Sanremo Music Festival 1974
Italian song contest (24th edition)
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The Sanremo Music Festival 1974 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 1974), officially the 24th Italian Song Festival (24º Festival della canzone italiana), was the 24th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo between 7 and 9 March 1974. It was organised by Gianni Ravera, Elio Gigante and Vittorio Salvetti, and broadcast by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). The shows were presented by Corrado, assisted by Gabriella Farinon.
- 7 March 1974
- 8 March 1974
- 9 March 1974
Sanremo, Italy
| Sanremo Music Festival 1974 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and venue | |
| First night |
|
| Second night |
|
| Final night |
|
| Venue | Sanremo Casino Sanremo, Italy |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | Gianni Ravera Elio Gigante Vittorio Salvetti |
| Production | |
| Broadcaster | Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) |
| Director | Adriana Parrella Enrico Moscatelli |
| Presenters | Corrado and Gabriella Farinon |
| Vote | |
| Number of entries | 28 |
| Winner | "Ciao cara, come stai?" Iva Zanicchi |
The winning song was "Ciao cara, come stai?" performed by Iva Zanicchi, and written by Cristiano Malgioglio, Italo Ianne, Dinaro and Claudio Daiano.
Format
In November 1973, Sanremo city councillors decided the municipality would not organise the festival's 1974 edition directly and instead entrust the organisation to a third party, as an attempt to revive interest in the event.[1] The municipality contacted former artistic directors of the festival, Gianni Ravera, Vittorio Salvetti, Elio Gigante and Ezio Radaelli, to submit proposals.[2] Following a dispute between councillors over the choice of Salvetti and a joint proposal by Ravera and Gigante, all three were entrusted with the festival's organisation.[3] Unsatisfied with the decision, the three signed a letter sent to the municipality communicating their intention not to organise the festival under any condition.[4] However, two days later on 21 January 1974, they accepted a new offer to organise the event.[5]
The festival was initially scheduled to take place between 21 and 23 February of 1974, but following delays in its organisation, the dates were moved to 7, 8 and 9 March 1974.[1][6]
For the first time, competing entries in the festival were split between big and newcomer artists. Newcomers performed during the first two nights facing elimination from the competition, while big artists automatically gained a place in the final, performing their songs during the first two nights without being subject to a vote.[7]
Voting system
The voting system for this edition was agreed upon by the festival's organisers and union representatives. Fourteen juries located in different Italian cities voted in each show, but only six were drawn at random and used to determine the results.[8][9] Juries were composed of thirty members, each with one vote.[8][10] After the first two nights, the four newcomer artists that received the most votes advanced to the final.[8] In the final, only the winner was announced, all other finalists declared tied runners-up and the full ranking never revealed.[9][11]
Competing entries
A total of 137 songs were submitted for the competition.[12][13] The festival's competing entries were divided into two categories: big and newcomer artists. Songs competing in the big artists section were chosen directly by the festival's organisers, Gianni Ravera, Elio Gigante and Vittorio Salvetti, who announced the list of fourteen entries on 20 February.[14]
A nine-member special commission including university students, musicians and record producers was tasked with selecting twelve of the submitted songs for the newcomers section.[15] The song selection process took place in the Hotel Astoria in Sanremo and was recorded via closed-circuit television cameras, able to viewed live by journalists and record producers.[12] The commission decided to select fourteen songs, which were then paired with artists proposed by record labels and announced on 21 February.[12][16]
| Song | Artist | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "In controluce" | Al Bano | |
| "Questa è la mia vita" | Domenico Modugno |
|
| "A modo mio" | Gianni Nazzaro | |
| "Senza titolo" | Gilda Giuliani |
|
| "Ciao cara, come stai?" | Iva Zanicchi |
|
| "Mon ami Tango" | Les Charlots |
|
| "Cavalli bianchi" | Little Tony |
|
| "Sole giallo" | Middle of the Road |
|
| "Monica delle bambole" | Milva |
|
| "Innamorati" | Mino Reitano |
|
| "Ah! L'amore" | Mouth and MacNeal |
|
| "Il matto del villaggio" | Nicola Di Bari | |
| "Occhi rossi" | Orietta Berti |
|
| "Un po' di coraggio" | Rosanna Fratello |
|
| Song | Artist | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "Sta piovendo dolcemente" | Anna Melato |
|
| "Per una donna, donna" | Antonella Bottazzi | Antonella Bottazzi |
| "Se hai paura" | Domodossola |
|
| "Capelli sciolti" | Donatella Rettore |
|
| "Il mio volo bianco" | Emanuela Cortesi |
|
| "Fiume grande" | Franco Simone | Franco Simone |
| "Canta con me" | Kambiz | |
| "La canta" | Orchestra Spettacolo Casadei |
|
| "La donna quando pensa" | Paola Musiani |
|
| "Valentin tango" | Piero Focaccia |
|
| "Complici" | Riccardo Fogli | |
| "Qui" | Rossella |
|
| "Ricomincerei" | Sonia Gigliola Conti | |
| "Notte dell'estate" | Valentina Greco |
|
Shows
The festival consisted of three shows held between 7 and 9 March 1974. The first two nights were broadcast only on radio and consisted of fourteen songs each, split equally between songs by big and newcomer artists. Four songs by newcomers qualified from the first two nights to join the fourteen big artists in the final, creating a total of eighteen songs.[10] A draw to decide the running order for the first two nights took place during rehearsals in Milan on 28 February.[18][19]
All shows were presented by Corrado, who was assisted by Gabriella Farinon.[7] The radio broadcasts for the first two nights were directed by Adriana Parrella, while the television director for the final was Enrico Moscatelli.[20][21][22]
First night
The first night took place on 7 March 1974 at 20:40 CET.[20][23] Seven newcomers and seven big artists performed their song.
