Sal Da Vinci Triumphs in San Remo: 'Per sempre sì' Captures Italian Hearts

This year's edition of the Sanremo Festival ended with the triumph of 56-year-old Sal Da Vinci. The artist, associated with popular music and Neapolitan musical tradition, won thanks to massive support in the SMS vote. This is a spectacular success for the musician, who was rejected by the festival jury in the selections for seventeen consecutive years. He dedicated this success to his city, Naples, and to rapper Geolier, who in previous years also stirred emotions due to the discrepancy between public votes and the professional jury. The road to victory was not free of controversy. Although Sal Da Vinci enjoys the status of a folk hero, the prestigious Accademia della Crusca critically assessed the lyrics of the winning song, accusing it of an excessive accumulation of clichés and banalities. Furthermore, liberal media point to the phenomenon of 'telepopulism,' seeing in the voting result a rebellion of the mass public against the tastes of intellectual elites. Meanwhile, conservative-leaning media praise the artist for his authenticity and fidelity to traditional values. The Apennine Peninsula has been grappling for decades with a strong cultural divide between the north and south of the country, which regularly finds its reflection in popular polls and election results.An interesting thread of the final was the attitude of debutant Sayf, who took second place. The young artist of Tunisian roots, who performed with his mother during the festival, compared his defeat to losing a football championship final in a penalty shootout. Despite taking second place on the podium, Sayf became the fastest-growing performer on social media.