Fiorello names Paola Iezzi for Sanremo 2027 Dopofestival, but she does not confirm

The spoiler on La Pennicanza

Fiorello used the 3 November edition of La Pennicanza, broadcast on Rai Radio 2, to tease the casting of the next Sanremo Festival. Asked who would run the Dopofestival, the late-night show that follows the Festival broadcasts, he first named the Gialappa's Band and then said another presenter would join them. He ruled out two other names, saying the person was neither Barale nor Chiara, before revealing that it would be Paola Iezzi. Fabrizio Biggio co-hosts the programme with him. He framed the reveal as a secret he was not supposed to share.

“They told me not to say anything, but I can't.”

A live call and a non-answer

Fiorello then phoned Iezzi on air and asked whether she already had commitments in February. Her reply confirmed nothing, and she said she could be in Switzerland. Fiorello pressed her about a possible stay in Liguria after the Festival. When she fell silent, he read the pause as 'silenzio assenso', or tacit consent, and Iezzi tried to deny it, telling him the claim was not true and that people say the weather is bad at that time of year. Her reply was the most direct of the exchange:

“Don't ask me these questions because I don't know, I could be in Switzerland...”

Fanpage reported that the first call went unanswered before Fiorello named her, so the name came out without her on the line.

What remains unconfirmed

Fanpage described the Dopofestival as part of the De Martino-era Sanremo, and reported that the Gialappa's Band had been expected to lead the late-night show. According to the outlet, Iezzi was a judge on X Factor for three seasons and has co-hosted Gialappa Show alongside Mago Forest. Biggio told listeners that these were only rumours and that nothing had been confirmed. Fanpage also said Rai's headquarters in Viale Mazzini and the Festival's artistic direction had not yet issued official confirmations. Open placed the spoiler about three months before the 77th edition of the Festival.

Giorgia's surprise visit

Partway through the programme, Giorgia walked into the studio unannounced. She joked that Sky had sent her to Fiorello to negotiate Formula 1 rights with Rai. The visit then turned into a musical moment, with a best-of montage of Fiorello and Giorgia shown before the duet on Stand by Me, sung in alternating Italian and English. The sources give no further detail on the Formula 1 talks.

Other topics on the show

Fiorello also took aim at a report about Russian hackers who had reached household appliances, joking that they had pushed fridges to 50 degrees. He added that a hacked water heater or toilet cistern would leave him without hot water or unable to flush. He mentioned hackers in Egypt who had put videos on advertising billboards, causing chaos in the street. He closed the segment by urging young listeners to make love, not war.