The return of Jalisse to Sanremo, after 27 years

27: these are the times that Jalisse attempted to return to Sanremo, at the Sanremo Festival which they won in 1997 with their “Fiumi di parole”. Every year they were discarded and in recent years the issue was a sort of social catchphrase, a source of various memes.
The duo made up of Fabio Ricci and Alessandra Drusian finally made it, even if not in the competition: Fiorrello pulled them out of the hat as guests of the Friday evening: they sang directed by both Maestro Beppe Vessicchio (another social icon of the Festival of recent years) and by Maestro Leonardo DeAmicis, who conducts the Ariston orchestra.

With “Fiumi di parole” Jalisse – until then unknown to the general public – in 1997 placed first in the final ranking of the Sanremo Festival, leaving behind, among others, Anna Oxa (second with “Storie”), Syria (third with “Sei tu”), Fausto Leali (fifth with “Non ami che te”), Nek (seventh with “Laura non c’è”) and Patty Pravo (eighth with “E dimmi che non want to die”, which won the Critics’ Award). Jalisse’s victory was a surprise, but the song, once the Festival was over, failed to establish itself in the sales charts. Fabio Ricci and Alessandra Drusian also sang it on the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest, which that year took place in Dublin, Ireland, and the experience all things considered didn’t go badly: the duo placed fourth (the British Katrina & The Waves with “Love shine a light”).

The last appeal for the return of the duo was made by Fred DePalma, saying that his favorite song in the history of the Festival is “Fiumi di parole” by Jalisse and stating: “I say this for two reasons: the first is that the piece is truly a hit; the second is because it was necessary to get Jalisse to come to Sanremo”.