Festival, the first evening: irony, the Maneskin, Fiorello, Ornella Muti

And, as if to sanction one of the main novelties of the 2022 edition, the (opaque) co-host Ornella Muti is forced to stop after a few bars because the public, back in the hall after an edition marked by the pandemic, demands more voice. In short, as if the Festival were a concert in the square, an impromptu rally. It is the beauty of the live broadcast, the unexpected that humanizes the match, almost a metaphorical finding oneself in flesh and blood and throat in an evening that begins, moreover, with the emotion of Amadeus. And so, the surprise of the rediscovered ritual seems stronger than the first artists competing. Achille Lauro shirtless after having discussed in some edition precisely for his clothes – but the aura of scandal now seems opaque -, the black voice of Yuman who invites you to live the here and now, Naomi and her letter to itself. Even if it is indicative that to really warm up both one that Sanremo has already experienced seven times plus two as a conductor, that Gianni Morandi who rides like a wave Open all doors, written by Jovanotti. Song that has in itself the paradox of seeming to come from the past and yet sound perfect for the times. He is not the only one, Morandi, to shake old Ariston; there is a lot of adrenaline also in Ciao ciao de La Representative of Lista (piece that deserves to lead the way) and where the present does not arrive, the past takes care of it. Amadeus, dressed as a chauffeur, leaves the Ariston and goes to pick up the Måneskin, winners in 2021, a year ago “the subject of the scandal”, today with a ticket in his pocket for next week’s Brit Awards.

Who jokes about the “mystery” of his return, he defines himself “your third dose, your booster”, with reference to his third consecutive participation, he shows up with the temperature detector brandished like a gun, he says he feels like Mattarella, ” because he didn’t want to go back either, he wanted to go to The Voice Senior ”. The usual Fiorello that transforms the Festival into an apparently anarchic one man show, complete with a kiss between Amadeus and the director of Rai Uno Coletta. The joker of Sanremo remains, at least waiting for Checco Zalone: ​​the Apulian comedian will be the loose cannon tonight. Comparisons coming up.

On the evening when there is also space for the memory of Tito Stagno, the clouds revolve around Muti and the photo posted on Instagram on Monday by her daughter Naike Rivelli, in which both wear a pendant with the image of marijuana leaves. Yesterday the actress defended herself: “I believe that legalizing soft drugs is the best thing: there is a whole dangerous circle and there are much heavier things, it is better to have the possibility of obtaining recipes”. The pop diva of our cinema particularly supports the therapeutic use of cannabis, “because I was unable to give it to my mother, who had difficult years before she died: I had to stuff her with psychotropic drugs”. But it is inevitable that the thought will return to the creation of the Ornella Muti Hemp Club association: and, while the committee promoting the referendum for legal cannabis pays homage to the actress with flowers, here are the allegations of conflict of interest. Or worse. “Drugs are dead, I will always and in any case fight them”, thunders Matteo Salvini for the League, finding the Brothers of Italy on his side after the tear of the Quirinale. While from Forza Italia Maurizio Gasparri dubbed Muti’s words as “authentic nonsense” and asked for “her immediate exclusion from the Festival”. The actress’s desire to obtain Russian citizenship also returns in the background, as she reiterates in an interview with Tass: “She is part of my culture, associated with my mother. She died this year and this would be a gift for her ”. Her maternal grandmother, in fact, was originally from St. Petersburg. But what worried someone in Rai were also the words about Russia, in a moment of international tensions (“Discrimination against gays pains me a lot, I think no one should be discriminated against”). After all, each edition has its own bunch of thorns.

Yes, because – between its river times and its liturgies – at least some of the transformations underway filter. And because, according to national tradition, the Festival divides the country into a thousand streams, destined to flow into two great ideal rivers: those who follow the Festival and those who disdain it. What then is a way to follow it. Meanwhile, the caravan has returned to the Ariston, with the third Amadeus management, the people of Sanremo who look to the future with more confidence, an estimated turnover of between 75 and 85 million euros. The 2022 edition revolves around Zalone, Fiorello and an infinite series of guests but also a co-host for each evening: tonight it’s up to the Italian-Senegalese actress Lorena Cesarini, tomorrow to Drusilla Foer, for whom everyone hurries to find a label, a definition. But Drusilla, more simply, suggests not to think that – to be recognized – everything must fall into a shared category. This is why Sanremo is not an abandoned monolith in a museum. And the same choice of the artists confirms this, highlighting the line that crosses the 2022 Festival: on the one hand, the new generation, such as Matteo Romano, born in 2002, found on TikTok, or Rkomi, 27, whose Taxi Driver was the best-selling album of 2021 or the Mahmood-Blanco duo, which offer the gem of the evening for sensuality, voice and body in Shivers. On the other, the veterans (not necessarily in the way of being, on the contrary), like Morandi. Or like Massimo Ranieri, who brings a very classic song (but risky, unfortunately also for the voice …) about those who face the sea in search of tomorrow. A festival totem from other times and yet, at the same time, current (there are eternally Americas to land on), considering an edition with artists such as Yuman, Italian mother, father of Cape Verde. On the sea of ​​Sanremo, try to reflect a little of the changing country.

Those of the share remain the first numbers that everyone will look at this morning: in the last edition, the average figure was 8.4 million and 46.5%, worsening that of 2020 (almost 10 million and 54.9%). But a year ago, also thanks to a phenomenon born from talents like the Måneskin – the very young people approached, with a growth of 6.4 share points on the 15-19 year old group, 2 points on the 20-24 year olds and 0 , 6 points on the 25-34 years. And in the five days of the Festival there were almost 30 million social interactions, the all-time record, with a + 51% over the previous year. In short, other signs of a changing world. After all, as Amadeus says, “the Festival cannot be anachronistic with respect to the radio, YouTube and Spotify”. Of course, then the bookies give Zanicchi Iva as the last. But she glosses over: “Better than penultimate, at least you notice me.”