The rulebook for Sanremo 2027 has finally been published, giving us the first complete look at how Stefano De Martino’s Festival will work.
Five nights, 24 artists and a new Eurovision selection
Sanremo 2027 will take place from 16 to 20 February 2027, with all five evenings broadcast live from the Teatro Ariston. There will be 24 artists competing in a single category, each with a new song. The line-up will include the winner of Sarà Sanremo 2026, while Stefano De Martino, as Artistic Director, will select the other 23 artists.
The five nights will no longer all have the same role in the competition. The first two will build the ranking, Thursday will be dedicated entirely to Covers, Friday will decide Italy’s Eurovision representative and Saturday will crown the winner of Sanremo 2027.
The first two nights will build the Sanremo ranking
On Tuesday 16 February, all 24 artists will perform their competing songs for the first time. The vote will come from the Sala Stampa, TV e Web and the public, with the first one holding 67% of the weight and the public 33%.
On Wednesday 17 February, all 24 songs will be performed again. This time, the Radio Jury will have 67% of the vote, while the public will account for the remaining 33%. The results from these two nights will form the basis of the overall ranking that will eventually be used on Saturday.
Thursday is the Covers night
The third evening, on 18 February, will be dedicated to the Covers. Each of the 24 artists will perform a previously released Italian or international song, accompanied by a guest artist. The chosen Cover must have been released by 31 December 2026.
The public, Sala Stampa, TV e Web and Radio Jury will all vote, with the public holding 34% and the other two juries 33% each.
As in previous editions, the Covers result will have no impact on the main Sanremo ranking. The artist who receives the highest score will win the Cover competition, but those points will not be carried into the rest of the Festival. So while Thursday will still have its own winner, it will not give anyone an advantage in the race for the Sanremo trophy.
The fourth night will choose Italy’s representative for Eurovision
On Friday 19 February, all 24 artists will perform their own Sanremo song again, but in a different type of performance from the other evenings. The rulebook describes the night as the Serata Performance, with artists expected to present their songs through a different staging or performance format.
The public and the so-called “Giuria Internazionale di Esperti” (international jury) will each account for 50% of the result. The artist who finishes first will win the Serata Performance, and Rai will designate that artist to represent Italy at Eurovision 2027.
The song itself cannot simply be replaced or turned into something completely different for the occasion, as it must retain the same basic version used during the other Sanremo performances, although changes to the arrangement can be made to suit the new staging, with approval from the Artistic Director.
The Performance result will not be added to the Sanremo ranking. It exists as its own competition, with its own winner and, crucially, its own Eurovision consequence. That means Sanremo 2027 could have one artist winning the Festival on Saturday and another already having secured the Eurovision ticket the night before.
Saturday will decide the Sanremo winner
The fifth and final night, on 20 February, brings all 24 artists back to their Sanremo songs. The public will have 34% of the vote, while the Sala Stampa, TV e Web and Radio Jury will each account for 33% of their respective voting contributions. These results will be combined with those from Tuesday and Wednesday to create the general ranking.
The artists occupying the top three to five positions in the general ranking will be announced without revealing their exact positions. They will perform again, after which only the Giuria Popolare (televote) will vote.
That final public vote will account for 50% of the final calculation, with the other 50% coming from the results accumulated during the first, second and fifth nights. The artist who finishes first in that final calculation will win Sanremo 2027.
Rai will also have the option of withholding the detailed rankings during the live shows. The complete rankings from the different evenings will be published on the official Sanremo website after the Festival.
What does the rulebook say about the songs?
There are 24 competing songs, and they all have to meet a fairly long list of requirements. The entries must be new and unpublished, with the regulations setting out several exceptions for things such as private performances, material made available only to industry professionals and limited use of previously written musical or lyrical material.
The songs must be written in Italian, although dialect, foreign words and short phrases can be included provided the overall character of the song remains Italian.
There is also a maximum duration of three minutes and 30 seconds for the competing entries. The Covers have a slightly longer limit of four minutes.
In addition, the rulebook states that the competing songs must be an expression of human creativity, while AI cannot be used during the ideation, composition or production of a song in a way that replaces, alters or distorts the essential human creative contribution. Rai and the Artistic Director can also investigate possible use of AI.
What happens if the Performance winner does not go to Eurovision?
Winning Friday night does not mean that the artist can simply book a flight to Eurovision without any further steps. The rulebook states that the Serata Performance winner will be designated by Rai as Italy’s representative, but participation remains subject to the EBU admitting the artist to the Contest and the artist accepting the invitation.
If the EBU does not admit the winner, or the artist does not submit the required acceptance within the deadline set by Rai, the broadcaster will choose Italy’s Eurovision representative according to the order of the final ranking from the Performance night.
Italy’s Eurovision journey
Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since the very beginning and has always been considered a powerhouse in the contest. The country has won the contest on three occasions in 1964, 1990 and 2021. Italy withdrew after 1997, returning again in 2011 with Raphael Gualazzi who sang ‘Madness Of Love’. Raphael placed second in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest after scoring 189 points.
Italy’s renowned Festival di Sanremo is, in many ways, the original Eurovision – the contest we know and love was modelled after it, after all! First broadcast in 1951, it is the longest-running annual TV music competition in the world. Sanremo was developed as a way to revitalize the city of Sanremo’s economy and reputation after the Second World War, and has since split into two smaller contests: the “Big Artists” section, whose winner gets first refusal to represent Italy in Eurovision, and the “Newcomers” section, first included in 1984. Scores are determined through public voting and two groups of juries, and the festival takes place across five nights. Changes to the show often happen year on year, and the winner of the festival does not always go on to represent Italy at Eurovision, as was the case in 2025.
Italy’s most recent Eurovision entry in 2026 was “Per sempre sì” by Sal da Vinci, who won the 2026 edition of Festival di Sanremo. Italy does not compete in the semi-finals and has a secured spot in the Grand Final of the contest. At the close of voting in the Grand Final of Eurovision 2026, Italy scored a total of 281 points, placing 5th. Of these, 134 points came from the juries, whilst the remaining 147 points came from the televote.
What do you think of the new Sanremo 2027 format? Are you looking forward to the new Performance night? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, Bluesky, and ZOOP for more information about Eurovision 2027!
News Source: RAI
Image Credits: RAI
Thomas James