Source: ESCDaily.com, RAI & La Stampa
Image Source: RAI

The Italian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 is strongly rumoured to come from this year’s Sanremo festival. Although it is not completely confirmed by Italian broadcaster Rai, fans are very confident the Giovani category will once again be the category in which the Italian entry to the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest will be selected from.

The competition for Sanremo Giovani was opened up late last year via a new social network intuitive entitled SanremoSocial. A total of eight entries made the lineup and they are;

Giulia Anania – La mail che non ti ho scritto
Marco Guazzone – Guasto
Io Ho Sempre Voglia – Incredibile
Bidiel – Sono un’errore
Alessandro Casillo – È Vero
Celeste Gaia – Carlo
Dana Angi – Incognita poesia
Erica Mou – Nella vasca da bagno del tempo

Click on the name of the artist to hear the entry.

Additionally, the rumoured list of the main participants was published by Turin based Italian newspaper La Stampa, suggesting the lineup is composed of;

Noemi, Emma Marrone, Toto Cutugno [Eurovision winner 1990], Eugenio Finardi, Pierdavide e Lucio Dalla, Gigi D’Alessio e Loredaba Bertè, Marlene Kuntz, Nina Zilli, Francesco Renga, Arisa, Irene Fornaciari, Dolcenera, Chiara Civello and Samuele Bersani.

If the list holds true, winner of Eurovision 1990 and host of 1991 Toto Cutugno would make his 14th appearance this year in Sanremo. Reportedly, the fourth night of Sanremo will see guest duets, with a rumoured duet occurring between Irene Fornaciari and Roger Taylor and Brian May from rock supergroup Queen. Additionally, rumours suggest Samuele Bersani’s duet with be with the 2008 Eurovision interval act and head composer of the Serbian National Final, and therefore entry ‘Ovo Je Balkan’, of 2010, Goran Bregovic.

UPDATE: Rai has now confirmed the following list and songs;
- Nina Zilli – Per sempre
- Samuele Bersani – Un pallone
- Dolcenera – Ci vediamo a casa
- Lucio Dalla & Pierdavide Carone – Nanì
- Irene Fornaciari – Il mio grande mistero
- Emma Marrone – Non è l’inferno
- Matia Bazar – Sei tu
- Noemi – Sono solo parole
- Francesco Renga – La tua bellezza
- Arisa – La notte
- Chiara Civello – Al posto del mondo
- Gigi d’Alessio & Loredana Berté – Respirare
- Eugenio Finardi – E tu lo chiami Dio
- Marlene Kuntz – Canzone per un figlio

Stay tuned!