever you will be” Rating: 6
Tonight Irama doesn't have to chase Grignani, so he reminds us that he has one of the most beautiful voices of the Festival. The problem, however, is that his piece would also look good on a performer of Massimo Ranieri's generation. A plea: give him a Benjamin Clementine song.
Michele Bravi “Winter of flowers” Rating: 5
Almost everything right, well done, in place. The interpretation is painful (too much for our tastes), almost broken by tears. The song still seems too reassuring, but on the final night it seemed more focused.
The List Representative “Bye bye” Rating: 7.5
Hallelujah, tonight Bye bye It also "plays" at the Ariston with the right push. Returned to Sanremo with a piece of opposite sign compared to Amare , they hit one of the big hits of the Festival. Unique fact, they enjoy on stage a kind of reprise . The song goes from Sanremo straight to Tormentonia, clearly taking the train of It was the hand of God .
Emma “It's like this every time” Rating: 5
First listen: we thought worse. Second listen: It's ok to be Emma. Third listen: Nothing interesting happens here. Emma had an ordinary Sanremo, without any flash, despite Britney with Francesca Michielin.
Mahmood and Blanco “Chills” Rating: 9
They made the perfect Sanremo: they brought the song that few expected from them, they interpreted it very well, they got the cover right. And above all they have found a new and contemporary way to the type of emotion that Sanremo songs traditionally express.
Highsnob and Hu “Take care of yourself” Rating: 4
There are rookies (at Ariston) who arrive and rock. Maybe they do poorly in the Festival rankings, but they come out great and work out there, in the real world (and in the virtual world of streaming). For others the Festival is a missed opportunity, as we fear will happen for Highsnob, Hu and their lukewarm song.
Saint John “Butterflies” Rating: 5
“I'm not a children's singer,” he says. And to prove it he brought in the evening of covers Hard-nosed with Fiorella Mannoia. And yet Butterflies has the most childish refrain (the first part, to be precise) of Sanremo 2022. But ultimately his illogical cheerfulness keeps him safe from the premature aging of his peers at the Festival.
Gianni Morandi “Open all doors” Rating: 8
The other splendid old men go to the Festival as outsiders, he goes with a piece made to compete, catchy, rhythmic, a mixture of soul songs and 60s surroundings. He makes up for his lack of originality (but he's 77, who asks him?) with his impossible vitality. The nineteen year olds whine, he sings about waking up. Cesare Cremonini tweets: «The secret is Bologna». He comes third: that's right.
Ditonellapiaga and Rector “Chemistry” Rating: 8
There's an old Roxette greatest hits album called Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! , don't bore us, go straight to the chorus. This is what Ditonellapiaga and Rettore do: the refrain of Chemistry arrives after 30 seconds. Tonight they seem a little more disunited, but they understood how to make a sexy and cheerful song at the same time. They make us reflect, in the sense of a mirror.
Yuman “Now and here” Rating: 4
Even in Italy it is customary to organize songwriting camps, prolonged sessions in which songs are written which will then be sung by others. Here, to solve Yuman's problem (great voice on an old piece) we recommend a similar experience, but on the island of Achille Lauro.
Achille Lauro feat. Harlem Gospel Choir “Sunday” Rating: 7
With Lauro it goes like this: the more seriously you take the rhetoric he sets up around the music, the more you see its flaws. If you take it for what it is, you have fun. It happens with Sunday , a piece already heard powered by the Harlem Gospel Choir. Out with the baptismal water, in with the vodka (#adv) in a cocktail glass: less pretentious, lighter, much better.
Ana Mena “Two hundred thousand hours” Rating: 5.5
There is only one way to fully appreciate this song and these lyrics about "another evening that is gone", about "this wait that is desperate". There is only one way to tear Two hundred thousand hours from the imagination of the rides and convince us to overcome our prejudices. Francesco Bianconi must sing it.
Tananai “Casual sex” Rating: 4.5
If the Sympathy Award existed at the Festival, Tananai would win it, hands down. We imagined Casual sex played by someone more capable (or more experienced) and it wasn't bad. “See you at Eurovision,” he says, greeting the audience. Either it's self-irony or it's FantaSanremo.
Giovanni Truppi “Your father, my mother, Lucia” Rating: 5
The song didn't really convince us, but we can say one thing: Giovanni Truppi is the true alien of this Sanremo, he has never tried to water down or hide his identity. He didn't pretend to be on another stage, but tried to inhabit it to the best of his ability. It's not for everyone.
The Vibrations “A lot” Rating: 5
There isn't just one type of rock. Among the many possibilities that this music offers there is also that of making a spectacle of it, perhaps a little tacky, a little cheeky, never extreme. That's what Le Vibrazioni do in Sanremo, adding that bit of Italian pop that keeps them within the mainstream. They know how to do better.
via: Rollingstone
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