Sanremo 2026, led by Paradiso, Lda & Aka7, Nayt, Ermal Meta and Fedez-Masini

Tommaso Paradiso, Lda & Aka7, Nayt, Ermal Meta and Fedez & Masini. They were, in random order, the five Bigs who placed highest at the end of the second evening of Sanremo 2026, in which 15 artists out of the 30 in the main competition performed. These balances were determined by the judgement of the public with the televote (50%) and the Radio Jury (50%). Tomorrow it will be the turn of the remaining 15 Bigs.

It is not a very lucky Festival. It was already clear on the eve of the event, amidst the various vicissitudes that accompanied its organisation, and it was confirmed by the Auditel data of the first evening. And so it came to the second, with the semifinals of the New Proposals to be celebrated and a string of 15 Bigs to be sung.

Carlo Conti, alongside Laura Pausini who finally found a way to sing, tried to reverse the inertia with the team of co-hosts consisting of Achille Lauro, Lillo and Pilar Fogliati. The former, acclaimed by the Ariston, indulged in a candlelit duet with national Laura on 16 March. And later he returns, with soprano Valentina Gargano and a twenty-piece choir, to perform Perdutamente in tribute to the victims of Crans Montana. On the notes of that song, on 7 January, friends and family in Milan said goodbye to 16-year-old Achille Barosi, one of the boys who died in the New Year's Eve fire. Somewhat in search of an author Pilar Fogliati. All it takes for Lillo is a handful of seconds and a gag about the things a good presenter should know how to say to remind us what comedy is, in a Festival so far punctuated here and there by Vincenzo De Lucia's nonsensical imitations. Limiting himself to reading the punctuation in J-Ax's presentation will do even better. Not to mention his performance as a dance master and mambo singer that he gives us in the finale.

The grandeur of Milan Cortina could not be absent: returning from the podiums of the Winter Olympics on stage were Francesca Lollobrigida, winner of two gold medals, and Lisa Vittozzi, Italy's first Olympic gold medallist in the women's pursuit. With them on stage were the Paralympic champions Giacomo Bertagnolli with Andrea Ravelli and Giuliana Turra for wheelchair curling. "Here is a golden mother who gave us emotions," says Carlo Conti introducing Lollobrigida. "The most beautiful emotion," emphasises the athlete, "was seeing my son in the stands, he is the strength that brought me forward. Thanks to the Italia audience who gave us so much love, it is truly a source of pride for me'. Then came the appeal by Turra and Giovanni Malagò, president of the Games' organising committee, who spoke from the audience: 'Follow the Paralympics as you followed the Olympics, with admiration: they are modern heroes who have found their answer, through sport, to win their battles. Thank you Rai'.

Already by now we can say that one of the best moments of the 76th edition of Sanremo at this height of time was the performance by the choir of the La Spezia delegation of Anffas, the national association of families and people with intellectual disabilities, which performed Si può dare di più together with Laura Pausini. Immediately afterwards, Carlo Conti and Pausini approached the choir boys, exchanging some affectionate jokes with them. 'They are the demonstration that those who believe in dreams can one day realise them,' said the singer. The association organises the 'Special festival' every year in La Spezia, a festival in the name of inclusion.