Sanremo Music Festival 1956

Sanremo Music Festival 1956
Dates
Semi-final 18 March 1956
Semi-final 29 March 1956
Final10 March 1956
Host
VenueSanremo Casino
Sanremo, Liguria, Italy
Presenter(s)Fausto Tommei, Maria Teresa Ruta
Artistic directorGiulio Razzi
Host broadcasterProgramma nazionale
Vote
Number of entries20
WinnerFranca Raimondi
"Aprite le finestre"
1955 ← Sanremo Music Festival → 1957

The Sanremo Music Festival 1956 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 1956), officially the 6th Italian Song Festival (6º Festival della canzone italiana), was the sixth annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo between 8 and 10 March 1956. The show was presented by actor Fausto Tommei, assisted by television announcer Maria Teresa Ruta.[1]

The winner of the festival was "Aprite le finestre", performed by Franca Raimondi,[1] and the runner-up was "Amami se vuoi", performed by Tonina Torrielli.

The festival also inspired the international Eurovision Song Contest, which held its inaugural edition this year. The two first placed songs of this edition went on to represent Italy in the contest.

Contest overview

Franca Raimondi, the performer of the winning song

According to the rules of this edition, every song was performed by a newcomer artist in the music scene.[1] The six artists were selected through the competition "Concorso nazionale per voci nuove", or short "Voci nuovi", among 6,446 participants.[1][2][3] After several selection rounds, twelve finalists participated in radio finals held on 12, 13 and 14 January 1956.[2] Radio listeners decided the final six artists for Sanremo by postcard voting.[2]

405 songs were submitted to RAI, 20 of them were selected by a professional jury to compete at the festival, with Orio Vergani [it] acting as jury president.[2][4] The jury included poets, writers and musicians like Angelo Barile [it], Guglielmo Petroni [it], Attilio Bertolucci, Raffaele Gervasio [it], Armando Renzi [it], Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, Fulvio Palmieri and Mario Consiglio [it].[4]

This Sanremo Music Festival edition included twenty songs performed by six singers, spread over three consecutive evenings, in a format of two semi-finals and a final.[2] The first two semi-final nights were held on 8 and 9 March, and the final on 10 March 1956.[2] The festival was closed by an evening starring artists and songs from previous editions of the Sanremo Festival, held on 11 March 1956.[2]

The shows were presented by Fausto Tommei and Maria Teresa Ruta [it].[2] Giulio Razzi [it] served as artistic director.[2] The artists were accompanied by an orchestra under the musical direction of Gian Stellari [it].[2] Each song was presented twice, once sung by one of the artists, and a second time in an instrumental version, this time played by the orchestra of George Melachrino.[5][6] Before the voting started, a short recap of all songs was played on the piano by Alberto Semprini.[7]

Ten songs competed in each semi-final. Five songs from each night advanced to compose again ten songs for the third and final night.[8] The winning song was decided by 14 regional juries consisting each of 15 radio listeners, plus a jury of 70 jurors, chosen by draw from all 900 spectators in the audience in Sanremo.[2][5] The ranking and the points of the final are known while only a part of those of the semi-finals are known.[9]

Semi-final 1

During the first semi-final, a man was arrested for throwing pamphlets, in which he criticised the selection process.[2][10]

Semifinal 1 – 8 March 1956[2][6][7][11][12][13][14]
R/O Artist Song Songwriter(s) Place Points
1 Clara Vincenzi [it] "Lui e lei"
Eliminated
2 Ugo Molinari [it] "Nota per nota"
4 279
3 Franca Raimondi "Il trenino del destino"
Eliminated
4 Luciana Gonzales [it] "La vita è un paradiso di bugie"
1 295
5 Franca Raimondi "Sogni d'or"
Eliminated
6 Ugo Molinari [it] "Albero caduto"
2 281
7 Tonina Torrielli "Qualcosa è rimasto"
Eliminated
8 Gianni Marzocchi [it] "Musetto" Domenico Modugno 5 170
9 Luciana Gonzales [it] "Parole e musica"
Eliminated
10 Tonina Torrielli "Il cantico del cielo"
3 280

