Russell Crowe singing “Let Your Light Shine” during the third night of Sanremo 2024 (Feb. 8). Maria Laura Antonelli / AGF
The third night of Sanremo 2024 saw new performances by the 15 artists who had not sung in the second, presented by the other 15 together with main host and artistic director Amadeus.
Over the course of the long TV show there were a few notable moments. The performance of the pianist Paolo Jannacci with the writer Stefano Massini was touching, that of Russell Crowe was a pleasant surprise (with a final dig at John Travolta’s “Chicken Dance” of the night before).
This time, Amadeus’ co-host was the popular Italian comedian Teresa Mannino. She tried to liven up the festival routine with her humor, but her final monologue was too subdued.
The top five of the ranking (voted by radio stations and the general public) is as follows: from first to last, Angelina Mango, Ghali, Alessandra Amoroso, Il Tre and Mr.Rain.
Here are some highlights of Night 3 on Thursday (Feb. 8).
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Eros Ramazzotti’s ‘Terra Promessa’
Eros Ramazzotti took the stage of the Ariston Theater to sing “Terra Promessa” exactly 40 years after the first time on the very same stage, when he made his debut at Sanremo at the age of 20. He won in the New Artists category with that song. Ramazzotti was a guest artist last year too, but his performance was ruined by a malfunction of the teleprompter. This time, it went much better. During the finale, accompanied by the choir singing a cappella, the artist remembered all the children who are victims of war, launching a message of universal peace.
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Paolo Jannacci & Stefano Massini
Pianist Paolo Jannacci and writer Stefano Massini sang “L’uomo nel Lampo,” a touching song about the topic of deaths at work. “We are here not to make proclamations, but to tell you what an artist should also say. We think it’s our job to tell stories like this,” Jannacci said.
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Russell Crowe, Rocker in Disguise
To the amazement of the audience, Russell Crowe brought a breath of powerful blues rock to the Ariston Theater with his song “Let Your Light Shine.” The Oscar-winning actor then recalled that, before his career in the movie industry, as a young man he tried to make it in music. Crowe will be on tour in the summer, with a series of concerts also scheduled in Italy. And he didn’t miss the opportunity to make fun of John Travolta for his “Chicken Dance” the night before.
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Teresa Mannino
The co-host of the third night was partially convincing. She was funny in her “aggressive” humor – she even managed to create a meme out of nothing with Russell Crowe (she was the one who provoked the joke about John Travolta). But during her monologue, she stayed halfway between stand-up comedy and something more serious. More could have been done.
