Sanremo Music Festival 1977
| Sanremo Music Festival 1977 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates and venue | |
| First night |
|
| Second night |
|
| Final night |
|
| Venue | Teatro Ariston Sanremo, Italy |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | Vittorio Salvetti |
| Production | |
| Broadcaster | Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) |
| Directors | Adriana Parrella Antonio Moretti |
| Presenters | Maria Giovanna Elmi Mike Bongiorno (final) |
| Vote | |
| Number of entries | 12 |
| Winner | "Bella da morire" Homo Sapiens |
The Sanremo Music Festival 1977 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 1977), officially the 27th Italian Song Festival (27º Festival della canzone italiana), was the 27th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo between 3 and 5 March 1977. It was organised by Vittorio Salvetti under sponsorship from the municipality of Sanremo and broadcast by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). The first two nights were presented by Maria Giovanna Elmi, who joined Mike Bongiorno in presenting the final.
It was the first edition to take place at the Teatro Ariston instead of the Sanremo Casino, and the format uniquely constituted the competing songs eliminated through a series of duels during the final night. The winning song was "Bella da morire" performed by the band Homo Sapiens.
Format
The municipality of Sanremo received seven different proposals to organise the festival's 1977 edition.[1] In January 1977, after narrowing down the list of proposals to two submitted by the festival's former organisers Vittorio Salvetti and Gianni Ravera, the Sanremo municipal council voted in favour of entrusting the event's organisation to Salvetti for the second year in a row, receiving twenty-three votes in comparison to nine for Ravera.[2][3] As part of the agreement, the municipality provided Salvetti with funding for the venue, while he was given the responsibility of financing the rest of the event's expenses.[2]
The municipality's agreement with Salvetti also included a stipulation he include an orchestra in the event with a minimum of forty members that would accompany the competing songs, as apposed to having artists perform solely to a backing track like the previous year.[2]
The festival's usual venue, the ballroom of the Sanremo Casino, underwent renovations starting in 1976 that prevented it from hosting the event in 1977. Therefore the Teatro Ariston was chosen as the venue for the first time in the festival's history.[1][4] In comparison to the casino, the theatre was able to house around two thousand seats and featured less expensive ticket prices.[5][6] Although intended to be temporary, the theatre would go on to serve as the festival's permanent venue in subsequent years.[7][8] The stage was designed by Milos Anelli Monti.[9]
In a change from previous years, the festival's first two nights did not function to eliminate any of the competing songs. Instead, the first two nights were titled Sanremo Incontro and featured the competing artists performing songs from their repertoire alongside their entry for the festival, without being subject to a vote.[10] The artists were divided equally between the two nights and given a fifteen-minute time slot to perform during the show, also free to be introduced on stage by a guest of their choice.[10][11]
Voting
The final night contained a series of competitions across three rounds to select a winning song. For the first round, the twelve artists were divided into six duels, randomly drawn before the final in accordance with record companies, and performed consecutively with both artists positioned on a side of the stage.[9][12] A jury with twenty-five members, consisting of sixteen randomly drawn audience members and nine randomly drawn telephone subscribers, were situated under the stage and watched the performances via television monitors, voting immediately after each pair of artists performed.[13][14] Jurors indicated their preference for one of the songs by pressing a button that illuminated a box on a scoreboard above the stage on the side of their preferred artist.[9][14] The song that garnered the most votes in each duel advanced to a semi-final, where the six remaining songs were divided into new duels and shortened versions of the songs were performed. The three duel winners from the semi-final advanced to a final, also containing shortened performances, in which the jury voted to decide the winning song.[9]
