Will the Royal Rumble of catchphrases have a winner?

Remember what was the summer hit from last year? No? And what about summer 2024? Neither? Don’t worry: it’s not your problem. From the summer of last year to this year, so much has come out music that it’s impossible to remember which songs were on a year ago. Just think that the New Music Friday each week features around eighty releases deemed “relevant”, which change from week to week. Do a calculation: from June 17, 2025 al June 17, 2026 have passed 52 weeks. 52 multiplied by 80 is 4,160. That is to say 4,160 new songsat least. A continuous turnover where everything is destined for transience and nothing seems to really resist. For the record: last year’s hit was “I like it” by Alfa with Manu Chao, revisitation of “You like me”. The one in 2024 was “Short stories” of Annalisa and Tananai. And this year? The answer, as always, will come in September, when i numbers they will have given their verdict and the playlist they will have stopped updating at the speed of light. But already in mid-June the race started and there are many candidates. Maybe too many.

What does it mean to release a summer song?

The feeling is that the contemporary catchphrase is no longer a shared phenomenon as in the past 2000swhen one song really managed to monopolize radio, beaches and discos. Today success is fragmented, distributed among algorithms, social networks and streaming platforms. Yet the industry continues to search for the magic formula of the summer hit. After all, the summer one remains one of the two market windows most important of the year for Italian musicsecond only to Sanremo. A window into which everyone rushes, trying to maximize the result with the minimum possible friction: publishing a summer song doesn’t just mean aiming for the passages radiobut also guarantees a constant presence on the various stages festival organized around the Peninsula, with consequent passages television and a promotional cycle that feeds itself between radio, streaming and social media. Speaking of fragmentarity: the legacy of Festivalbarthe last edition of which aired in 2007 and whose brand has remained frozen ever since, was picked up – so to speak – by a myriad of summer festivals scattered throughout the national territory. A more dispersed system, but also more widespread, which multiplies the opportunities for visibility without really focusing attention on a single dominant event. On Rai 1in July, the four appointments of the Tim Summer Hitsrecorded from 21 to 24 June in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, conducted by Carlo Conti And Andrea Delogu. On Channel 5Instead, he comes back Live beatshosted by Ilary Blasi together with Fabio Rovazzi And Daniele Battagliaconfirming itself as one of the most recognizable events of the Italian television summer. The race for the title of hit will then symbolically close Power Hits Summer 2026 Of RTL 102.5with the final evening atVerona Arena broadcast exclusively after the years in which the live broadcast was entrusted to Tv8: an event that, in fact, crystallizes the photography of the Italian summer musiccrowning – at least for one night – the most played song of the summer.

Like in wrestling

It follows that the race for the title of summer hit has now turned into one Royal Rumble. You know the spectacular elimination match of wrestlingin which 30 fighters face each other in the ring together, entering at regular intervals, including pushes, falls and sudden returns? Here: that’s the dynamic. A organized chaos in which each new song tries to carve out space for itself while the others remain clinging to rankings, trends, playlists. There, in the end, there is a winner. Only one. I wonder if the same thing can be said about the catchphrase competition. To continue playing with the reference to the Royal Rumble, only two wrestlers who entered with number 1 managed to win in the history of the match: Shawn Michaels And Chris Benoit. And perhaps, in the game of catchphrases, “Obsession” by Samurai Jay could aspire to have the same success: it is the song that seems to have what it takes to be the soundtrack to the summer 2026even if it has been in the rankings, always at the top, for a long time 16 weeksas many as have passed since the end of Sanremo Festivalwhere it sensationally ranked only seventeenth (out of thirty). Released in February, months before all the other summer singles, it counts beyond 60 million streams on Spotify: a number destined to continue to grow between now and September. Numbers that tell of a rare enthusiasm for an Italian song.

The pursuers

Many are chasing behind. Fred De Palma returns to its natural habitat with “The head is spinning”flanked by Anitta and Emis Killa. Rhythms Latinsimmediate chorus and cocktail atmosphere on the seafront: a recipe that has already given the rapper more than one summer success in the past. Then there is Serena Brancaleprotagonist of a double offensive. On the one hand “To my country”together with Levant And Deliaamplified by a vigorous advertising campaign linked to the new model produced by a well-known car manufacturer. On the other “Partenope” Of Merk & Kremont with i The Kolorslooking at Pino Daniele of the early 80s. And just me The Kolorsveterans of Italian summers, respond with “Rolling Stones”although less inspired than “Italo disco” And “One boy one girl”. In the race the Nuclear Tactical Penguinsprobably the Italian band that best interpreted the modern concept of catchphrase. This year they’re trying “Sorry sorry I don’t hear it”a title that already seems designed to become a collective mantra among TikTok and karaoke. Alphaafter having conquered the past summer, attempts an encore together with Jovanotti with “Good wind”. A generational meeting. Among the latest entries is that of Marco Mengoni And Angelina Mangowho combine their voices in “Love Song”: This might be a surprise.

Between Spain, South America and country

Thomas Paradiseinstead, chooses the pop nostalgia of “Shake Coca Cola”. The adrenaline of mistakes, the sponsorships that cheat you, the Champions League nights, the photos that break your phone: it’s his stuff. Irama look at Spain with “Cabana”flirting with the flamencoWhile Gaia focus on atmospheres South American with “Our boss”embellished by the writing of Riccardo Zanotti gods themselves Nuclear Tactical Penguins. Among the possible outsiders is Sayf with “Happy Sunday”While Francesco Gabbani plays the most explicit card of all with “Summer Funk”. Naomi point up “What are you doing this evening”, Elettra Lamborghini on “Bam bam baby girl” And Sal Da Vinci on “Poetry”. The most eccentric and perhaps original bet bears the signature of J-Axwith the country Of “Hippy Ya Yo (But also not)”. There will only be one left. Or maybe none.