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Sanremo Music Festival 1968

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Sanremo Music Festival 1968
Dates and venue
Semi-final 1
  • 1 February 1968
Semi-final 2
  • 2 February 1968
Final
  • 3 February 1968
VenueSanremo Casino
Sanremo, Italy
Organisation
OrganiserSocietà ATA
Production
BroadcasterRadiotelevisione italiana (RAI)
DirectorEnrico Moscatelli
Artistic directorGianni Ravera
PresentersPippo Baudo
and Luisa Rivelli
Vote
Number of entries24
Winner"Canzone per te"
Sergio Endrigo and Roberto Carlos
1967 ← Sanremo Music Festival → 1969
Official website Edit this at Wikidata

The Sanremo Music Festival 1968 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 1968), officially the 18th Italian Song Festival (18º Festival della canzone italiana), was the 18th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo, Italy, between 1 and 3 February 1968. It was organised by Società ATA, concessionary of the Sanremo Casino and was broadcast by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). The shows were presented by Pippo Baudo and Luisa Rivelli. Gianni Ravera served as artistic director.

Each song was performed twice by both Italian and foreign artists. The winning song was "Canzone per te" written by Sergio Endrigo and Sergio Bardotti, performed by both Endrigo and Roberto Carlos. The festival was only used to select the artist that would represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest, following a change in the competition's song eligibility rules ahead of the 1967 edition. Therefore, Sergio Endrigo was chosen from the two artists to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, and went on to compete with the song "Marianne".[1]

In January 2018, restored versions of all three shows were uploaded to RAI's streaming service RaiPlay in collaboration with Rai Teche.[2]

Competing entries

[edit]

The festival's organisers, Società ATA, received 227 song submissions for the competition.[3][4] A special commission lead by composer Carlo Savina and also including Renzo Arbore, Ivano Davoli [it], Rodolfo D'Intino and Enrico Gramigna were tasked with selecting twenty-two entries.[4] Eventually, they selected twenty-four to compete.[3][5]

Among the competing artists were Giusy Romeo and Elio Gandolfi [it], who were given the right to participate after winning the 1967 edition of the Castrocaro Music Festival for newcomer artists.[3][6]

Initially American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan was announced among the competing artists, set to perform the song "Che vale per me [it]", but withdrew due to a surgery she had to undergo. She was replaced by Eartha Kitt.[7][8]

Songs in the rhythm and blues genre were included in the competition for the first time, as well as more jazz compositions than in previous years. Notable artists within these genres, such as American singer Wilson Pickett and renowned American trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong, were featured in the list of competing artists.[9]

Competing entries[5][10][11][12][13]
Song Artist 1 Artist 2 Songwriter(s) Conductor(s)
"Canzone" Adriano Celentano Milva
"Canzone per te" Sergio Endrigo Roberto Carlos
"Casa bianca [it]" Ornella Vanoni Marisa Sannia
"Che vale per me [it]" Peppino Gagliardi Eartha Kitt
"Da bambino [it]" Massimo Ranieri I Giganti
"Deborah [it]" Fausto Leali Wilson Pickett
Gianfranco Intra
"Gli occhi miei" Wilma Goich Dino
"Il posto mio [it]" Tony Renis Domenico Modugno
Franco Pisano
"Il re d'Inghilterra [it]" Nino Ferrer Pilade Nino Ferrer Pino De Luca
"La farfalla impazzita [it]" Johnny Dorelli Paul Anka
"La siepe [it]" Al Bano Bobbie Gentry
"La tramontana [it]" Gianni Pettenati Antoine
"La vita [it]" Elio Gandolfi [it] Shirley Bassey
"La voce del silenzio" Tony Del Monaco Dionne Warwick
"Le opere di Bartolomeo [it]" The Rokes The Cowsills
"Le solite cose [it]" Pino Donaggio Timi Yuro
"Mi va di cantare [it]" Lara Saint Paul Louis Armstrong
"No amore [it]" Giusy Romeo Sacha Distel
Enrico Intra
"Per vivere [it]" Iva Zanicchi Udo Jürgens
"Quando m'innamoro" Anna Identici The Sandpipers
"Sera [it]" Gigliola Cinquetti Giuliana Valci [it]
Gianfranco Monaldi [it]
"Stanotte sentirai una canzone [it]" Annarita Spinaci [it] Yoko Kishi [ja]
"Tu che non sorridi mai [it]" Orietta Berti Piergiorgio Farina
"Un uomo piange solo per amore [it]" Little Tony Mario Guarnera [it]

Format

[edit]