For the first time, the festival concluded with a concert tour titled Sanremo in tournée, which consisted of the competing artists performing their entries in various Italian cities throughout March. The tour was presented as a chance for the public to determine their own ranking of the songs, with a vote taking place in each city. After the tour's conclusion, the results were added together and the final ranking was announced during a show held in April.[10][15][16]
Competing entries
The festival's organiser, Vittorio Salvetti, chose artists for the competition in collaboration with record companies, specifically selecting artists that were established, but had yet to have major success, labeling them as "big artists of tomorrow".[10][17] As specified by the regulations, only twelve entries were selected, which makes the edition hold the record for the fewest competing songs in the festival's history.[8][10] The participating artists and their songs were announced on 16 February.[5]
| Song | Artist | Songwriter(s) | Conductor |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Bella da morire" | Homo Sapiens |
|
Ezio Leoni |
| "Carmela" | Donatella Rettore |
|
Natale Massara |
| "Con te ci sto" | Umberto Napolitano | Umberto Napolitano | Massimo Salerno |
| "Dedicato a te" | Santino Rocchetti | Rodolfo Grieco | |
| "E invece con te…" | Daniela Davoli | Marcello Faneschi | |
| "Gran Premio" | Albatros |
|
Victor Bach |
| "Io ti porterei" | Leano Morelli | Leano Morelli | Pinuccio Pirazzoli |
| "Ma perché?" | Matia Bazar | No conductor | |
| "Miele" | Il Giardino dei Semplici | Renato Angiolini | |
| "Monica" | I Santo California |
|
Giacomo Simonelli |
| "Tesoro mio" | La Strana Società |
|
Alberto Baldan Bembo |
| "Tu mi rubi l'anima" | Collage |
|
Marcello Faneschi |
Shows
The festival consisted of three shows held between 3 and 5 March 1977.[10] The first two nights were broadcast only on radio and presented by Maria Giovanna Elmi, who assisted Mike Bongiorno in presenting the final night.[19][20] The radio director for the shows was Adriana Parrella, while the television director was Antonio Moretti.[21][22][3] The song "Theme from King Kong (Pt. II)" recorded by The Love Unlimited Orchestra was used as the festival's opening theme.[9] Rehearsals began in Milan on 28 February at a recording studio and moved to the Teatro Ariston on 2 March.[23][24]
After the broadcast portion of the first two nights, guest artists performed on stage and were recorded as part of television specials intended to be aired at a later date, with Chocolat's, Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble, Juli & Julie, Asha Puthli, Kenji Niinuma and Akira Sachie performing during the first night, and Rick Dees, Wess Machine and John Miles, performing an extended set of songs from his album "Stranger in the City", during the second night.[25][20][26]
A gala dedicated to celebrating the centenary of Thomas Edison's invention of the phonograph was held at the Teatro Ariston on 6 March, organised as a collateral event to the festival by Vittorio Salvetti. It was hosted by the actor Alberto Lupo and featured performances from both Italian and international artists, including Gigliola Cinquetti, Roberto Murolo, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Roberto Cappello, Paco de Lucía, Gianni Basso, Chet Baker, Domenico Modugno and Barry White, who performed an extended 40-minute set, in addition to the festival's winners, Homo Sapiens performing their winning song. The event was recorded to be aired on television in different countries, with RAI broadcasting it on 30 June.[15][27][28]
First night
