Sanremo 2026, Conti and Pausini appeal for peace. Shayk silently

During the third evening of Thursday 26 February, Sanremo 2026 dedicated a moment to the current geopolitical situation. After Malika Ayane’s performance, the lights dimmed and Laura Pausini she appeared with her back to the audience, her gaze fixed on the LED wall where raw, black and white images of conflicts in the world flowed. On the opening notes of a piano, the singer attacked a poignant version of Heal the World by Michael Jackson. To accompany her, the children of the Piccolo Coro dell’Antoniano who, before going on stage, distributed flowers to the audience as a symbolic gesture of peace. At the end of the performance, the singer pointed to the little choristers and launched her warning: “We all want a world without warand we want it for them.”

Carlo Conti: “the world is sick”

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The moment was framed by Carlo Conti, who declared: “The world today is sick, it is suffering from the madness of war. We have to cure himwe must do this for our children. We heal the world, heal the world“. Then, after Pausini’s performance, the artistic director joined the Piccolo Coro in the stalls, dragging the entire Ariston into the chorus of songs from the Zecchino d’Oro repertoire from Grandma Pina’s tagliatelle to Forty-four cats.

the silence of Irina Shayk

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Explicitly questioned on the issue of war in Ukraine at the press conference, Irina Shayk did not want to take a position. “I don’t want to make political comments, I’m here to celebrate music, positive energy, unity”, declared the Russian top model and co-host of the third evening. “I know there’s a lot going on in the world, but I have no political comments to make.” In 2022, at the beginning of the conflict, the model published a post on Instagram with the peace symbol and the words “No To War”. In July 2022, however, a photo of a salad appeared on an Instagram story with the caption “Russianzz on Wednesday”. The use of the “Z”, symbol of the Russian invasion, triggered a media storm that forced her to erase the story. “Sometimes a salad is just a salad,” he later declared. “I swear, no coded messages or political comments here. I wish you all love.”