The 66th Sanremo Music Festival kicks off February 9th, 2016

The sixty-sixth Sanremo Music Festival, the Italian Song Festival, will take place at Ariston Theatre in Sanremo from Tuesday February 9^th to Saturday, February 13^th, 2016 and will welcome, for the second time, Carlo Conti as the artistic director and host. The five evenings are shown on Rai 1 (High Definition HD on RAI) and aired on Rai Radio 1 and RAI Radio 2.

The Sanremo Music Festival is the most popular Italian song contest; it is held annually in the city of Sanremo, also site of the singer-songwriters Premio Tenco contest, and consists of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs. The first edition took place between the 29th and the 31st of January 1951.

The Festival begins with 18 singers in the Champions category proposing a new song each, only fourteen of which will participate in the final competition night. The decision to reduce the number of singers in this category - they were 20 in previous editions – has been appreciated by many, as well as the choice of elimination and repechage mechanism which will revitalize the fourth evening.

First evening: nine singers in the Champions category perform, they are voted by televoting (fixed telephony, mobile telephony and web) and the jury of the press room (50% weight for both).

Second evening: nine Champions perform; also the first four singers in the New Proposals category perform and the two winners will participate in the finals (fourth night).

Third evening: the 18 singers in the Champions category perform cover songs sharing the stage with Italian and international guests; the best singer wins a prize. Additionally, four singers in the New Proposals category perform and the two winners will participate in the finals (fourth night).

Fourth evening: the 18 Champions perform singing their new song and are voted by televoting (40% weight), a panel of experts (30%) and the jury opinion poll (30%). The weighted average of the first performance's (the first and second evening) and the second performance's (fourth night) percentages results in the total ranking. The thirteen Top Rated songs go directly to the finals, while the last five compete in a repechage to win the last available place in this category. For the New Proposals Category, the four finalists will compete; the two winning songs will compete and the winner will obtain the first place in the New proposals category.

Fifth and final evening: all previous votes are reset and the fourteen Champions left in the race are re-rated. The three top rated perform again in the finals and their songs are rated from scratch again; the artist with the highest overall percentage of votes is proclaimed winner of the Champions category and is entitled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

The Sanremo Music Festival has launched the careers of many very famous Italian singers, including Andrea Bocelli, Paola e Chiara, Giorgia, Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti, and Gigliola Cinquetti.