by Francesco Prisco
Most of the 30 songs selected by Amadeus for the next Italian song festival from February 6 to 10 could have been written by artificial intelligence
6' reading
Don't ask for cluttered texts, because you'll find few: just a few references to neo-feminism and a few parenthesis on immigration. Don't look for stone, because in some situations you can hardly smell it: Måneskin's victory is already archived. In Sanremo 2024 the winners are Urban, Four Person Cash and of course Love, all the better if it ends badly. This is the general overview that can be seen at the end of the previews of the 30 songs that will compete at the 74th edition of the Italian Song Festival, the fifth in a row under the artistic direction of Amadeus. And – if we want to be malicious – we could even say that artificial intelligence wins. In the sense that a well-trained Ai could have easily written a majority of the songs we will hear from February 6th to 10th. Which, always looking at the overall picture, didn't excite us. Here are our very bad reports.
Clara, “Diamonds in the Rough” 5-
Sanremo winner Giovani sings to some very tense dance-pop: “What are we?/We are diamonds in the rough/They fall apart into a thousand pieces of a single story/Where will we go then?” Not very far away, we might answer.
Diodato, “You Move” 5.5
In 2020 he won thanks to the press room vote, which had very important weight given the regulations at the time. Immediately after came the difficult lockdown season, which was certainly not conducive to the growth of his project. Diodato decides to return to Sanremo with a piano ballad with an intimate verse that develops into a chorus that begins just the way Amadeus likes it. Will they be enough to get him back to the podium?
Mahmood, “Gold Suit” 6-
Watch out for Mahmood, who, when passing as Ariston, always finds a way to win something. This time he's playing with a super-produced urban piece set on the outskirts of the suburbs. Between those who dreamed of it and those who actually did it: “We were dancing in the north/When you called me, brother/With flowers, flowers in a gold tracksuit/You smoked half of it.” Hence that Euphoria that surrounds the song.
Sangiovanni, “Finish me” 4.5
Young people apparently also have heart problems. Listen to Sangiovanni's poignant ballad-style testimony: “You who don't love me/And I still call you/To tell you/Finish me up/Make me feel how terrible I am.” You'd love to put it into words and unplug the stereo.
Loredana Berté, “Crazy” 7
Go to the pre-listenings of Sanremo 2024 and you will hear the best song, sung by a (not) 73 year old lady who was already there in Sanremo in 1986. Loredana Berté returns to the Ariston with a post-rock ride based on a riff reminiscent of the latest Smashing Pumpkins (!) and a chorus that is a kind of variation on the theme of Dedicato a: “I'm crazy about myself myself / And I want to scream it again / I don't need anyone to forgive me.” / I do it alone, alone. We are already crazy about her, but we still have doubts: will the performance on stage be the same as in the studio version?
BNKR44, “Punk Government” 5-
BNKR44 are from Sanremo Giovani, contain depictions of rock and roll, some clever quotes (“Give me a bit of yourself, a Piece of Blur, a club to rock) and some simple quotes (“Put another film, a Piece of Queen” ). The best thing about her piece is the title.
Alessandra Amoroso, “Up to Here” 5.5
Amoroso wants to bring adults and children together with a little help from Takagi and Ketra. Ballad with the refrain that takes up the concept of La Haine by Mathieu Kassovitz: “And even if I slowly fall down/ from a skyscraper/ during the flight/ floor by floor/ I repeat myself/ so far so good”. Not our thing, but the reasoning must have been: “Give the people of Sanremo what they want.”
Fred De Palma, “Heaven doesn’t want us” 4-
Dancing Tamarrata, who seems to be created by artificial intelligence: “But you promise me that we will be fine even in hell. Heaven doesn’t want us.” Who knows what the hell they’re thinking.
Fiorella Mannoia, “Mariposa” 6
Mannoia latinizes about butterflies and freedom with a hermetic text about womanhood today: “I am the witch at the top of the pyre/a butterfly holding the gun/a queen without a throne/a crown of oranges and thorns.” You are political .
The Kolors, “One Boy One Girl” 6
Dance floor from the seventies that takes advantage of Italodisco's long wave of success. Stash brings the airplay feeling, Davide Petrella brings the Sanremo vibe. “A boy meets a girl”. The experiment can reach the podium area.
Emma, «Apnea» 5
Music is alchemy. Emma, Davide Petrella, Paolo Antonacci and Julien Boverod team up to make a contemporary pop song and what emerges is something that could be a piece by Pupo: “It's my fault/If we're in limbo now are / But it's your fault.” / You have eyes that kill me.” We hold our breath.
French Saints, “Love in the Mouth” 5.5
Winner of De gustibus.
