Dand the 30 singers competing in Sanremo 2026, only one managed to excite the festival audience and the one from home at the pace of Forever yes: Sal Da Vinci. Back among the Bigs on the Ariston stage after 17 years, he is truly the man of records. First place in the ranking YouTube Music Trending and the Neapolitan singer is already among the bookmakers’ favorites to win ready to take off on the neo-melodic flight of success.
Phenomenon Sal Da Vinci, who is the most loved singer of Sanremo 2026
That Sal Da Vinci was a real star this was fully understood from the welcome received at this edition’s festival. Every time he graced the Ariston stage, the audience sang theirs loudly Lipstick and coffee. A spontaneous demonstration of affection that Carlo Conti had difficulty containing, ruining the very rigorous timetable.
His way of being on stage is a show within a show. He emphasizes the movements with theatrical gestures that send the true soul of the festival into raptures. Even his appearance is one with the character. Powerful, with a ring of very white teeth and thick (and very black) hair, that look of a fifty-year-old womanizer who flirts with foreign tourists completes the picturesque picture.
The festival is truly his home, who welcomed him back after a long and (in)voluntary exile. His last performance dates back to 2009, when he participated with the song I can’t make you fall in lovecoming third. The return to Ligurian land made him very happy: «a gift that I received after many attempts but above all after a lot of training. I really appreciated Carlo Conti’s invitation.”
Everything and the opposite of everything has been said about his musical style. They almost contemptuously called him a neo-melodic singeras if it were the soundtrack to a Nino D’Angelo drama. Songs are the most requested at weddings and in the tragicomic 18th birthday parties. His songs have often served as the ideal backdrop for trash-like broadcasts The castle of ceremoniesreducing its poetics to a social media meme. Yet, we are far from Gigi D’Alessio’s national and pop stylethe true trait d’union with the tradition of Mario Merola and regionalisms.
Sal Da Vinci: song in the competition, the standing ovation at Sanremo 2026
Salvatore Michael Sorrentino was born in 1969 in New York from a Neapolitan family. His father, also in the entertainment world, made him debut as an actor at a very young age. However, music is his destiny, as well as the meeting with James Senesethe saxophonist as well as thespirator of Neapolitan power.
Thanks to him and other musicians like Pino Daniele, he soon became a point of reference in the Neapolitan musical panorama. And it is precisely from the union among the refined sounds of Neapolitan bluesmen, intelligent modernity and a touch of light-hearted musical which ranks Sal Da Vinci. A perfect mix that has bewitched the world of Sanremo, who overwhelmed him with applause and a double standing ovation on the first and third evenings of the festival.
Although the Sisal shares have intercepted between the probable winners Fedez-Masini and Serena Brancale, the crooner from Campania comes placed in fourth place behind Arisa. In this edition, However, Sal Da Vinci plays in a league of his own: a perfect loose cannon cwhich could throw all predictions out of whack.
The proof is all in the theme and meaning of the highly acclaimed Forever yes, dedicated (of course) to his wife Paola. No text of civil commitment, criticism of the thieving government, peace demonstrations or male identity crisis in front of today’s women. His song gets straight to the point. It puts an end to the paranoia of the new millennium in black and white and to the unhealthy carriers of schwa at random.
What really matters is a love film: the fateful meeting, the wedding, we will overcome all obstacles, no one can separate us and we will grow old together surrounded by 8 children and 12 grandchildren. How can you resist such an absolute hymn of happiness ea a ballad that, even if you hate it, still gets into your head?
Sal Da Vinci. (Getty Images)
Private life, wife, children, where he lives
Forever yes was written thinking about over 30 years of love and life with the same woman, his wife Paola Pugliese. From their long union were born the two children Francesco and Annachiara, which made them grandparents of 3 grandchildren. Paola worked as a TV extra and as a beautician when she was young but with the arrival of her children she chose family.
After many years living in Mergellina, they moved to Chiaiaan elegant neighborhood of Naples. In an interview with Elle Italia, Sal Da Vinci recounted the beginnings of the story with Paolawhich does not belong to the world of entertainment. «I tried everything to impress her. She is a year older and, in our area, it is usually the man who has to be older. It didn’t suit me».
The efforts, however, were useful, given that they married in 1992. The couple has experienced difficult times. «When my daughter was born with a bad carotid angioma and then when my son Francesco fell ill with meningitis, they were very hard moments»
Fortunately, the happy ending is always around the cornerbright as a crazy song: «We dreamed of children in a big house. And overcame all the difficulties. Because love is not love for life. If he hasn’t faced the steepest climb.” The artist, soon in tours, has announced two special event dates (25 and 26 September) at the Arena Flegrea in Naples, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his historic debut on stage.
