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Italy is separating the race for Sanremo from the race for Eurovision in 2027, with all 24 competing acts getting a second performance specifically to decide who goes to Burgas.
Rai has published the regulations for the 77th Festival di Sanremo, and there is one change Eurovision fans will notice immediately. The winner of Sanremo 2027 will not automatically represent Italy at Eurovision. Instead, Friday night becomes a new “Performance Night”, with all 24 competing artists performing their Sanremo song in a different staging or performance format.
That evening will have its own completely separate result, decided 50% by the Italian public and 50% by an international expert jury. Whoever tops that ranking gets the Eurovision ticket.
Artists must use the same song for both the Eurovision evening and the Saturday night Sanremo final, but may change its arrangement and present it with different staging, interpretation or performance elements agreed with Rai and artistic director Stefano De Martino. Most importantly, Friday’s result has absolutely no effect on the Sanremo ranking. If the winner cannot or does not wish to take part in Eurovision, Rai will work down the Performance Night ranking until it finds somebody who can.
Sanremo itself changes too
The festival runs from 16 to 20 February 2027, with all 24 artists competing. Twenty-three will be chosen by De Martino, with the winner of Sarà Sanremo 2026 completing the line-up. Public voting now features every night.
The first two competitive nights and Saturday’s final contribute towards the overall Sanremo ranking. The cover night and Performance Night remain separate competitions.
On Saturday, the accumulated results produce a shortlist of between three and five acts. Only the public votes in the final voting round, but that new vote carries 50% of the eventual result, with the other 50% coming from everything those finalists accumulated earlier.
Rai adds that songs must remain products of human creativity and prohibits AI where it replaces, alters or distorts the human creative contribution to the writing, composition or production of the entry.