Rose Villain, “Click Boom!” 4
It starts as a dark ballad and becomes a dance catchphrase: “I still remember the sound, click, boom, boom, feel my heart beating like that, boom, boom, I'm running towards my vroom, vroom, vroom you.” As the poet would say, “The boss’s broom has a hole in the tire.”
Negramaro, “Let’s start everything over again” 6-
First participation in the competition at the Sanremo Festival for Negramato, who restarts everything by betting on an epic ballad à la Negramaro: “And then it rains from this hole on your heads/ Yes, but that doesn't matter/ We start .” again anyway/ I don't even know where.” Twenty years ago they would have won easily, twenty years later, who knows.
Big Mama, “Anger Isn’t Enough for You” 3
Usual four-piece bass drum and chorus full of general, generic gender statements: “Look at me/Now I'm someone else/Anger isn't enough for me” Exactly: The vote is 3.
Renga and Nek, “Crazy About You” 4.5
Pop guitar ballad about the inevitability of love, a feeling that our two nineties boys just can't live without, however you put it: “I'm crazy about you and you don't know how I'd like it.” “Avoid it. With confidence: We would also have liked to have done without it.
Ghali, “My House” 5-
Urban designed for Ghali's return in style. Lyrics full of great truths: “The meadow is green, greener, greener / The sky is blue, blue, blue”. In addition to Ghali, the authors are Davide Petrella and Michelangelo, but we would also have seen Maccio Capatonda in Padre Maronno's version.
Irama, “Not You” 4-
Irama walks away screaming as if he were a post-modern Adriano Pappalardo: “Just a stupid song to bring you back to me.” We sincerely wish him to reconcile with the recipient of the song, but elsewhere.
Angelina Mango, “Boredom” 6-
Angelina Mango commissions Madame and Dardust to leave their mark on this Sanremo. His “is the cumbia of boredom”, you hear it once and remember: programmed for the podium area.
Geolier, “I am for me, you are for yourself” 5-
The concept is the same as Bob Dylan's Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine), but the developments are quite different. The genre is urban, the language bold: “Nuij simm ddoje stell ca stann precipitann”. He is not a Neapolitan: he is a Neapolitan.
Maninni, “Spectacular” 5
Pop on the piano, ballad with a catchy refrain about the importance of being together: “But hug me, hug me, it's normal/Holding you is spectacular.” Not a very original show.
La Sad, “Self-Destructive” 6-
A necessary prerequisite: In the pre-listenings 2023 we played Splash by Colapesce and Dimartine 6-, but it was by far the most beautiful song of this festival. We noticed it on the second listen because this was a piece that had to be listened to again and again to be appreciated. For this reason, we would like to listen to La Sad's Autodestructive a second and third time as they attempt to convey to the mainstream public the point of view of those who live on the margins by choice (“And I vomit my soul too to feel alive. “ inside this chaos”) with the help of Riccardo Zanotti from Pinguini Tattici Nucleari.
Gazelles, “That’s all” 5.5
British ballad with some original metaphors (“We look like two pandas”) and an easy-to-remember refrain: “I want to watch the past with you / on the wall with the projector”. That's all.
Annalisa, “With kind regards” 5-
To be honest, we haven't heard such a clever dance-pop piece in Sanremo for a long time: “Honestly when when when when I cry”. It will work, you can bet, but even in this case we smell of artificial intelligence.
Alpha, “Go!” 3
The verse sounds like an Oasis cover, just a little freer than the original. Dear Alfa, we couldn't have said it better: go!
Il Volo, “Masterpiece” 4.5
For the Volo Tenors a return to the Ariston in the spirit of modesty. You go through the eighties ballad structure with the characteristic voice popping up here and there, but how do you call a piece “masterpiece”? In the Po Valley one would say: “Vula Bass”.
Dargen D'Amico, “High Wave” 6.5
One of the very few songs in this edition that wants to say something more than the usual is “I love you”: “The high wave is coming / We stay still and we don't talk and we don't jump”. Let's hope it actually arrives.
The Three, “Fragile” 4-
Usual catchy little pop with urban influences: “We are fragile like snow, like two cracks”. A little fragile like this song.
Mr. Rain, “Two Swings” 4
Chef Mr. Rain cooks the house specialty: the pop song that all children enjoy, a bit like schnitzel and fries: “You and I stop the world when we are together / even if it only lasts a second like comets.” We would be happy if they stopped the glycemic index.
Ricchi e Poveri, “But not all life” sv
There is never a lack of retro quotes in Amadeus' Sanremo: this time it is expressed by the Ricchi e Poveri, who produce a contemporary pop: “Even the most beautiful rose withers/Okay, I'm waiting for you, but not my whole life ” . Unjustifiable.
Francesco Prisco
editor
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