Sanremo Giovani investigates human facets, says Carlo Conti

The new edition of Sanremo Youth is upon us. The competition that aims to stand alongside young artists in the most delicate moment of their artistic journey returns to Rai 2 fromNovember 11th in the late evening, hosted by Gianluca Gazzoli. For four Tuesdays, six artists per episode will compete in direct duels. The musical commission – composed of Ema Stokholma, Carolina Rey, Manola Moslehi, Enrico Cremonesi and Daniele Battaglia – together with Carlo Conti and Claudio Fasulo – the same as last year because, according to the artistic director, “you don’t change a team that wins”, spoke about the new edition at the press conference.

The four episodes – broadcast on 11, 18 and 25 November and 2 December – will bring twelve contestants to the semi-final, from which the six will emerge who will compete in the final on 14 December on Rai 1. Only two of them will gain a pass for the 2026 Sanremo Festival, together with the two winners of Area Sanremo. In the first episode they will perform: Antonia, anyway Martina, Josef, La messa, Renato d’Amico and Xhovana.

The 24 songs (selected from a list of over 500 participants) are already available on RaiPlay, including electronic pop, songwriting and dialect. “There’s a bit of everything musically” explains Conti, “a lot of love, a lot of pop and facets of human feelings. The watchword again this year is absolute seriousness. I am very happy that Gianluca Gazzoli accepted our invitation to host. He is a very good professional and a very good person. I saw in him that enthusiasm, that desire to do things that started from passion, from the heart, from the desire to do things regardless of money, the engine from which the beginning of a career starts. I’m sure he will take these kids by the hand like a big brother.”

Gianluca Gazzoli in turn he doesn’t hide his emotion for this new role: “I see the dots of life coming together, it’s a great joy and a great opportunity for me on a human level even before it is on a professional level. I can’t wait to do it in the best way possible and to share the emotion with the kids who will participate, with whom I share the desire to make dreams come true. I’d like to get their story to the public.”