| R/O | Song | Artist | Points | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Notte dell'estate" | Valentina Greco | 39 | 3 |
| 2 | "Se hai paura" | Domodossola | 40 | 2 |
| 3 | "Capelli sciolti" | Donatella Rettore | 10 | 11 |
| 4 | "Canta con me" | Kambiz | 31 | 7 |
| 5 | "Qui" | Rossella | 8 | 12 |
| 6 | "La canta" | Orchestra Spettacolo Casadei | 36 | 5 |
| 7 | "Ricomincerei" | Sonia Gigliola Conti | 16 | 10 |
| R/O | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A modo mio" | Gianni Nazzaro |
| 2 | "Senza titolo" | Gilda Giuliani |
| 3 | "Il matto del villaggio" | Nicola Di Bari |
| 4 | "Ah! L'amore" | Mouth and MacNeal |
| 5 | "Cavalli bianchi" | Little Tony |
| 6 | "Un po' di coraggio" | Rosanna Fratello |
| 7 | "In controluce" | Al Bano |
Second night
The second night took place on 8 March 1974 at 20:40 CET.[21][26] Seven newcomers and seven big artists performed their song. The four newcomers that received the most points from the jury were selected for the final.[11]
| R/O | Song | Artist | Points | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Il mio volo bianco" | Emanuela Cortesi | 49 | 1 |
| 2 | "Valentin tango" | Piero Focaccia | 25 | 8 |
| 3 | "La donna quando pensa" | Paola Musiani | 3 | 14 |
| 4 | "Fiume grande" | Franco Simone | 35 | 6 |
| 5 | "Per una donna, donna" | Antonella Bottazzi | 4 | 13 |
| 6 | "Complici" | Riccardo Fogli | 25 | 8 |
| 7 | "Sta piovendo dolcemente" | Anna Melato | 39 | 3 |
| R/O | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Occhi rossi" | Orietta Berti |
| 2 | "Innamorati" | Mino Reitano |
| 3 | "Mon ami Tango" | Les Charlots |
| 4 | "Ciao cara, come stai?" | Iva Zanicchi |
| 5 | "Questa è la mia vita" | Domenico Modugno |
| 6 | "Sole giallo" | Middle of the Road |
| 7 | "Monica delle bambole" | Milva |
Final night
The final night took place on 9 March 1974 at 20:40 CET.[22] The eighteen finalists performed their songs again and a winner was chosen.[27] A pre-recorded stand-up comedy routine performed by actor Walter Chiari was featured in the show before the announcement of the winner.[28]
The winning song was "Ciao cara, come stai?" written by Cristiano Malgioglio, Italo Ianne, Dinaro and Claudio Daiano, and performed by Iva Zanicchi.[27][28][29] This marked Zanicchi's third victory at the festival, making her the female performer with the highest number of wins.[17]
| R/O | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Un po' di coraggio" | Rosanna Fratello |
| 2 | "Cavalli bianchi" | Little Tony |
| 3 | "Senza titolo" | Gilda Giuliani |
| 4 | "Sole giallo" | Middle of the Road |
| 5 | "Occhi rossi" | Orietta Berti |
| 6 | "Il matto del villaggio" | Nicola Di Bari |
| 7 | "Mon ami Tango" | Les Charlots |
| 8 | "Notte dell'estate" | Valentina Greco |
| 9 | "A modo mio" | Gianni Nazzaro |
| 10 | "Questa è la mia vita" | Domenico Modugno |
| 11 | "Monica delle bambole" | Milva |
| 12 | "Innamorati" | Mino Reitano |
| 13 | "Se hai paura" | Domodossola |
| 14 | "Il mio volo bianco" | Emanuela Cortesi |
| 15 | "In controluce" | Al Bano |
| 16 | "Sta piovendo dolcemente" | Anna Melato |
| 17 | "Ah! L'amore" | Mouth and MacNeal |
| 18 | "Ciao cara, come stai?" | Iva Zanicchi |
Broadcasts
Local broadcast
The first two nights were broadcast via radio on Secondo Programma beginning at 20:40 CET.[20][21][23][26] The final night was broadcast on both Programma Nazionale (television) and Secondo Programma (radio) at 20:40 CET.[22]
International broadcast
The final was broadcast via the Eurovision network in other countries.[32] It was also broadcast live in cinemas throughout the United States and Canada.[8][24] 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina |
Río de la Plata TV | Canal 13[a] | Cacho Fontana | [33] |
| Rivadavia Televisión | Tevedos[a] | |||
 Chile |
UCTV | Canal 13[b] | Pepe Guixé | [34] |
 Greece |
EIRT | EIRT[c] | [35] | |
 Hungary |
MTV | MTV1[d] | [36] | |
 South Korea |
MBC[e] | Lee Hae-seong | [37] | |
 Turkey |
TRT | TRT Televizyon | [38] | |
| İl radyosu[f] | [39] | |||
 Yugoslavia |
JRT | TV Beograd 1[g] | [40] | |
| Radio Belgrade 1[g] | ||||
Incidents and controversies
Attempt to increase the number of finalists
On 6 March, the festival's organisers received a letter from record labels requesting the number of spots in the final for newcomer artists be raised from four to six. The organisers considered the request, but in order to accommodate the extra performances, needed approval from RAI to extend the broadcast time.[41] After the second night concluded, the Orchestra Spettacolo Casadei, who placed fifth in the newcomers ranking, was stopped by the traffic police on their way back to Emilia-Romagna and informed by one of the organisers, Vittorio Salvetti, that they would perform again in the final.[28] However, RAI refused to extend the event’s broadcast time and the idea was abandoned.[29] Leader of the group, Raoul Casadei, stated he would never participate in the festival again as a result of the incident.[28]