The first night was held on 3 March 1977.[21] The first set of six artists performed their entries alongside other songs from their repertoire. The guests that introduced the artists were the impressionist Franco Rosi for La Strana Società, the actress Marina Fabbri for Santino Rocchetti, the singer Loretta Goggi for Il Giardino dei Semplici, the actor Duilio Del Prete for Donatella Rettore, the singer Franco Simone for the Homo Sapiens and the two groups Paco Andorra and Pennsylvania for I Santo California.[12][29]
| R/O | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Tesoro mio" | La Strana Società |
| 2 | "Dedicato a te" | Santino Rocchetti |
| 3 | "Miele" | Il Giardino dei Semplici |
| 4 | "Carmela" | Donatella Rettore |
| 5 | "Bella da morire" | Homo Sapiens |
| 6 | "Monica" | I Santo California |
Second night
The second night was held on 4 March 1977.[22] The second set of six artists performed their entries alongside other songs from their repertoire.[14] Only one of the artists opted to be introduced by a guest, Albatros, who chose Tony Martucci.[11][32]
| R/O | Song | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Con te ci sto" | Umberto Napolitano |
| 2 | "Gran Premio" | Albatros |
| 3 | "E invece con te…" | Daniela Davoli |
| 4 | "Tu mi rubi l'anima" | Collage |
| 5 | "Io ti porterei" | Leano Morelli |
| 6 | "Ma perché?" | Matia Bazar |
Final night
The final night was held on 5 March 1977.[3] The twelve competing songs were performed again, divided into six duels, with six songs qualifying to the semi-final. The semi-final was divided into three duels, with three songs further qualifying to the final where a winner was chosen.[9] During the show, technical issues occurred with the mechanism used by jury members to display their votes on the scoreboard, causing the results for the first four duels to total 24 points and the fifth duel to total 26 points.[9][33]
Guest appearances during the show included Domenico Modugno performing his song "Il vecchietto", Love Unlimited performing their song "I Did It for Love", Barry White performing his song "I'm Qualified to Satisfy You", Wess and Dori Ghezzi performing their song "Amore bellissimo", Iva Zanicchi performing her song "Arrivederci padre", Rick Dees performing his songs "Disco Duck" and "Dis-Gorilla", John Miles performing his song "Remember Yesterday", Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble performing their song "Allah, Allah", Marcella performing her song "Abbracciati" and Chocolat's performing their song "King of Clubs".[9][32]
The winning song was "Bella da morire" written by Renato Pareti and Alberto Salerno, performed by the band Homo Sapiens.[13]
| Duel | R/O | Song | Artist | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | "Tesoro mio" | La Strana Società | 8 | 2 |
| 2 | "Io ti porterei" | Leano Morelli | 16 | 1 | |
| II | 3 | "Bella da morire" | Homo Sapiens | 13 | 1 |
| 4 | "E invece con te…" | Daniela Davoli | 11 | 2 | |
| III | 5 | "Ma perché?" | Matia Bazar | 10 | 2 |
| 6 | "Miele" | Il Giardino dei Semplici | 14 | 1 | |
| IV | 7 | "Con te ci sto" | Umberto Napolitano | 8 | 2 |
| 8 | "Monica" | I Santo California | 16 | 1 | |
| V | 9 | "Gran Premio" | Albatros | 18 | 1 |
| 10 | "Carmela" | Donatella Rettore | 8 | 2 | |
| VI | 11 | "Dedicato a te" | Santino Rocchetti | 6 | 2 |
| 12 | "Tu mi rubi l'anima" | Collage | 19 | 1 |
| Duel | R/O | Song | Artist | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | "Tu mi rubi l'anima" | Collage | 14 | 1 |
| 2 | "Miele" | Il Giardino dei Semplici | 11 | 2 | |
| II | 3 | "Gran Premio" | Albatros | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | "Monica" | I Santo California | 21 | 1 | |
| III | 5 | "Io ti porterei" | Leano Morelli | 8 | 2 |
| 6 | "Bella da morire" | Homo Sapiens | 17 | 1 |
| R/O | Song | Artist | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Tu mi rubi l'anima" | Collage | 7 | 2 |
| 2 | "Monica" | I Santo California | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | "Bella da morire" | Homo Sapiens | 17 | 1 |
Other awards
Sanremo in tournée
The concert tour Sanremo in tournée was held after the festival between 9 and 31 March 1977 in the Italian cities of Ferrara, Bologna, Modena, Ravenna, Ancona, Mantua, Parma, Padua, Modena, Florence, Magliano Alpi, Pistoia and Teramo.[15][34]
