Italy's most famous music festival, Festival di Sanremo, or the Sanremo Music Festival (62nd annual), will be held from February 14th to 18th 2012, in the lovely and picturesque town of San Remo, Italia (Italy) in Teatro Ariston.
It is almost like the Emmy Awards for Italian music. There is a "Big Artists" section and a "Newcomer's" section. The festival has been a tradition since 1951 and has helped launch the careers of famous performers like Eros Ramazzotti, Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini, Zucchero, Elisa, Giorgia and Massimo Ranieri.
This year Sanremo Music Festival
This year's host will be the same as last year's: Gianni Morandi (as well as a few other prominent Italian celebrities Ivana Mrazova, Rocco Papaleo, etc).
Morandi is an extemely popular Italian pop singer and entertainer and actually has won an award at the 1987 festival with the song Si può dare di più together with Enrico Ruggeri and Umberto Tozzi.
Last year, the winner of the Big Artists section was "Chiamami ancora amore" by Roberto Vecchioni and Claudio Guidetti. See video below, with introduction by Gianni Morandi.
In the newcomer's section, the 2011 winner was "Follia d'amore" by Raphael Gualazzi.