The Sanremo Music Festival 1968 consisted of three live shows, two-semi-finals held on 1 and 2 February 1968 and a final held on 3 February. The first two nights consisted of twelve songs performed twice, in which seven would qualify, creating a final of fourteen songs performed twice. All shows were presented by Pippo Baudo, his first of thirteen editions as host, along with actress Luisa Rivelli.[12][13] The television production was directed by Enrico Moscatelli.[14] Gianni Ravera reprised his role as artistic director for the seventh consecutive year.[12]

The performances were accompanied by a 36-piece orchestra, along with backing vocals provided by the vocal group I Musicals.[10][15] For the first time, solo artists could be accompanied on stage by a band of their choice.[15]

A draw took place on 31 January to decide the running order for both semi-finals. The songs were presented in groups of three, with the draw also deciding the order artists would perform in. For songs performed by both an Italian and foreign performer, the latter would always perform second.[16] In the final, foreign artists performed exclusively in the second half of the show, while the decision of which half Italian artists would perform in was made by each artist's record label.[17] After the performances in each show concluded, a recap of the competing songs was performed by American jazz musician Lionel Hampton on vibraphone, with accompaniment from the orchestra conducted by Giampiero Boneschi [it].[10][18]

Various changes in the voting system were implemented for this year's contest. The vote in each show was conducted by a jury formed by twenty-six different newspapers, with twenty-five members each set up in their respective newspaper office.[16] Juries were required to be composed of thirteen men and twelve women, with a majority under the age of 25, and have a specific array of professions and social classes.[10][19] Each jury member gave one vote to seven different songs in the semi-finals, while in the final they gave one vote to three songs.[16][19] Additionally, the festival returned to having three winners for the first time since 1963, with the top three songs announced at the end of the final.[19]

Contest overview

[edit]

Semi-final 1

[edit]

The first semi-final took place on 1 February 1968 at 21:15 CET.[20]

  Qualifier
Semi-final 1 – 1 February 1968[10][16][21][22]
R/O Song Artist 1 Artist 2 Points Place
1 "Un uomo piange solo per amore" Mario Guarnera Little Tony 487 3
2 "Le opere di Bartolomeo" The Rokes The Cowsills N/a
3 "Le solite cose" Pino Donaggio Timi Yuro N/a
4 "No amore" Giusy Romeo Sacha Distel N/a
5 "Che vale per me" Peppino Gagliardi Eartha Kitt N/a
6 "Sera" Gigliola Cinquetti Giuliana Valci 400 5
7 "Gli occhi miei" Wilma Goich Dino 499 2
8 "Deborah" Fausto Leali Wilson Pickett 415 4
9 "Stanotte sentirai una canzone" Annarita Spinaci Yoko Kishi 372 6
10 "Casa bianca" Marisa Sannia Ornella Vanoni 531 1
11 "La voce del silenzio" Tony Del Monaco Dionne Warwick 322 7
12 "Il re d'Inghilterra" Nino Ferrer Pilade N/a

Semi-final 2

[edit]

The second semi-final took place on 2 February 1968 at 21:15 CET.[23]

  Qualifier
Semi-final 2 – 2 February 1968[10][16][24][25]
R/O Song Artist 1 Artist 2 Points Place
1 "Canzone per te" Sergio Endrigo Roberto Carlos 505 1
2 "Canzone" Milva Adriano Celentano 503 2
3 "La siepe" Al Bano Bobbie Gentry 370 7
4 "Il posto mio" Tony Renis Domenico Modugno N/a
5 "La vita" Elio Gandolfi Shirley Bassey N/a
6 "Per vivere" Iva Zanicchi Udo Jürgens N/a
7 "La farfalla impazzita" Johnny Dorelli Paul Anka N/a
8 "Tu che non sorridi mai" Orietta Berti Piergiorgio Farina N/a
9 "La tramontana" Gianni Pettenati Antoine 485 3
10 "Quando m'innamoro" Anna Identici The Sandpipers 447 4
11 "Da bambino" Massimo Ranieri I Giganti 412 6
12 "Mi va di cantare" Lara Saint Paul Louis Armstrong 420 5

Final

[edit]
Sergio Endrigo (left) and Roberto Carlos holding the first prize

The final took place on 3 February 1968 at 21:00 CET.[14] The show opened with a medley consisting of songs from past editions of the festival: "Piove" by Domenico Modugno, "Quando vien la sera [it]" by Joe Sentieri, "Quando, quando, quando" by Tony Renis and "Non pensare a me [it]" by Claudio Villa.[10]