Votes between the festival's competing songs were held in cities throughout the tour and added together to form a new ranking, announced during a show held in the opera house of the Sanremo Casino on 6 April titled Il festival un mese dopo. The winning song was "Ma perché?" written by Carlo Marrale, Piero Cassano and Salvatore Stellita, performed by the band Matia Bazar, while the festival's winners, Homo Sapiens, finished in fourth place.[34][35][36]
| Song | Artist | Place |
|---|---|---|
| "Ma perché?" | Matia Bazar | 1 |
| "Tu mi rubi l'anima" | Collage | 2 |
| "Miele" | Il Giardino dei Semplici | 3 |
| "Bella da morire" | Homo Sapiens | 4 |
| "Dedicato a te" | Santino Rocchetti | 5 |
| "Io ti porterei" | Leano Morelli | 6 |
| "Con te ci sto" | Umberto Napolitano | 7 |
| "Carmela" | Donatella Rettore | 8 |
| "Gran Premio" | Albatros | 9 |
| "Tesoro mio" | La Strana Società | 10 |
| "E invece con te…" | Daniela Davoli | 11 |
| "Monica" | I Santo California | 12 |
Broadcasts
Local broadcast
The first two nights were broadcast on Rai Radio 1 beginning at 21:05 CET.[21][22] The final was broadcast on both Rete Uno and Rai Radio 1 beginning at 20:40 CET. A complementary radio commentary track for the television broadcast of the final was provided by actress Adriana Asti and philosopher Umberto Eco, broadcast on Rai Radio 3.[3] Although RAI had produced the festival in colour since the 1973 edition, this was the first edition broadcast in colour on Rete Uno.[31][9]
International broadcasts
The final was broadcast abroad via the Eurovision and Intervision networks.[3][10] It was reportedly broadcast in over twenty countries, including the Soviet Union, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Tunisia, Lebanon, Libya, and Czechoslovakia.[23] 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chile |
UCTV | Canal 13[a] | [37] | |
 Greece |
EIRT | EIRT | [38] |
Notes and references
Notes
References
- 1 2 B., R. (27 December 1976). "Sanremo: scoppia la guerra per il festival". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 108, no. 280. p. 2. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Marraccini, Omero (19 January 1977). "Salvetti-Ravera a Sanremo "spaccano„ la dc". La Stampa (in Italian). Vol. 111, no. 12. p. 11. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5
- "Televisione sabato 5 marzo" [Television Saturday 5 March]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 54, no. 9. Turin, Italy. 27 February – 5 March 1977. pp. 81–83. Retrieved 9 August 2026 – via Rai Teche.
- "Radio sabato 5 marzo" [Radio Saturday 5 March]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 54, no. 9. Turin, Italy. 27 February – 5 March 1977. p. 84–85. Retrieved 9 August 2026 – via Rai Teche.
- ↑ O., R. (11 December 1976). "Il Festival lascia il Casinò". La Stampa (Cronache della Liguria) (in Italian). Vol. 110, no. 273. p. 1. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
- 1 2 M., G. (17 February 1977). "Umberto Eco sul video tra i "big„ di Sanremo". La Stampa (in Italian). Vol. 111, no. 33. p. 7. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Lora, Giancarlo (5 February 1977). "Il Festival di Sanremo resterà sui vecchi binari". L'Unità (in Italian). Vol. 54, no. 32. p. 11. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ "Sanremo sfratta il Festival 1977". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 108, no. 252. 20 November 1976. p. 2. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Anselmi, Eddy (2009). Festival di Sanremo: almanacco illustrato della canzone italiana (in Italian). Modena: Panini. ISBN 978-88-6346-229-6.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 XXVII Festival della canzone italiana (Television production) (in Italian). Radiotelevisione italiana. 5 March 1977.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sanremo: eliminazione diretta tra i dodici cantanti in gara". Libertà (in Italian). Vol. 95, no. 24. 4 February 1977. p. 6. Retrieved 11 August 2026 – via Biblioteca Passerini-Landi.
- 1 2 Repetto, Aldo (5 March 1977). "Il festival punta sugli ospiti". Libertà (in Italian). Vol. 95, no. 44. p. 10. Retrieved 14 August 2026 – via Biblioteca Passerini-Landi.
