This is the week that sees the start of the Sanremo Music Festival, the popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo,Italy,where previously unreleased songs battle it out for the top prize. It has been part of the Italian musical landscape since ,initially on radio, 1951 and then since 1955 when Rai Uno started televising it. Its claim to fame is that it was the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest.. Not only has the San Remo Festival been where several major stars have been born, including the likes of Andrea Bocelli , Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti, Nek. Giliola Cinquetti, Dalida but it is also where a whole load of international artists’ big hits were heard first. Dantemag is celebrating this event by providing our interested readers with a quick and easy retrospective of some of the most famous songs. Stay tuned!

I.
We begin with “Volare”, sung by Domenico Modugno, which won in 1958. Since then, it has been covered and rearranged by artists from all over the world including Bobby Rydell, Dean Martin, Al Martino, Jerry Vale, David Bowie, Cliff Richard, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Dalida, Gipsy Kings, Chico & the Gypsies, Deana Martin and Barry White.

II.
“Quando, Quando, Quando” featured in1962 where it was sung by Tony Renis, who was also the original writer. It became an international hit, taken up by other Italian artists including Caterina Valente and sung in translation by a host of well-known stars like Engelbert Humperdinck.,Tito Rodríguez, Roberto Blanco.Sinn Sisamouth, in Estonian by no less than three different national singers namely Tiiu Varik Mati Nuudeand Toomas Anni  with even a Cambodian version in the 1960s! Latterly Fergie and will.i.am performed it in English in the 2009 film of the musical “Nine” With Pat Boone, who recorded it in 1962, the only one to call it “When, When, When”, as a result, ‘quando’ is one of the few Italian words the English-speaking world remembers best! .

III.
The third song that made history at the San Remo Festival was in 1965 and it was called in the original Italian “Io che non vivo (senza te)” ( I, can’t live without you), written and sung by Pino Donaggio. It actually only came seventh but when later released became No. 1 in the Italian charts. However, a British singer called Dusty Springfield, who was taking part in the festival, happened to be in the audience and, despite not understanding a word, fell in love with the tune. A year later, with the help of song-writer Vicki Wickham, she brought out “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” , which proved to be her most successful hit single, reaching No.1 in the UK[2] and No.4 in the States.  See the video to find out who else sang this song, including Elvis Presley,  Denise Welch,  Red Hurley. Wall Street Crash. “En koskaan” – in Finnish,. Luis Miguel, Taylor Dane and many many others.

IV.
“Maledetta Primavera” (Damned Springtime) was performed by Italian singer Loretta Goggi in 1981, at the 31^st and later cover versions became hits in several other countries around the world. In Latin America, Mexican singer YuriI sold 35 million copies in Mexico alone. “Maldita Primavera” topped the single charts in Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Venezuela and Costa Rica.[1] Finnish singer Paula Koivuniemibrought out the Finnish version “Aikuinen Nainen” in 1982. It became a major success in her country and she has performed it at live concerts ever since.[2] Caterina Valente in German sang the cover “Das kommt nie wieder”. In Holland, Dana Winner sang  “Vrij als een vogel”. Maja Blagdan gave us the Croatian version “Zaboravi” and Petra Janů’s Czech version “Moje malá premiéra” became hugely popular.

IV.
“Non Amarmi” (Don’t love me) is the title of the song sang at the San remo Music festival in 91 in the best newcomer category by Aleandro Baldi and Francesca Aliotta. the song would subsequently be nominated in the Spanish version “No me Ames” Jennifer Lopez, no less, with Marc Anthony produced at the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, in the category Best Pop Performance by a Duo/Group with Vocals.

VI.
Last but not least we come to the music that has established Andrea Bocelli one of the most celebrated artists at the current time. He first sang “Con te partiro’” at San Remo in 1995 and ever since that moment he has not looked back, as a result becoming a worldwide sensation.

He topped the charts, first in France, where it became one of the best selling singles of all time, and then in Belgium, breaking the all-time record sales there. A second version of the song, sung partly in English, released in 1996 as “Time to Say Goodbye”, paired Bocelli with British soprano, Sarah Brightman, and achieved even greater success, topping charts all across Europe, including Germany, where it became the biggest-selling single in history.[1][2] That version alone has now sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Bocelli has also recorded a full Spanish version of the song, entitled “Por Ti Volaré” (For You I Will Fly). “Con te partiro’”, in all three versions, has become Bocelli’s signature number. In addition cover versions have also been brought out lately by pop group Wampire week end from New York see the video here…

The San Remo Festival is also a carnival of style and fashion and we would like to end this week of memories with the best style performance ever made in the history of this event. Patty Pravo. one of the best loved Italian female artists made a comeback appearance in 1984. Her wardrobe was designed by Gianni Versace and her show left everybody speechless!. Forget about Lady Gaga and Miles Cyrus, this lady knows how to captivate an audience. But see it for yourself. With her song Per una bambola ( for a doll) she has won the critic award that year.