The winning song was "Canzone per te" written by Sergio Endrigo and Sergio Bardotti, performed by both Endrigo and Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos, with "Casa bianca [it]" written by Don Backy and Eligio La Valle, performed by Ornella Vanoni and Marisa Sannia placing second; and "Canzone" written by Don Backy and Detto Mariano, performed by Adriano Celentano and Milva placing third.[17][18] Performances of the top three songs were repeated at the end of the show, with the exception of Celentano's rendition of "Canzone", as he refused to appear on stage.[26]

  Winner
Final – 3 February 1968[10][17][18]
R/O Song Artist 1 Artist 2 Points Place
1 "La tramontana" Gianni Pettenati Antoine 176 5
2 "Canzone per te" Sergio Endrigo Roberto Carlos 306 1
3 "La siepe" Al Bano Bobbie Gentry 92 9
4 "Mi va di cantare" Lara Saint Paul Louis Armstrong 49 13
5 "Gli occhi miei" Wilma Goich Dino 71 11
6 "Casa bianca" Ornella Vanoni Marisa Sannia 255 2
7 "Sera" Gigliola Cinquetti Giuliana Valci 97 8
8 "Stanotte sentirai una canzone" Annarita Spinaci Yoko Kishi 53 12
9 "Da bambino" Massimo Ranieri I Giganti 123 7
10 "Un uomo piange solo per amore" Little Tony Mario Guarnera 83 10
11 "Quando m'innamoro" Anna Identici The Sandpipers 126 6
12 "La voce del silenzio" Tony Del Monaco Dionne Warwick 28 14
13 "Deborah" Fausto Leali Wilson Pickett 224 4
14 "Canzone" Adriano Celentano Milva 251 3

Broadcasts

[edit]

Local broadcast

[edit]

The final was broadcast on Programma Nazionale TV and Secondo Programma, beginning at 21:00 CET,[14] with the semi-finals broadcast on Secondo Programma TV and Secondo Programma at 21:15 CET.[20][23] The semi-finals were estimated to have been broadcast to twenty million viewers in Italy, while the final had an estimated twenty-five million viewers.[27]

International broadcasts

[edit]

The first half of the final was broadcast via the Eurovision network in other countries.[17] Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

International broadcasters of the Sanremo Music Festival 1968
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Argentina Canal 9[a] [28]
 Belgium BRT BRT[b] [29]
 Bulgaria BT BT [30]
 Czechoslovakia ČsR [cs; sk] Rádio Slovensko [sk][c] [31]
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen[d] Wolf Mittler [32]
 Hungary MTV MTV [33]
MR Kossuth Rádió [34]
 Poland TP Telewizja Polska [35]
 Romania TVR TVR [36]
 Spain TVE TVE 1 [37]
RNE RNE, Radio Peninsular de Barcelona [es]
  Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS[e] [38]
TSR[f] Georges Hardy [fr] [39]
TSI[g] [40]
Radio Monte Ceneri
 Yugoslavia JRT Televizija Beograd [41]
Televizija Ljubljana [42]
Televizija Zagreb [43]

Incidents and controversies

[edit]

Dispute over Don Backy's participation

[edit]

Two songs written by singer-songwriter Don Backy were accepted into the competition: "Casa bianca [it]" and "Canzone", the latter of which he intended to perform at the festival himself. However, in 1967 the singer made accusations towards his record label Clan Celentano of altering the accounting of his record sales. As a result, then manager of the label Adriano Celentano held a press conference on 15 December announcing he would sue the singer for defamation and personally replace Backy as the performer for "Canzone" at the festival, as the label had final say over the choice of performer.[15][18][44]

Despite Celentano's half-hearted performances of "Canzone" to spite Backy, the song went on to achieve third place at the festival.[12][17] During the reprise performances and award ceremony, Celentano did not appear on stage. He later claimed this was because he "couldn't tolerate that the victory went to Endrigo".[45]

Dispute over Eartha Kitt's participation

[edit]

