After a week in which a scientologist was made to look a fool (no bad thing) and another Hollywood legend subsequently rinsed the other the next day (also no bad thing) we are now at the business end of Sanremo week. After four nights of seemingly endless glitz and glam the second best week of the year is reaching it’s conclusion.
However, for those of us looking the first solo Italian vocalist at Eurovision since 2016 or those hoping for Mahmood to maintain his 100% winning record…we may be left feeling as let down as Travolta did on Wednesday.
If this is to be artistic director and show host Amadeus’ final year at the helm of this entertainment juggernaut it’s been a fitting farewell. With his best mate Fiorello never far behind the part Ant & Dec, part embarrassing Dad at Christmas duo have given us the fans, exactly what we wanted. It’s been a stellar music competition, infused with the fun and nonsense we’ve come to expect.
As for the songs this has been a typically strong line up representing the best of the Italian music scene. If I could choose then personally I’d love to see Dargen D’Amico, Ricchi e Poveri or Loredana Bertè make it to Eurovision. I think any of these three would give us a great song on stage but also so much fun in Malmö. Certainly Bertè is keen on having some fun, hoping she can irk her Swedish tennis star ex husband Bjorn Borg, in the process.
Of the truly competitive entries, two could come close to victory. Annalisa went in to Sanremo as the favourite to win. Whilst Sinceramente is a quality entry it doesn’t reach the heights of Bellissima, her interval act from last year. The true stand out of the week is main show debutant Angelina Mango with La noia. This is so fun and playful but at the same time offers a truly powerful moment when unaccompanied, Angelina belts out the final bridge alone showing off her powerful vocal. This should win…
But it won’t. This is Geolier’s to lose at this stage, give him a whiff of a sueprfinal and it’s game over. After a week of stand out songs and performances it’s going to feel rather deflating when…
🇮🇹 Geolier will win Sanremo 🇮🇹
If you’re looking for a more competitive national final tonight then Finland’s UMK will not disappoint. In recent years The Rasmus‘ name recognition meant that no one could really touch them, regardless of quality. Then last year everything that allowed Käärijä to became the people’s Eurovision winner, very much the Princess Diana of the Finnish music scene, meant it was a one horse race. Tonight is much more open.
I think there’s a case for every single one of this year’s UMK entrants claiming the win. Whilst I would say the overall quality has dipped ever so slightly, it’s still one of the stronger line ups of the season and certainly one of the most even.
What makes tonight’s UMK so exciting is that the act with the best overall package will be the one that takes the victory. That one act who can combine effective staging with the best live vocal will win the day. The bookmakers’ place Sara Siipola as the reasonably strong favourite. This, however, should be approached with caution as many pre-show faves from bookies and punters have fallen by the wayside this year.
So who do I think will actually do the business? Whilst I may have a penchant for Windows95man he may be as slow as his namesake in garnering jury support. This may be blinded by how much I enjoyed their previous entry but if there’s an act I trust to create a captivating live performance then…
🇫🇮 Cyan Kicks will win UMK 🇫🇮
The final of the three countries choosing their Eurovision act this evening is Latvia with the Supernova final. You know what I said about the bookmakers in relation to Finland? Yeah, you can ignore that this time. This is a done Dons deal. Yes, there’s some cat based fun and Vēstulēs‘ Kur? has it’s fans but this really is more a coronation than a competition.
Hollow delivering the victory for Dons feels like a foregone conclusion, as his crooning has captivated the Latvian voting public. Latvia choosing their winner tonight feels as inevitable as their subsequent non-qualification will in May.
🇱🇻 Dons will win Supernova 🇱🇻
Elsewhere Lithuania will complete it’s line up for the final of Eurovizija.LT. Tonight we’ll see who, alongside The Roop, will make it to the culmination of the competition next week. Sweden’s Melodifestivalen concludes our line up for this evening. Last week Swedes seemingly caught the Norwegian recency bias bug sending through the last two in the running order. With Fröken Snusk and LIAMOO seeing out the show tonight, seems the trend will continue.
So sometime in the early hours of Sunday morning we’ll have three more entries for Eurovision and have potentially seen the end of Amadeus at Sanremo. It’s going to be a long and emotional night guys. Order in that pizza, pop the prosecco in the fridge and ready the alloras, it’s going to be a big one!
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