Semi-final 2

Semifinal 2 – 9 March 1956[2][13][15][16][17]
R/O Artist Song Songwriter(s) Place Points
1 Clara Vincenzi [it] & Gianni Marzocchi [it] "Anima gemella"
Eliminated
2 Franca Raimondi "Aprite le finestre"
1 308
3 Gianni Marzocchi [it] "Ho detto al sole"
Eliminated
4 Clara Vincenzi [it] "Il trenino di latta verde"
Eliminated
5 Ugo Molinari [it] "Due teste sul cuscino"
2 294
6 Tonina Torrielli "Amami se vuoi"
4 265
7 Franca Raimondi & Gianni Marzocchi [it] "Lucia e Tobia"
Eliminated
8 Tonina Torrielli "Il bosco innamorato"
5 178
9 Ugo Molinari [it], with Luciana Gonzales [it], Franca Raimondi, Tonina Torrielli, Clara Vincenzi [it] "La colpa fu"
3 266
10 Luciana Gonzales [it] "È bello"
Eliminated

Final

According to press reports, the ticket prices for the final were criticised by spectators, composers and singers alike, reaching 16,200 lire.[18] In order to prevent the auditorium from being half-empty, reduced tickets were sold shortly before the final started.[18]

For the voting of the final, 35 spectators from the auditorium were chosen who each distributed two points among their favourite songs, whereas the members of the 14 regional radio juries distributed four points.[18]

Prizes were handed out to the first three places, and the top three songs were performed again at the end of the program.[19][20]

Final – 10 March 1956[1][2][19]
R/O Artist Song Place Points
1 Gianni Marzocchi [it] "Musetto" 8 41
2 Tonina Torrielli "Il bosco innamorato" 6 77
3 Ugo Molinari [it], with Luciana Gonzales [it], Franca Raimondi, Tonina Torrielli, Clara Vincenzi [it] "La colpa fu" 5 88
4 Tonina Torrielli "Amami se vuoi" 2 163
5 Ugo Molinari [it] "Nota per nota" 9 24
6 Tonina Torrielli "Il cantico del cielo" 4 92
7 Ugo Molinari [it] "Albero caduto" 7 76
8 Luciana Gonzales [it] "La vita è un paradiso di bugie" 3 153
9 Ugo Molinari [it] "Due teste sul cuscino" 10 20
10 Franca Raimondi "Aprite le finestre" 1 171
Detailed voting results of the final[14]
Total score
Milan
Turin
Trieste
Bolzano
Venice
Bologna
Genoa
Florence
Ancona
Rome
Naples
Bari
Palermo
Cagliari
Sanremo
"Musetto" 41 4 8 4 4 4 4 4 8 1
"Il bosco innamorato" 77 4 8 4 16 12 4 24 4 1
"La colpa fu" 88 8 12 12 16 4 8 12 4 8 4
"Amami se vuoi" 163 12 8 12 40 4 8 4 8 8 4 12 32 11
"Nota per nota" 24 8 12 4
"Il cantico del cielo" 92 12 8 12 24 16 4 12 4
"Albero caduto" 76 4 4 4 20 4 4 8 12 8 8
"La vita è un paradiso di bugie" 153 4 4 8 4 4 16 12 8 4 12 24 12 8 33
"Due teste sul cuscino" 20 8 4 4 4
"Aprite le finestre" 171 24 8 4 4 24 8 8 28 8 20 4 20 11

Broadcasts

Local broadcast

All shows were broadcast on Italian Television and Secondo Programma, beginning at 22:00 CET (21:00 UTC), with a deferred broadcast on television starting on 22:45 CET for semi-final 1, and 22:15 CET for the final.[2][21][22][23]

International broadcast

The festival was broadcast in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.[24] Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations are shown in the tables below.

