It’s official, Carlo Conti will inherit the Sanremo Festival from Amadeus. He will be responsible for the artistic direction and management of the 2025 and 2026 editions. For Carlo Conti, as well as a return, it will be an undertaking. After having pioneered the recent evolution of Sanremo with his three festivals, Conti finds himself managing a machine that has reached the peak of his possibilities.
The host undoubtedly has broad shoulders to bear the weight of the comparison with the overwhelming success of the last five Sanremos, but in order not to end up crushed by the weight of the eternal comparison and an inertia that suggests a physiological downward curve, flashes will be needed , found new, out-of-the-box reasoning that combined with the successful scheme developed by its predecessor.
The voting system, what if Sanremo became like Eurovision?
The first issue that Conti will deal with is that linked to the regulation, he himself specified this on Tg1 when announcing the news of his return to Ariston. An often underestimated technical aspect, which has never ended up being at the center of the Sanremo debate more than in recent years because regulation, in a nutshell, means voting, therefore televoting. The controversies over the cases of Ultimo and Geolier of recent years, may have opened the space for a substantial change in voting dynamics. In 2024 Amadeus had included the radio jury, but Conti could be tempted by the idea of giving more weight to the audience at home. Conti could therefore decide to follow this instinct or, why not, follow the dreams of many and totally revolutionize the voting system and think of a mechanism similar to that of Eurovision, with clear votes for each individual region.
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De Martino, Cattelan: who will lead with him?
Ravings aside, it goes without saying that management will count. Conti’s three-year period was marked by a hyper-popular approach to the theme of co-management. Arisa, Emma Marrone and Rocio Munoz Morales in 2015, Gabriel Garko, Virginia Raffaele, Emma Marrone and, obviously, the choice of Maria De Filippi to complete the three-year period. The artistic director of the next two festivals, having completely denied the indiscretion of Panariello and Pieraccioni alongside him, could decide to definitively give space to the “younger” faces of Rai. In addition to the names of Alessandro Cattelan and Stefano De Martino, now a refrain in recent months, it could be an opportunity to give space to Geppi Cucciari, who has already done a Sanremo, or Andrea Delogu, who will join Conti at Tim Summer Hits . In an era in which replacement is called for, Marco Maccarini also said this publicly in recent hours, it could be a sign.
Then there is the theme of music. Amadeus’ great ability in the latter was to open a breach in the skepticism of the big names in music to participate in Sanremo. To certify the credibility of the festival we will have to continue in this direction. Beyond the miracle Vasco Rossiinvoked by many and quite unlikely, the artistic director will have to put together a cast that can respect these standards and, at the same time, look at new things with a pinch of curiosity.
The current situation in which Rai finds itself, in the midst of a credibility crisis and at the center of a hyper-polarized political debate, will contribute to increasing the difficulty coefficient for Conti. If the host is able to resist the tugs of politics, maintaining autonomy in his choices, even those that have a political value, then he will be able to navigate this first complex edition and approach the next one with greater serenity. The impression is that he is the only one who can do it.
“The future belongs to the professionally curious”, was the phrase from an old film that I try to remember every day. I have been writing about entertainment and television since 2012, cultivating the hope of being able to describe the reality we see through a screen, whatever size it is. Renzo Arbore is my prophet.
