Rai have confirmed that the 2024 edition of Festival di Sanremo will act as Italy’s National Selection for Malmö 2024, amongst several other format changes.
Unlike many national selections, Rai’s Festival di Sanremo is not a guaranteed National Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. It began five years before the Eurovision Song Contest in 1951 and was, in fact, the direct inspiration for the contest, and while, from the beginning, it was used to select the Italian entry, it’s always been it’s own thing. Often, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Rai didn’t even use Sanremo for Eurovision in any capacity, but most of the time, it’s been the case that the winner of Festival di Sanremo has the first right of refusal to represent Italy. However, this year, Rai have announced that the winner of the festival will be Italy’s representative in Malmö, making Sanremo 2024 a direct National Selection.
Alongside this, Rai have announced several different format changes.
| Show | Songs | Voting | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Night 1 | 26 | Press Jury | All 26 songs and artists perform |
| Night 2 | 13 | Radio Jury & Televote | 13 of the songs and artists perform again, while the other 13 co-present |
| Night 3 | 13 | Radio Jury & Televote | 13 of the songs and artists perform again, while the other 13 co-present |
| Night 4 | 26 | Press Jury, Radio Jury & Televote | All 26 artists perform covers of culturally significant songs with guest artists |
| Night 5 | 26 | Televote | All 26 songs and artists perform with 5 to a superfinal and one winner to Eurovision 2024 |
The main difference is that what is now Night 2 and 3 used to be Night 1 and 2, with the new Night 1 having been Night 3. This means that all songs in the festival will be presented to the audience, and released, on the first night.
Additionally, the 13 artists that don’t perform on Night 2 and 3, respectively, will co-present the introductions to one of their competitors with, host, Amadeus.
The final format change is that the Demoscopic Jury, a jury made up of different ordinary people from different diverse demographically representative backgrounds, has been scrapped in favour of a radio jury of music industry professionals.
The 2024 edition of Festival di Sanremo will run for five consecutive nights from 6 to 10 February 2024 on Rai1 and RaiPlay, hosted by Amadeus for the final time.
