Sanremo Music Festival 1996

The Sanremo Music Festival 1996 was the 46th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, province of Imperia, in the late February 1996 and broadcast by Rai 1.

Sanremo Music Festival 1996
Dates
Semi-final 1	20 February 1996
Semi-final 2	21 February 1996
Semi-final 3	22 February 1996
Semi-final 4	23 February 1996
Final	24 February 1996
Host
Venue	Teatro Ariston
Presenter(s)	Pippo Baudo and Sabrina Ferilli, Valeria Mazza
Musical director	Pippo Caruso
Artistic director	Pippo Baudo
Host broadcaster	Rai 1
Big Artists section
Number of entries	23
Winner	Ron ft. Tosca "Vorrei incontrarti fra cent'anni"
Newcomers' section
Number of entries	14
Winner	Syria "Non ci sto"
1995 ← Sanremo Music Festival → 1997

The show was presented by Pippo Baudo, who also served as the artistic director, with actress Sabrina Ferilli and model Valeria Mazza.^[1][2]

The winners of the Big Artists section were Ron and Tosca with the song "Vorrei incontrarti fra cent'anni", while Syria won the "New Proposals" section with the song "Non ci sto".^[1][2]

In this edition the Critics Award was named after Mia Martini (who died the year before).^[1][2] It was awarded to the song "La terra dei cachi" by Elio e le Storie Tese.^[1][2]

Bruce Springsteen opened the first night of the Festival performing, out of competition, the song "The Ghost of Tom Joad".^[1]

After every night Rai 1 broadcast DopoFestival, a talk show about the Festival with the participation of singers and journalists. It was hosted by Ambra Angiolini with Luciano De Crescenzo, Roberto D'Agostino, Gianni Ippoliti and Pippo Baudo.^[1]

Participants and results

Big Artists

Big Artists section ^[1]
Song, performing artist(s) and writer(s)	Rank	Notes
"Vorrei incontrarti fra cent'anni" – Ron & Tosca (Rosalino Cellamare)	1	Winner of the "Big Artists" section Volare Award for Best Lyrics Snac Award for Best Music
"La terra dei cachi" – Elio e le Storie Tese (Davide Civaschi, Stefano Belisari, Sergio Conforti e Nicola Fasani)	2	Mia Martini Critics Award
"Strano il mio destino" – Giorgia (Maurizio Fabrizio, Giorgia Todrani)	3
"E io penso a te" – Spagna (Ivana Spagna, Giorgio Spagna)	4
"Mai più sola" – Neri per Caso (Claudio Mattone)	5
"Se adesso te ne vai" – Massimo Di Cataldo (Massimo Di Cataldo, Laurex)	6
"È la mia vita" - Albano Carrisi (Pino Marino, Maurizio Fabrizio)	7
"Soli al bar" - Aleandro Baldi ft. Marco Guerzoni (Francesco Palmieri, Giancarlo Bigazzi, Aleandro Baldi)	8
"Cantare è d'amore" - Amedeo Minghi (Amedeo Minghi, Pasquale Panella)	9
"Volo così" - Paola Turci (Paola Turci, Roberto Casini)	10
"L'elefante e la farfalla" - Michele Zarrillo (Vincenzo Incenzo, Michele Zarrillo)	11
"Il ragazzo con la chitarra" - Luca Barbarossa (Luca Barbarossa)	12
"Sulla porta" - Federico Salvatore (Federico Salvatore, Giancarlo Bigazzi, Giuseppe Dati)	13
"Una vita migliore" - Rossella Marcone (Pietro Cremonesi, Federico Cavalli, Angelo Valsiglio)	14
"L'amore è un attimo" - Enrico Ruggeri (Luigi Schiavone, Enrico Ruggeri)	15
"Sarò" – Raffaella Cavalli (Depsa, Fio Zanotti, Angelo Valsiglio)	16
"Solo lei" - Gigi Finizio (Gigi Finizio, Antonio Annona)	17
"Non andare via" - Paolo Vallesi (Giuseppe Dati, Paolo Vallesi)	18
"Romanzo" - Riccardo Fogli (Guido Morra, Maurizio Fabrizio)	19
"Letti" - New Trolls & Umberto Bindi (Umberto Bindi, Renato Zero)	20	Fonopoli Award for Best Arrangement
"Ama" - Dhamm (Dario Benedetti, Alessio Ventura, Mauro Munzi, Massimo Conti)	Eliminated
"Non è amore" - Mara (David Poggiolini, Mike Francis)	Eliminated
"Non scherzare dai" - Fedele Boccassini (Luca Angelosanti, Fio Zanotti, Memo Remigi, Fedele Boccassini, Francesco Morettini)	Eliminated

Newcomers

Newcomers section ^[1]
Song, performing artist(s) and writer(s)	Rank	Notes
"Non ci sto" - Syria (Claudio Mattone)	1	Winner of the Newcomers' section
"Sarò bellissima" - Adriana Ruocco (Franco Migliacci, Stefano Cenci, E. Fratini e L. Silvi)	2
"Al di là di questi anni" - Marina Rei (Frank Minoia, Marina Rei)	3	Winner of the Mia Martini Critics Award - Newcomers' section
"Quando ti senti sola" - O.R.O. (Angelo Manfredi, Mario Manzani)	4
"Quando il cuore" - Silvia Salemi (Manuel De Peppe, Giampiero Artegiani, Silvia Salemi)	5
"Liberami" - Jalisse (Carmen Di Domenico, Fabio Ricci)	6
"Sottovoce" - Olivia (Franca Evangelisti, Stefano Borzi, Sandro Mattoccia)	7
"Amore di plastica" - Carmen Consoli (Carmen Consoli, Mario Venuti)	8
"E ci sei" - Petra Magoni (Marco D'Angelo, Marco Rinalduzzi, Massimo Calabrese, Zenîma, Petra Magoni)	9
"Zerotretresette" - Camilla (Paolo Martella, Camilla Lessona, Michele Violante, Kynsha)	10
"Il grido del silenzio" - Alessandro Errico (Alessandro Errico)	11
"Lasciarsi amare" - Leandro Barsotti (Leandro Barsotti)	12
"Ci sarò" - Alessandro Mara (Alessandro Maraniello)	13
"Un po' di tempo" - Maurizio Lauzi (Maurizio Lauzi)	14

Guests

Guests ^[1]
Artist(s)	Song(s)
Bruce Springsteen	"The Ghost of Tom Joad"
Pat Metheny and Rita Marcotulli	"Don’t Forget"
Blur	"Charmless Man"
Cher	"One By One"
Kenny G	"Forever in Love"
Tina Turner	"Whatever You Want"
East 17	"Do U Still?"
Vanessa-Mae	"Toccata and Fugue in D minor"
Celine Dion	"Callin’ You" "Falling into You"
Simply Red	"Never Never Love"
Andreas Vollenweider	"Sotto l’albero della speranza"
Take That	"How Deep Is Your Love"
The Kelly Family	"Why Why Why"
Bon Jovi	"Lie to Me"
George Benson	"The Long and Winding Road"
Michael Bolton	"When a Man Loves a Woman"
Alanis Morissette	"You Oughta Know"
The Cranberries	"Salvation"

References

1. Eddy Anselmi. Festival di Sanremo: almanacco illustrato della canzone italiana. Panini Comics, 2009. ISBN 8863462291.
2. Avellina, Giuditta (1 March 2021). "Ti ricordi il Sanremo del 1996? Mamma, che edizione fantastica". GQ Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 4 November 2022.