Fimi Enjoys Its Return To Sanremo Festival

Never say never again. Viewing figures for this year's televised Sanremo Festival appear to vindicate the decision by local labels to rejoin the Italian music industry's biggest annual event.

The 55th Sanremo Festival of Italian Song took place March 1-5. The return to Sanremo by Italian labels' body FIMI after a boycott in 2004 also brought back the viewing public. Organizers say the final night attracted an average of 13.6 million viewers, up dramatically from the 9.27 million who tuned in last year.

FIMI director-general Enzo Mazza says the organization is "satisfied" with its return to Sanremo after the resolution of a dispute with the event's organizers, state broadcaster RAI and the local government of the city of Sanremo.

"The ratings are back up at the levels of 10 years ago," Universal Italy president/CEO Piero La Falce says. Universal was the only major among FIMI's members that offered cooperation, albeit limited, to the festival in 2004.

Sanremo traditionally attracts a massive TV audience over its five nights, and for decades Italian labels planned their release schedules around the event. However, in recent years, labels have complained that the festival was failing to generate sales at the same levels as before.

After years of friction between FIMI and the organizers, the smoldering dispute finally caught fire when the trade group withdrew its participation in 2004 (Billboard, July 19, 2003).

The catalyst was a disagreement between FIMI and RAI over expenses the labels body said were owed from previous shows. Those differences were resolved after the 2004 event.

TUNING IN AFTER A NIGHT OUT

FIMI VP Mario Limongelli—who is also owner/GM of Milan-based independent label Nar International—suggests the trade group's return to Sanremo and a revamp of the competition have changed the viewing demographic. "Sanremo usually has an older TV audience," he claims, "but this year, market research suggests that it attracted younger viewers, many of whom watched the later phases after coming home from a night out."

Each year, the show runs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on each of its five nights. Details of the viewing demographics for 2005 are not yet available.

This year's edition took place under the artistic directorship of Italian TV presenter Paolo Bonolis.

With his musical director, Gianmarco Mazzi, Bonolis produced a new look for the festival's competition element, in which performers are rewarded for their interpretation of a song written specifically for the event.

Sanremo has traditionally included two contests: the main event and one for new performers, who are referred to as "youngsters." Instead, this year's festival had five categories with 32 contestants. Each section was voted on by viewers gathered in 20 RAI TV studios throughout the country.

The individual winners were Francesco Renga, with "Angelo" (Universal), in the men's category; Antonella Ruggiero, with "Echi d'Infinito" (Universal), women; Toto Cutugno & Annalisa Minetti, "Come Noi Nessuno al Mondo" (Dito/Edel), classic; Nicky Nikolai & the Stefano Di Battista Jazz Quartet, "Che Mistero L'Amore" (EMI), group; and Laura Bono, "Non Credo Nei Miracoli" (EMI), youngsters.

Section winners were announced March 5; telephone votes from viewers then selected Renga as the overall winner.

A RAI-selected media panel gave the annual critics' prize to veteran jazz crooner Nicola Arigliano for his competition performance of "Colpevole" (NunFlower/Rai Trade).

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

"This year, the music and the ratings were impressive," Edel Italy president Paolo Franchini says. "I'm delighted that the classic and critics' prizes both went to indie artists. My only concern is that the format confirmed that the modern Sanremo is a TV event where there also happens to be music."

EMI VP of A&R Fabrizio Giannini also applauds the new show. "My only complaint," he says, "is that the new format tends to be detrimental to artists in the youngsters section, who are at a disadvantage in competing with the bigger names [in the new categories]."

Mazza says it is "too early" to judge the impact this year's festival will have on record sales.

Two "official" Sanremo compilations, featuring songs included in the competition, were released to coincide with the show: a 14-track set on Columbia, retailing for 20.60 euros ($27.75), and a 21-track EMI/Universal co-production for 12.60 euros ($17). The latter album is distributed to retail by EMI; Universal distributed a version as a cover mount with the magazine TV Sorrisi e Canzoni.

Mazzi suggests labels need to be "a bit more flexible" in taking advantage of the sales opportunities Sanremo offers. "Thanks to [satellite channel] RAI Sat," he says, "the festival is followed by Italian communities from the U.S.A. to Australia. In future editions, a special [international] festival song download operation could be organized."

La Falce acknowledges there is room for improvement on the labels' side. "Sanremo is still a massive TV event," he says. "If we can't use it to sell records, then that's our problem, rather than RAI's."