The Sanremo Music Festival 1958 (), officially the 8th Italian Song Festival (), was the eight annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo between 30 January and 1 February 1958. It was organised by Società ATA, concessionary of the Sanremo Casino, and broadcast by (RAI). was the artistic director of the festival. The show was presented by actor Gianni Agus, assisted by television announcer .

According to the rules of this edition every song was performed in a double performance by a couple of singers or groups, with some artists performing multiple songs. The winner of the festival was "", performed by Domenico Modugno (who was also the composer of the song) and Johnny Dorelli. Modugno went on to perform the song for at the Eurovision Song Contest 1958.

Competing entries A submission window for Italian music publishing firms was opened by Società ATA from October 1957 to 15 November 1957. Only songs in Italian, with dialects excluded, and by songwriters of Italian nationality were eligible. About 1,000 songs were submitted for this edition. Twenty of them were selected by a jury composed of Alessandro Cicognini, , , Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, , Federico Petriccione, , Arrigo Polillo, and , with acting as the president of the jury. Initially foreseen as jury members, Oliviero De Fabritiis and Renzo Rossellini were replaced by Giuseppe Piccioli and Achille Cajafa. +Competing entriesSongComposerLyricistPublishing firm""Riccardo PazzagliaTitanus""Asso""Bixio CherubiniCasiroli""Araldo""Luigi MartelliDerevitzki""Piero BentivoglìoAlma""Saverio SeraciniSuvini Zerboni""Mario PanzeriMascheroni""Isabella PigaSilvana SimoniPeter Schaeffers""Carlo Alberto RossiAlberto TestaTre Stelle""Umberto BindiGiovanni CioccaSanta Cecilia""Marechiaro""Vincenzo D'AcquistoMenestrello""Ministrel""Domenico ModugnoFranco MigliacciMusic Union""Southern Music""Franco ContiUnione""Ata""Gino RediNisaLe canzoni del mare""Carlo Alberto RossiBiriC.A. Rossi

After the selection of the entries, the songs were matched with the artists in a way to guarantee the best possible interpretation for each song. Each of the participating artists was paid a fee of 70,000 lire per night. Originally selected, was replaced by , and Fausto Cigliano by Giorgio Consolini. Rehearsals started on 25 January 1958.

Contest overview

The shows were directed by . The presenters were Gianni Agus and . Initially, Enzo Tortora had been announced as presenter but he was replaced by Agus shortly before the start of the festival.

Each song was performed twice, once in a more traditional arrangement with an 14-piece orchestra under the direction of Cinico Angelini and once in a more rhythmical arrangement by the under the direction of Alberto Semprini. In addition, a recap of the songs was played on a player piano. In the semi-finals, the five entries qualifying for the final were repeated at the end of the program.

Semi-final 1 The first semi-final was held on 30 January 1958 at 22:00 CET. From this semi-final, five songs qualified for the final. Gloria Christian, initially foreseen to sing "" in duet with Aurelio Fierro, missed the night due to sickness. In the semi-finals, the finalists were chosen by a jury of 200 audience members, drawn by lot prior to each show from ticketholders present at the venue. In this semi-final, each jury member could give one vote to their favourite song.

+Semi-final 1 – 30 January 1958SongArtist with orchestra AngeliniArtist with orchestra Semprini VotesPlace 1""Marisa Del FrateGiorgio Consolini 9 10 2""Tonina Torrielli 21 4 3""Gino Latilla and Carla BoniAurelio Fierro 25 3 4""Claudio VillaNilla Pizzi 34 2 5""Johnny DorelliNatalino Otto 20 5 6""Tonina Torrielli and Duo Fasano 14 8 7""Johnny DorelliGiorgio Consolini 12 9 8""Claudio Villa and Duo FasanoAurelio Fierro 43 1 9""Gino LatillaNatalino Otto 18 6 10""Carla BoniGiorgio Consolini 17 7

Semi-final 2 The second semi-final was held on 31 January 1958 at 22:00 CET. From this semi-final, also five songs qualified for the final. In contrast to the first semi-final, each juror could vote for a maximum of two songs.

In order to influence the results of the audience jury, composer had given tickets to people willing to vote for his song "". On the night of the second semi-final, staff of the Sanremo casino noticed some spectators with pre-filled voting sheets, these were declared invalid during the voting. Upon not reaching the final, Ruccione claimed 20 million lire as a compensation. His claims were rejected by , head of the Sanremo casino and artistic director of the festival.

+Semi-final 2 – 31 January 1958 SongArtist with orchestra SempriniArtist with orchestra Angelini VotesPlace 1""Nilla PizziGino Latilla 48 4 2""Gloria ChristianMarisa Del Frate 16 9 3""Aurelio Fierro and Nilla PizziClaudio Villa and Duo Fasano 26 6 4"" Aurelio Fierro and Tonina Torrielli and Duo Fasano 20 7 5""Giorgio ConsoliniClaudio Villa 38 5 6""Nilla PizziTonina Torrielli 62 2 7""Gloria ChristianClaudio Villa and Gino Latilla 18 8 8""Carla Boni 10 10 9"Nel blu dipinto di blu"Domenico ModugnoJohnny Dorelli 88 1 10""Natalino OttoCarla Boni and Gino Latilla 51 3

Final

In the final, an audience jury of 100 people together with another 100 jurors drawn by lot from national newspaper subscribers decided the winner. Each juror could cast one vote for their favourite song. At the end of the final, the top three songs were performed again. The victory of more modern songs and especially of Domenico Modugno, who was considered an outsider, was seen as revolutionary in the festival. + Final – 1 February 1958 Song Artist(s) Place "" Domenico Modugno Johnny Dorelli1 "" Nilla Pizzi Tonina Torrielli2 "" Gino Latilla Nilla Pizzi3 "" Claudio Villa Giorgio Consolini4 "" Claudio Villa Nilla Pizzi5 "" Carla Boni and Gino Latilla Aurelio Fierro and Gloria Christian6 "" Claudio Villa and Duo Fasano Aurelio Fierro ft. Trio Joyce7 "" Natalino Otto Carla Boni and Gino Latilla8 "" Tonina Torrielli Cristina Jorio9 "" Johnny Dorelli Natalino Otto10

Broadcasts

Local broadcast All shows were broadcast on Italian Television and Secondo Programma, beginning at 22:00 CET. The broadcasts had an estimated audience of ten million people.

International broadcasts Known details on the broadcasts of the final in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations are shown in the tables below.

+International broadcasters of the Sanremo Music Festival 1958 Final Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) ORF Österreichisches Fernsehen NIR Piet te Nuyl Jr. ARD Deutsches Fernsehen Radio Monte-Carlo NTS NTS Piet te Nuyl Jr. SRG SSR TV DRS TSR

References