This week the San Remo Festival celebrated its grand finale, with Angelina Mango being proclaimed the winner with the mutant cumbia of ‘La noia’. This will therefore be the song that will represent Italy in Eurovision. In second place was ‘I P’ Me, Tu P’ Te’ by Geolier and, in third place, ‘Sincerely’ by Annalisa. Mahmood, who has returned to compete in the contest, after winning it twice, has finished in sixth position with the gorilla ‘Tuti Gold’.
These four songs occupy the first four positions in the top 50 in Italy on Spotify: San Remo has flooded the list as – for the moment – Benidorm Fest has not achieved in Spain. ‘Tuti Gold’ is the most listened to. He deserved to win, too, Annalisa.
Annalisa is no newcomer because, at 38 years old, she has participated in San Remo up to six times. It was presented first in 2013, then in 2015, then in 2016, then in 2018, then in 2021 and for the last time in 2024. Its best position has been a third place, first in 2018 and then in this last edition, in which has presented a very colorful theme.
‘Sincerely’ is the kind of devilish, bouncy electropop that has brought Kylie Minogue to glory again with ‘Padam Padam’. ‘Sincerely’ is so dark that when, when, when, when it describes the emotions felt in a toxic relationship, it does so immersed in “pain”, appealing to suicidal ideation (“I don’t dream of cutting my wrists”) or using truly somber images that evoke “eight black moons” or “cigarettes going out on blue velvet.”
In ‘Sincerely’, Annalisa transforms her suffering into a really fun song – strange as it may sound to say it – that precisely turns the repetition of that “when when when” into an infallible hook. And, perhaps because Annalisa recognizes in ‘Sincerely’ that she “likes to cry”, that masochistic pleasure also had to be imprinted on the recording.
