Sanremo Music Festival 1964
Italian song contest (14th edition)
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The Sanremo Music Festival 1964 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 1964), officially the 14th Italian Song Festival (14º Festival della canzone italiana), was the 14th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo between 30 January and 1 February 1964. It was organised by Società ATA, concessionary of the Sanremo Casino, and broadcast by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). The shows were presented by Mike Bongiorno and Giuliana Lojodice. Gianni Ravera served as artistic director.
- 30 January 1964
- 31 January 1964
- 1 February 1964
Sanremo, Italy
| Sanremo Music Festival 1964 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and venue | |
| First night |
|
| Second night |
|
| Final night |
|
| Venue | Sanremo Casino Sanremo, Italy |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | Società ATA |
| Production | |
| Broadcaster | Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) |
| Director | Romolo Siena |
| Artistic director | Gianni Ravera |
| Presenters | Mike Bongiorno and Giuliana Lojodice |
| Vote | |
| Number of entries | 24 |
| Winner | "Non ho l'età" Gigliola Cinquetti and Patricia Carli |
Each song was performed twice, once by an artist from Italy and once by an artist from abroad. The winning song was "Non ho l'età", written by Nicola Salerno and composed by Mario Panzeri, and performed by both Gigliola Cinquetti and Patricia Carli. Cinquetti went on to perform the song at the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, ultimately securing Italy's first victory in the event.[1]
This edition brought several changes to the contest's format, such as the inclusion of foreign performers, the full voting results not revealed and the use of only one orchestra with multiple conductors.
In 2024, to celebrate the edition's 60th anniversary, RAI made the final available to view on their streaming service RaiPlay.[2]
Format
The festival was organised by Società ATA, the concessionary of the Sanremo Casino and held between 30 January and 1 February 1964.[3] Gianni Ravera was the artistic director.[4]
Several changes were made to the contest's format following the lack of success from the previous edition. For the first time in the festival's history, foreign artists were allowed to compete, with each song performed twice, once by an Italian artist and once by an artist of foreign origin. Foreign artists were also allowed to perform in their native language.[5]
Unlike previous editions with two orchestras, only one thirty-seven piece orchestra was offered to performers, with twenty-three alternating conductors chosen for each performance by the respective record label of the performer.[5][6][7][8]
Voting system
The voting was conducted by twenty regional juries in cities across Italy, each composed of fifteen members of various ages, professions and social classes.[5][9] After all songs had been performed across the first two nights, the votes of the jury would combine into a general ranking in which the top twelve songs would qualify for the final and be announced at the end of the second night.[7][9] During the final, only the winner was to be announced, all other finalists declared tied runners-up and the votes never revealed.[5][6][4][7]
Competing entries
217 songs were submitted to ATA for the competition. The submissions were listened to by members of ATA with a group of consultants, who were to choose a maximum of twenty participating songs.[10] Eventually twenty-four were selected to compete.[11]
Among the competing Italian artists were Bruno Filippini and Gigliola Cinquetti, who were given the right to participate after winning the 1963 edition of the Castrocaro Music Festival for newcomer artists.[12][6]
Initially American singer Lou Monte was announced among the competing artists, set to perform "Sole, pizza e amore" and "Piccolo, piccolo", but withdrew due to the death of his son from leukemia.[5][13] He was replaced by Marina Moran as the performer for "Sole, pizza e amore", while Peter Kraus took up "Piccolo, piccolo" as his second song.[14] Vocal quartet Quartetto Cetra were also announced as performers for "Sole, pizza e amore", but were unable to attend due to prior commitments. They were replaced by Aurelio Fierro.[14]
| Song | Italian artist | Foreign artist | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Che me ne importa a me" | Domenico Modugno | Frankie Laine | Domenico Modugno |
| "Come potrei dimenticarti" | Tony Dallara | Ben E. King | |
| "Così felice" | Giorgio Gaber | Patricia Carli | Giorgio Gaber |
| "E se domani" | Fausto Cigliano | Gene Pitney | |
| "I sorrisi di sera" | Tony Renis | Frankie Avalon | |
| "Ieri ho incontrato mia madre" | Gino Paoli | Antonio Prieto | Gino Paoli |
| "L'inverno cosa fai?" | Piero Focaccia | Bobby Rydell |
|
| "L'ultimo tram" | Milva | Frida Boccara |
|
| "La prima che incontro" | Fabrizio Ferretti | The Fraternity Brothers | |
| "Mezzanotte" | Cocky Mazzetti | Los Hermanos Rigual |
|
| "Motivo d'amore" | Pino Donaggio | Frankie Avalon | Pino Donaggio |
| "Non ho l'età" | Gigliola Cinquetti | Patricia Carli | |
| "Ogni volta" | Roby Ferrante | Paul Anka |
|
| "Passo su passo" | Claudio Villa | Peggy March | |
| "Piccolo, piccolo" | Emilio Pericoli | Peter Kraus | |
| "Quando vedrai la mia ragazza" | Little Tony | Gene Pitney |
|
| "Sabato sera" | Bruno Filippini | The Fraternity Brothers |
|
| "Sole, pizza e amore" | Aurelio Fierro | Marina Moran | |
| "Sole, sole" | Laura Villa | Los Hermanos Rigual |
|
| "Stasera no, no, no" | Remo Germani | Nino Tempo & April Stevens |
|
| "Tu piangi per niente" | Lilly Bonato | Richard Moser Jr. | |
| "Un bacio piccolissimo" | Robertino | Bobby Rydell |
|
| "Una lacrima sul viso" | Bobby Solo | Frankie Laine | |
| "Venti chilometri al giorno" | Nicola Arigliano | Peter Kraus |
Shows
The festival consisted of three live shows held between 30 January 1964 and 1 February. Each night consisted of twelve songs performed twice, once by an Italian artist and once by an artist of foreign origin.[5] All shows were presented by Mike Bongiorno, who was assisted by Giuliana Lojodice.[6][4] The television production was directed by Romolo Siena.[3]
First night
The first night took place on 30 January 1964 at 22:30 CET.[17] The first twelve songs were performed.
