Stonight the Ariston returns to welcome an absolute protagonist of Italian music: Caterina Caselli. The producer takes the stage at Sanremo 2026 to receive a tribute that goes beyond nostalgia. Being there underlines his role as the “immovable engine” of Italian discography. If 60 years ago, in 1966, it shook the Festival with Nobody can judge mebreaking the mold of the submissive girl, today Caterina Caselli embodies the power of those who knew turn the nickname “golden helmet” into an empire. Sanremo therefore celebrates her as the mind that created much of the Italian music we hear on the radio. His is the story of someone who understood early on that, to really count, you have to know how to get off the stage at the right time.
Caterina Caselli, from songs to the control room
The secret of his artistic longevity lies not in his voice, but in his ear. After leaving the scene at the height of success, Caterina Caselli made a choice that was unthinkable for a woman at the time: to become producer and talent scout. In 1989 he founded the “Sugar”making it the most important independent Italian label. Much more than managing a music catalogue. Over the years she found herself a challenge multinationals by focusing everything on identity and originality. With her transformation from singer to producer she has demonstrated that true power is not standing in front of the limelight, but having the vision to shine it on others.
Caterina Caselli in the 1960s. (Photo by: Universal Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The alchemy of discovered talents
The list of discovered singers from her it seems like a manual of Italian music of the last thirty years. She is the one who discovered a young man Andrea Bocelli in piano bars, turning it into a worldwide phenomenon. She is the one who protected the Elisa’s international nature: a fundamental point that is often forgotten is that Caterina Caselli supported her singing in English for years, despite having the intuition to convince her to switch to Italian just to win Sanremo in 2001 with Light (Sunsets in the North East)written by Zucchero.
Caterina Caselli with Andrea Bocelli in 1997. (GIUSEPPE FARINACCI/ANSA/DO)
And also Lucio Corsiaccording to a year ago at the Sanremo Festival, owes a lot to Caterina Caselli, having entered her “stable” in 2019. Without her intuition, we would not have had the rock explosion of Negramarothe refinement of Malika Ayanethe jazz of Raphael Gualazzi or the careers of Motta And Giovanni Caccamo.
The vision of a talent scout
In an era of disposable successes, the Caselli method remains a rarity: she does not look for “clones”, look for uniqueness. In recent years he has continued to hit the mark with artists such as Madame And Sangiovannidemonstrating that she knows how to communicate with Generation Z better than many professionals younger than her. His ability to read the talent before it becomes obvious it’s what makes her the most respected figure in the industry today. Tonight, when she receives the award, Ariston’s long applause will be for the woman who taught everyone that talent has no expiration date, if you have the courage to wait for it.
Because Caterina Caselli is the future
See her tonight at Sanremo 2026, 60 years after that participation with Nobody can judge mereminds us that innovation is a matter of the mind, not of the registry. Many of the singers who will perform on the covers evening owe their artistic freedom to her. Caterina Caselli didn’t just discover singers; he created a more humane, courageous and, above all, independent music industry model.
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