- 1 2 3 Fornari, Francesco (4 March 1977). "Canzoni d'amore come una volta". La Stampa (in Italian). Vol. 111, no. 44. p. 7. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
- 1 2 Fornari, Francesco (6 March 1977). "Modugno salva il Festival". La Stampa (in Italian). Vol. 111, no. 46. p. 9. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Fornari, Francesco (5 March 1977). "Le ultime ore di Sanremo tanta noia, pochi giovani". La Stampa (in Italian). Vol. 111, no. 45. p. 7. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Basso, Roberto (7 March 1977). "Murolo umilia i "pezzi da 90„". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 109, no. 45. p. 21. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "Sanremo cambia". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 109, no. 22. 3 February 1977. p. 21. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Sono tutti vincitori quest'anno a Sanremo". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 109, no. 39. 28 February 1977. p. 13. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
- ↑ "Archivio storico | Festival di Sanremo | 27° edizione: 1977". SIAE (in Italian). Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- ↑ "Sanremo critica se stesso". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 109, no. 40. 1 March 1977. p. 26. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Per Sanremo iniziato il conto alla rovescia". Libertà (in Italian). Vol. 95, no. 40. 1 March 1977. p. 10. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via Biblioteca Passerini-Landi.
- 1 2 3 "Radio giovedì 3 marzo" [Radio Thursday 3 March]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 54, no. 9. Turin, Italy. 27 February – 5 March 1977. p. 68. Retrieved 9 August 2026 – via Rai Teche.
- 1 2 3 "Radio venerdì 4 marzo" [Radio Friday 4 March]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 54, no. 9. Turin, Italy. 27 February – 5 March 1977. p. 76. Retrieved 9 August 2026 – via Rai Teche.
- 1 2 "A Sanremo un Modugno «sconvolgente»". Il Piccolo (in Italian). Vol. 96, no. 9253. 1 March 1977. p. 9. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ "Si è messo in moto il festival di Sanremo". Libertà (in Italian). Vol. 95, no. 41. 2 March 1977. p. 10. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via Biblioteca Passerini-Landi.
- ↑ Basso, Roberto (4 March 1977). "Cantanti in ombra". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 109, no. 43. p. 25. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
- ↑ "Lello Bersani va migliorando". Il Piccolo (in Italian). Vol. 96, no. 9257. 5 March 1977. p. 8. Retrieved 14 August 2026 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ "Questa sera comincia il Festival di Sanremo". Gazzetta di Mantova (in Italian). Vol. 314, no. 61. 3 March 1977. p. 11. Retrieved 14 August 2026 – via Biblioteca digitale lombarda.
- ↑ "Televisione giovedì 30 giugno" [Television Thursday 30 June]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 54, no. 26. Turin, Italy. 26 June – 2 July 1977. pp. 77–79. Retrieved 15 August 2026 – via Rai Teche.
- ↑ "Sanremo: inizio in tono minore". Gazzetta di Mantova (in Italian). Vol. 314, no. 62. 4 March 1977. p. 15. Retrieved 14 August 2026 – via Biblioteca digitale lombarda.
- ↑ "Barry White a Sanremo è giunto come un monarca". Libertà (in Italian). Vol. 95, no. 42. 3 March 1977. p. 9. Retrieved 13 August 2026 – via Biblioteca Passerini-Landi.
- 1 2 "Sanremo: "nuovo corso„". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 109, no. 42. 3 March 1977. p. 25. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Ionio, Daniele (5 March 1977). "Questa sera si chiude Sanremo". L'Unità (in Italian). Vol. 54, no. 57. p. 11. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "Chiede l'annullo per il Festival". La Stampa (in Italian). Vol. 111, no. 47. 8 March 1977. p. 7. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
- 1 2 "«Sanremo in tournée» vinto dal complesso «Matia Bazar»". Libertà (in Italian). Vol. 95, no. 71. 7 April 1977. p. 11. Retrieved 16 August 2026 – via Biblioteca Passerini-Landi.
- 1 2 Basso, Roberto (7 April 1977). "Sono sapienti ma sconfitti". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Vol. 109, no. 71. p. 25. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
- ↑ "Festival di Sanremo con due "vincitori"". La Stampa (in Italian). Vol. 111, no. 72. 7 April 1977. p. 7. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Miscelánea de TV" [TV Miscellaneous] (PDF). El Cronista (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 27 March 1977. p. 30.
- ↑ "Τηλεόρασις" [Television]. Makedonia (in Greek). Thessaloniki, Greece. 5 March 1977. p. 3. Retrieved 12 November 2025 – via National Library of Greece.
