Sanremo 2026, led by Arisa, Sayf, Luchè, Brancale and Da Vinci. Filippucci wins among the Young People

Mogol is no Fausto Leali: he does not have to wait until the small hours to collect the Città di Sanremo award, and the occasion turns into a televised moment that celebrates the career of Lucio Battisti's songwriter, of course, but also... Italian cuisine, a Unesco heritage site. Alongside the rampant lion on a palm tree and the golden Siae deposit, Rapetti Giulio is also presented with a celebratory chef's jacket by artistic director Conti. And the audience rises to its feet. "Such a welcome moved me," says Mogol, recalling that he 'deposited 1776 songs with the SIAE and sold 523 million records worldwide, even if no one believes it'.

A few minutes later the Ariston rose to its feet again for Laura Pausini who, accompanied by the children of the Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano and Caivano (a symbolic place for the Meloni government), sang Heal the World by Michael Jackson and shouted: 'We want peace, no more wars'. I wonder what Russian supermodel Irina Shayk thinks about that. Oh, yeah, she said it loud and clear at the press conference: "I don't talk politics".

Speaking of the fight against violence, Conti tells the story of Paolo Sarullo, 25, from Albenga, in the province of Savona, victim of a brutal attack that changed his life forever. "Boys using knives, so much violence, a sign of widespread discomfort and we all have to ask ourselves questions," says the Festival host, who launches the link with Sarullo: "Stop violence against young people. I forgave my attackers, what do I want to say to them? It must never happen again to anyone,' says the young man in the video link.

Superhosts are Alicia Keys and Eros Ramazzotti. She stands at the piano, he is moved by one of the most intimate songs in his repertoire: they sing together for the first time, in a world exclusive and in Italian, L'Aurora, and the duet involves the Ariston. Cheered on by the audience, the American singer-songwriter and musician, who has won 17 Grammys in her career, dodged a bit of microphone trouble and then treated the audience to a giddy rendition on the notes of Empire State of Mind, with the "New York" of the lyrics replaced with "Sanremo".