Hto the freshness of nineteen and the awareness of someone who has been on stage since he was a child. Nicolò Filippucci won in the category New Proposals to Sanremo 2026transforming his visceral ballad Lagoon in a hymn. After triumphing at Sanremo Giovani last December, the Umbrian singer-songwriter climbed the Ariston with a interpretative maturity that brought together critics and televotingconfirming himself as the new face of Italian pop art.
From Umbria to Ariston: who is Nicolò Filippucci
Born in Castiglione del Lago in 2006 and raised in Corciano, Nicolò is what is defined as a precocious talent. Inspired by his mother, he picked up the guitar at the age of 7 and was already nine in the children’s choir of the Perugia Conservatory. Before reaching the general public, he built his credibility “mile after mile”, winning international competitions and even arriving in New York for the NYCanta contest.
A solid apprenticeship, made up of study and determination, which brought him to Sanremo with very clear ideas: «It’s my first time, I want to enjoy it», he said with the simplicity that has become his trademark.
The turning point Friends and the return to the classroom
For many, Nicolò’s face is linked to the twenty-fourth edition of Friends of Maria De Filippi. In the most famous school in Italy, under the guidance of Anna Pettinelli, he showed an uncommon emotional writing. Despite the discussed elimination in the semi-final, Filippucci has demonstrated a rare mettle: he has left scientific high school to pursue the dream of talent, but once the spotlight is off, it’s went back to the books to get his high school diploma. A substantial choice that reflects his approach to life: feet on the ground and voice pointed towards the sky.
Lagoon: the meaning of the winning song
The song that consecrated him among the New Proposals, Lagoonit’s one intense power ballad that explores the chiaroscuro of the soul. In the text, Nicolò Filippucci stages a dialogue between light and shadow, where the waves become a metaphor for memories of love which resurface without ever dissolving. It is a song that talks about what remains when everything seems lost, a reflection on the melancholy that does not block, but lulls.
A success built between EPs and summer festivals
The victory in Sanremo is not a bolt from the blue. In May 2025, Nicolò Filippucci released his first EP, An hour of madnesswhich debuted in the top 20 of the FIMI charts. Singles like Holey heart And Yin and Yang they racked up millions of plays, bringing it to the stages of the main Italian summer festivals. Nicolò Filippucci has learned to manage the masses and the warmth of social media without losing his bearings, maintaining a stylistic signature that shuns passing fashions to embrace a timeless melody.
The future of Nicolò Filippucci
With the New Proposals trophy in his hands, the Nicolò Filippucci’s journey has just begun. On April 13th he will be on stage at the Magazzini Generali in Milan to present his new recording project live, an album that promises to deepen that inner investigation that began with «Laguna». Nicolò represents the revenge of talent studied on ephemeral virality: an artist who knew how to wait for his moment and who now, with the victory at Sanremo 2026, is ready to take all the space he deserves in Italian music.
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