Spotlight on the Songs of the 62nd Festival di Sanremo

All bets are on: with only two nights left to Saturday night's final, singers Emma Marrone and Francesco Renga are the people's favorite and rumored winners of the latest edition, the 62nd, of Italy's celebrated music festival, Sanremo.

Francesco Renga

Matia Bazar

Arisa

Emma Marrone

Samuele Bersani

Non è l'inferno (It's not hell) was written for Emma Marrone by Kekko (Francesco Silvestre)the singer of the Italian pop rock group Modà. It is a song denouncing injustice as it talks about a man who has dedicated his life and given blood to serve his country but he can barely make ends meet by the end of the month. Overall the song is slightly melodramatic, which is a characteristic of both Emma's and Moda's style.
 

Francesco Renga's La tua bellezza (Your beauty) is a declaration of love for women's beauty. A previous winner, Renga, is very charismatic and performs this catchy song with great abandon.

Both Nina Zilli and Noemi, no matter what position they will end at, are receiving a great response form the public and the critics. They present two songs of great quality. Per sempre (Forever) is a song that shows a new side of Nina Zilli, known to the public for making music with black influences. Her song has been compared to those Mina used to sing in the 1960's that gives great room to the orchestra and creates a chic, vintage mood. Critics already see it as a big hit. Noemi's Sono solo parole (They're just words) is a love song written by Italian singer Fabrizio Moro that focuses on the inability to communicate. The couple Gigi D'Alessio-Loredana Bertè has presented Respirare (Breathing), a passionate, funky song that sounds like an old one by Miss Bertè, In alto mare (On the high seas) (1980).
 

The group Matia Bazar, who joined the cast at the very last minute and has participated to the festival 11 times, sings Sei tu (It's you), a love song that is touches many women, those who fall in love with a man who hurts them, who does not deserve them. Irene Fornaciari's Il mio grande mistero (My great mystery) is a mixture of black music and kitsch rock. Poetic and mysterious, it is a reflection on the difficulty of grasping the meaning of life.
 

Among the singers/songwriters we find Samuele Bersani, known to be a rather reserved talent, who presents Un pallone (A ball), a metaphor in music to denounce Italy's tough current situation. Ex-rocker Eugenio Finardi, leaves his old transgressions behind and in E tu lo chiami Dio (You call him God) he sings about his religious doubts and questions. Lucio Dalla, paired with Pierdavide Carone, young talent at his first experience in the BIG category (the BIG category is comprised of singers that already are well known in the business) sing Nanì, the story of a prostitute and the man who loves her.
 

Arisa, a former winner of the young talents category, sings La notte (The night), a songwhere a lonely woman looks inwardly at herself and her life. At night is when thoughts and memories invade her mind, and the pain of lost love becomes unbearable. Chiara Civello sings Al posto del mondo (Replacing the world). She is considered  one of the best talents that have emerged in the last few years, due to her unique jazzy style and impeccable professionalism. The song has been mildly welcomed by the public and it has brought on a few complaints as it was already performed in 2010 by singer Daniele Magro. Indeed, according to the rules, all songs presented at Sanremo must be brand new. Written by Civello herself it was used by Magro in an audition to participate to the new talents section called Sanremo Social. The issues has been quickly settled by the festival's organization. Marlene Kuntz's Canzone per un figlio (Song for my son) is a letter a father writes to his son. “if you know what you're doing you will be able to reach happiness, if you don't know what you want unhappiness will be incomprehensible, if you really know, happiness will be within you,” they sing.
 

Dolcenera's Ci vediamo a casa (See you at home), focuses on a real life problem: the difficulty of starting a family with the person you love. Having a happy life together is a dream that seems impossible to realize especially in the historic moment we are living in.