Italy: A First Look At San Remo 2021
Given the secrecy around San Remo, illustrated by the controversy caused by Fedez’s song leak, it’s always difficult to attempt to judge what will happen until we get to the live shows.
With just an artist list and song title to off snd some great depth of quality it’s not rare to see the favourites come up well short, with the likes of Mahmood and Francesco Gabbani not being highly fancied.
It’s best for that reason to keep this brief for now, and just take a quick look at a few of the favourites and recognisable names.
Francesca Michielin & Fedez- ‘Chiamami Per Nome’ Eurovision 2016 participant Francesca Michielin returns to San Remo and brings with her some extra star power in the form of rapper Fedez. Duets are always difficult, especially in a more unpredictable environment such as San Remo. The two have however previous in teaming up for a few big hits several years ago so this issue may be minimised. There is a further younger feel to this year’s edition and the pair will have competition for their share of the vote. On paper, they are well worthy of the favourites tag, although the odds don’t really appeal.
Maneskin- ‘Zitti E Buoni’ Maneskin certainly fit that ‘San Remo’ sound and have a certain amount of credibility which appeals to the San Remo juries. Out of the favourites, they’re probably the most predictable in terms of level of quality and the most likely to at least make the podium.
Ermal Meta- ‘Un Milione Di Cose Da Dirti’ 2017 runner up and 2018 winner (with Fabrizio Morro) Ermal Meta has a good pedigree here and is something of a jury favourite at the event. I see no reason why that won’t continue and expect him to be in or around the podium places, with the only concern being if he can compete with some of the big names with the public vote.
Lo Stato Sociale- ‘Combat Pop’ Much like Ermal Meta, Lo Stato Sociale have proven themselves popular in the past with the juries and posess that traditional San Remo sound. It is incredibly hard to see them competing on the televote in this field however.
There are a few that I have yet to mention, namely all the solo females of Annalisa, Arisa, Malika Ayane and Noemi. All are previous participant’s of good domestic standing with Arisa having claimed a victory in 2014. One can expect a fairly similar entry from each of these and I suspect they will end up getting in the way off, and taking votes from each other. The record of women at recent San Remo’s also has to be considered. Personally, I have Annalisa as probably the pick of the bunch this time around. Gaia is also in this mix but although she’s a strong participant it’s hard to see her beating all of the five previous females.
Fulminacci- ‘Santa Marinella’ Fulminacci was a fairly short price when the market first opened but has since reached a more reasonable price. . There is a bit of a gap for his more upbeat style and he may be one to watch.
Madame- ‘Voce’ Madame is not helped at all by the presence of Francesca and Fedez who will probably have a song in a similar genre. I can’t see her being able to score highly enough with either the public or the juries to threaten a podium finish.
La Rappresentate di Lista- ‘Amare’ Whilst far from a favourite, the odds still look short here and it’s hard to make any case for them to be anywhere near competitive enough on the televote.
From the rest of the field, its impossible to pick out one dark horse or even a weak link to completely write off. Having had a brief glance at a few back catalogues, pretty much all of them are slightly less established versions of the bigger names, at least in style or genre, with the rap field particularly well accounted for. Orietta Berti is bottom of the pile in the odds and whilst that’s fair on her winning probability, I expect her to maybe scrape through a round or two.
Just for fun then, here is my pre song podium prediction.
1. Maneskin 2. Francesca Michielin & Fedez 3. Ermal Meta
As I’ve already said, it’s a rap heavy and younger focused field which means I’d expect Francesca and Fedez to struggle more in the early rounds, but if they can make the top three this will probably not be an issue and are likely televote winners there, it’s just a question of how much of the jury vote they can gather. Maneskin may be able to battle better on both sides and I believe they are the safer final 3 bet, whilst Ermal Meta might just come up short with the public.
What are your thoughts on this prediction? Any other names who deserve a mention? Leave your comments below