| R/O | Song | Italian artist | Foreign artist | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Passo su passo" | Claudio Villa | Peggy March | N/a |
| 2 | "Un bacio piccolissimo" | Robertino | Bobby Rydell | Qualified |
| 3 | "L'ultimo tram" | Milva | Frida Boccara | N/a |
| 4 | "Una lacrima sul viso" | Bobby Solo | Frankie Laine | Qualified |
| 5 | "E se domani" | Fausto Cigliano | Gene Pitney | N/a |
| 6 | "Mezzanotte" | Cocky Mazzetti | Los Hermanos Rigual | N/a |
| 7 | "Non ho l'età" | Gigliola Cinquetti | Patricia Carli | Qualified |
| 8 | "Venti chilometri al giorno" | Nicola Arigliano | Peter Kraus | N/a |
| 9 | "Sole, pizza e amore" | Aurelio Fierro | Marina Moran | N/a |
| 10 | "I sorrisi di sera" | Tony Renis | Frankie Avalon | N/a |
| 11 | "Stasera no, no, no" | Remo Germani | Nino Tempo & April Stevens | Qualified |
| 12 | "La prima che incontro" | Fabrizio Ferretti | The Fraternity Brothers | Qualified |
Second night
The second night took place on 31 January 1964 at 21:35 CET.[20] The last twelve songs were performed and the twelve finalists were decided.
| R/O | Song | Italian artist | Foreign artist | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Sabato sera" | Bruno Filippini | The Fraternity Brothers | Qualified |
| 2 | "Sole, sole" | Laura Villa | Los Hermanos Rigual | N/a |
| 3 | "Ogni volta" | Roby Ferrante | Paul Anka | Qualified |
| 4 | "Quando vedrai la mia ragazza" | Little Tony | Gene Pitney | Qualified |
| 5 | "Così felice" | Giorgio Gaber | Patricia Carli | N/a |
| 6 | "L'inverno cosa fai?" | Piero Focaccia | Bobby Rydell | N/a |
| 7 | "Che me ne importa a me" | Domenico Modugno | Frankie Laine | Qualified |
| 8 | "Ieri ho incontrato mia madre" | Gino Paoli | Antonio Prieto | Qualified |
| 9 | "Come potrei dimenticarti" | Tony Dallara | Ben E. King | Qualified |
| 10 | "Motivo d'amore" | Pino Donaggio | Frankie Avalon | Qualified |
| 11 | "Tu piangi per niente" | Lilly Bonato | Richard Moser Jr. | N/a |
| 12 | "Piccolo, piccolo" | Emilio Pericoli | Peter Kraus | N/a |
Final night
The final night took place on 1 February 1964 at 21:35 CET.[6][3] The twelve songs admitted to the final were performed again and a winner was chosen.
The song "Una lacrima sul viso" performed by Bobby Solo and Frankie Laine was disqualified shortly before the show due to Solo's refusal to perform the song live. He claimed he was unable to sing due to laryngitis and used playback during the first night. The song was admitted to the final on the condition that Solo would have to perform it live or face disqualification. He refused again, so the song was instead performed by both artists out-of-competition for the final night.[21][22][23]
The winning song was "Non ho l'età", written by Nicola Salerno and composed by Mario Panzeri, performed by Gigliola Cinquetti in Italian and by Patricia Carli in French under the title "Je suis à toi".[4][8][21]
| R/O | Song | Italian artist | Foreign artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ieri ho incontrato mia madre" | Gino Paoli | Antonio Prieto |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | "Che me ne importa a me" | Domenico Modugno | Frankie Laine |
| 4 | "Ogni volta" | Roby Ferrante | Paul Anka |
| 5 | "Stasera no, no, no" | Remo Germani | Nino Tempo & April Stevens |
| 6 | "Un bacio piccolissimo" | Robertino | Bobby Rydell |
| 7 | "Sabato sera" | Bruno Filippini | The Fraternity Brothers |
| 8 | "Come potrei dimenticarti" | Tony Dallara | Ben E. King[b] |
| 9 | "Non ho l'età" | Gigliola Cinquetti | Patricia Carli[c] |
| 10 | "Motivo d'amore" | Pino Donaggio | Frankie Avalon |
| 11 | "La prima che incontro" | Fabrizio Ferretti | The Fraternity Brothers |
| 12 | "Quando vedrai la mia ragazza" | Little Tony | Gene Pitney |
Broadcasts
Local broadcast
The final night was broadcast on Programma Nazionale (television) and Secondo Programma (radio) beginning at 21:35 CET.[3] The first night was broadcast at 22:30 CET on Secondo Programma (radio), with only the first half of the show broadcast on Secondo Programma (television),[17][24][25] while the second night was broadcast in full both on Secondo Programma (television) and Secondo Programma (radio) at 21:35 CET.[20]
International broadcast
The final night was broadcast via the Eurovision network in other countries.[6] Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazil |
Rádio Jornal do Brasil[d] | [26] | ||
 Monaco |
Radio Monte Carlo | [27] | ||
 Yugoslavia |
JRT | Televizija Beograd | [28] | |
| Televizija Ljubljana | [29] | |||