International broadcasters of the Sanremo Music Festival 1956
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Refs
 Austria ORF ORF [25]
 Belgium INR INR [26]
NIR NIR [27]
 France RTF RTF [28]
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen [29]
 Netherlands NTS NTS Piet te Nuyl Jr. [24]
  Switzerland SRG SSR SRG [30]

At Eurovision

The two first places of this Sanremo Music Festival edition, "Aprite le finestre" sung by Franca Raimondi, and "Amami se vuoi" sung by Tonina Torrielli, went on to perform at the international Eurovision Song Contest 1956 on 24 May 1956.[31]

There were seven participating countries, and each performed two songs in the same order via two rounds, with Italy performing last in each round, following Luxembourg. "Aprite le finestre" was performed seventh, and "Amami se vuoi" fourteenth as the last song of the evening. An international jury composed of two jurors from each participating country decided the winner:[32] The two Italian jurors were the conductors Tito Petralia [it] and Cinico Angelini.[33]

Only the winner – one of Switzerland's songs – was announced, after the private counting of the votes by the juries, and so the scores and placings of the two Italian songs are unknown.[34][35] The two songs were succeeded as Italian representative at the 1957 contest by Nunzio Gallo with "Corde della mia chitarra".

The Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast on Italian Television, starting at 21:15 CET, and radio station Secondo Programma.[36][37] On the same evening, Italy's first radio station Programma Nazionale broadcast excerpts from the Sanremo Music Festival at 21:45 CET.[37]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Anselmi, Eddy (2009). Festival di Sanremo: almanacco illustrato della canzone italiana (in Italian). Modena: Panini. pp. 74–76. ISBN 978-88-6346-229-6. OCLC 316828267.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Anselmi, Eddy (2020). Il Festival di Sanremo. 70 anni di storie, canzoni, cantanti e serate (in Italian). Milano: DeAgostini. pp. 45–49. ISBN 978-88-511-7661-7. OCLC 1206446729.
  3. ^ "Nuove orchestre e nuovi cantanti per il prossimo festival di Sanremo". La Stampa (in Italian). 4 January 1956. p. 3. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Nuove voci per nuovi motivi". Radiocorriere (in Italian). Vol. 33, no. 10. 4–10 March 1956. p. 3. OCLC 955831629. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Il festival di Sanremo: La novità dell' anno: il maestro Melachrino". Corriere d'Informazione (in Italian). 6 March 1956. p. 8. OCLC 1367959909.
  6. ^ a b "Stasera a San Remo il Festival della Canzone". Il Tempo (in Italian). 8 March 1956. p. 3. OCLC 1367961551.
  7. ^ a b Grazzini, Enzo (9 March 1959). "Ascoltate le prime dieci canzoni del sesto Festival di Sanremo". Corriere della sera (in Italian). p. 5. OCLC 1371227030.
  8. ^ "Festival di Sanremo del 1956". vivasanremo.com (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Sanremo 1956 (6a Edizione)". Hit Parade Italia.
  10. ^ Guzman, Raffaello (9 March 1956). "Bugie a tempo di valzer al Festival della Canzone". Il Tempo (in Italian). p. 3. OCLC 1367961551.
  11. ^ Campanile, Achille (9 March 1956). "Fiori, eleganza, voci nuove (ma la musica è sempre quella)". Corriere d'Informazione (in Italian). p. 3. OCLC 1367959909.
  12. ^ Antonucci, Antonio (9 March 1956). "La prima selezione al Festival della canzone". La Stampa (in Italian). p. 6. OCLC 1371227030. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  13. ^ a b Aragozzini, Adriano (2013). Enciclopedia del Festival di Sanremo : l'Italia della musica e del costume (in Italian) (Revised and augmented ed.). Roma: Rai Eri. p. 26. ISBN 978-88-397-1601-9. OCLC 855996019.
  14. ^ a b Jacobelli, Jader (18 March 1956). "Il successo del VI Festival". Radiocorriere (in Italian). Vol. 33, no. 12. pp. 3–6. OCLC 955831629. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  15. ^ Grazzini, Enzo (10 March 1956). "Serata di canzoni orecchiabili al sesto Festival di Sanremo". Corriere della sera (in Italian). p. 5. OCLC 1371227030.
  16. ^ Guzman, Raffaello (10 March 1956). "Fiori, mamme ed alpini nelle canzonette di San Remo". Il Tempo (in Italian). p. 3. OCLC 1367961551.
  17. ^ Ferrando, Nelio (10 March 1956). "La seconda selezione di motivi del 'Festival della canzone' a San Remo". Il Messaggero (in Italian). Vol. 78, no. 70. p. 7. OCLC 1367913754.
  18. ^ a b c Guzman, Raffaello (11 March 1956). "Le canzoni del Festival in viaggio verso la popolarità". Il Tempo (in Italian). p. 3. OCLC 1367961551.
  19. ^ a b Grazzini, Enzo (11 March 1956). "Laureate le tre canzoni del sesto Festival di Sanremo". Corriere della sera (in Italian). p. 5. OCLC 1371227030.
  20. ^ Ferrando, Nelio (11 March 1956). "Con la vittoria di 'Aprite le finestre' si è concluso il Festival di San Remo". Il Messaggero (in Italian). Vol. 78, no. 71. p. 9. OCLC 1367913754.
  21. ^ "Oggi e domani alla radio". Stampa Sera (in Italian). 9 March 1956. p. 6. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Radio-TV". Il Tempo (in Italian). 8 March 1956. p. 5. OCLC 1367961551.
  23. ^ "Radio-TV". Il Tempo (in Italian). 10 March 1956. p. 5. OCLC 1367961551.
  24. ^ a b "Televisie" [Domestic]. Vrije geluiden (in Dutch). Vol. 26, no. 9. 3 March 1956. p. 45. OCLC 72761986. Retrieved 17 September 2024 – via Delpher.
  25. ^ "Österreichischer Rundfunk. Samstag, 10. März 1956". Radio Österreich (in German). No. 10/1956. 3 March 1956. p. 28. OCLC 723767830.
  26. ^ "INR: Emissions françaises de télévision". Micro magazine (in French). Vol. 12, no. 569. INR. 4 March 1956. p. 42. OCLC 1400213208.
  27. ^ "Televisie programma's". De radio- en televisieweek (in Dutch). Vol. 12, no. 10. NIR. 4–10 March 1956. p. 20. OCLC 1399842623.
  28. ^ "Télévision : Émetteurs étrangers. France". Micro magazine (in French). Vol. 12, no. 569. INR. 4 March 1956. p. 40. OCLC 1400213208.
  29. ^ "Deutsches Fernsehen". Bild+Funk [de] (in German). No. 10/1956. 4 March 1956. p. 32. OCLC 643528928.
  30. ^ "Beromünster". Bild+Funk [de] (in German). No. 10/1956. 4 March 1956. p. 47. OCLC 643528928.
  31. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1956 (Lugano)". eurovisiontimes.wordpress.com. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  32. ^ "Reglement du Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson Européenne (version définitive)" [Rules of the Grand Prix of the Eurovision Song Competition 1956 (final version)] (PDF) (in French). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2016.
  33. ^ Antonucci, Antonio (25 May 1956). "Il profumo dell'amore a vent'anni nella 'canzone più bella d'Europa'". Stampa Sera (in Italian). p. 7.
  34. ^ "Italy Week: The statistics". eurovisiontimes.wordpress.com. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  35. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1956 - Facts & Figures". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  36. ^ "Oggi e domani alla radio". Stampa Sera (in Italian). 24 May 1956. p. 6. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  37. ^ a b "Radio-TV". Il Tempo (in Italian). 24 May 1956. p. 5. OCLC 1367961551.
  • [1] from Diggiloo Thrush - info & lyrics for "Aprite le finestre"
  • [2] from Diggiloo Thrush - info & lyrics for "Amami se vuoi"