The American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan was initially announced as a competing artist in the festival, set to perform the song "Che vale per me [it]". However, she later withdrew due to a surgery she had to undergo.[7][8] ATA announced that Eartha Kitt would replace her—a decision not supported by one of the song's writers, Carlo Alberto Rossi. After hearing her rehearsal performance on 31 January, he claimed she was unfit to perform the song and falsely announced her withdrawal from the competition. He also made a request to ATA to play Vaughan's studio recording during the show, which was subsequently denied for being against the competition's rules. Gianni Ravera, the festival's artistic director, made a statement confirming Kitt would remain the performer, as she was contractually bound to ATA.[46]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Delayed five-part broadcast on 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 March at 22:30 (ART)[28]
  2. ^ Delayed broadcast on 11 February 1968 at 17:00 (CET)[29]
  3. ^ Delayed broadcast on 10 March 1968 at 15:20 CEST[31]
  4. ^ Delayed broadcast on 27 February 1968 at 22:55 (CET)[32]
  5. ^ Delayed broadcast the following day at 21:35 (CET)[38]
  6. ^ Delayed broadcast the following day at 22:10 (CET)[39]
  7. ^ Delayed broadcast the following day at 17:00 (CET)[40]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ B., S. G. (31 March 1968). "A Londra si affrontano cantanti di diciassette Paesi Eurocanzone anno 13". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 14. p. 99. OCLC 955831629. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Rai Teche.
  2. ^ "Sanremo '68". Rai Teche (in Italian). RAI. February 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  3. ^ a b c Blamonte, S. G. (17–23 December 1967). "A Sanremo aria di rivoluzione". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 44, no. 51. pp. 30–31. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  4. ^ a b R., M. (8 December 1967). "A Sanremo si scelgono le canzoni senza aspettare che torni Radaelli". La Stampa. Vol. 101, no. 290. p. 5. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  5. ^ a b R., M. (12 December 1967). "Scelte le canzoni per Sanremo esclusi Modugno e Maurizio Arena". La Stampa. Vol. 101, no. 293. p. 6. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  6. ^ F., F. (12 October 1967). "Una siciliana e un bolognese le «voci nuove» di Castrocaro". La Stampa. Vol. 101, no. 241. p. 6. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  7. ^ a b Blamonte, S. G. (4–10 February 1968). "Da Sanremo puntano sul mercato Europeo". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 6. pp. 23–25. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  8. ^ a b Donnagio, Emio (27 January 1968). "Tre cantanti negre a SANREMO terranno la tv col fiato sospeso". Stampa Sera. Vol. 100, no. 23. p. 7. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  9. ^ Arbore, Renzo (28 January 1968). "Un festival giovane senza essere beat". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 5. pp. 32–33. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Sanremo 1968 (Television production) (in Italian). Radiotelevisione italiana. 1–3 February 1968.
  11. ^ "Le ventiquattro canzoni e tutti i cantanti in gara a Snremo". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 5. 28 January 1968. pp. 34–35. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  12. ^ a b c d Eddy Anselmi (2009). Festival di Sanremo: almanacco illustrato della canzone italiana. Panini Comics, 2009. ISBN 978-8863462296.
  13. ^ a b R., M. (11 January 1968). "Ecco i cantanti e le canzoni per il Festival di Sanremo". La Stampa. Vol. 102, no. 9. p. 6. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  14. ^ a b c
  15. ^ a b c Blamonte, S. G. (28 January 1968). "Chi canta e chi no al Festival di Sanremo". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 5. pp. 30–32. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  16. ^ a b c d e Lugli, Remo (1 February 1968). "Si apre stasera il Festival di Sanremo I cantanti italiani favoriti nei pronostici". La Stampa. Vol. 102, no. 27. p. 6. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  17. ^ a b c d e Lugli, Remo (4 February 1968). "Il cantautore Sergio Endrigo vince il Festival di Sanremo". La Stampa. Vol. 102, no. 30. p. 7. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  18. ^ a b c d Blamonte, S. G. (4–10 February 1968). "Con Endrigo ha trionfato la controrivoluzione melodica". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 7. pp. 28–30. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  19. ^ a b c B., S. G. (28 January 1968). "I voti di Sanremo". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 5. p. 75. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  20. ^ a b
  21. ^ Lugli, Remo (2 February 1968). "Ornella Vanoni in testa dopo la prima sera Eliminati: Eartha Kitt, Donaggio e Sacha Distel". La Stampa. Vol. 102, no. 28. p. 9. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  22. ^ Ionio, Daniele (2 February 1968). "Rientrate due «grane» liscio il primo round". L'Unità (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 32. p. 9. OCLC 1367940615. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  23. ^ a b
  24. ^ Lugli, Remo (3 February 1968). "Endrigo vincitore della seconda giornata Modugno, Dorelli e Zanicchi eliminati". La Stampa. Vol. 102, no. 29. p. 9. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  25. ^ Isman, Fabio (3 February 1968). "Sanremo Finalissima". Il Piccolo (in Italian). Vol. 87, no. 6541. p. 8. Retrieved 5 May 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  26. ^ L., R. (4 February 1968). "Reazioni di vincitori e vinti dopo la decisione della giurie". La Stampa. Vol. 102, no. 30. p. 7. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  27. ^ Bz., U. (4 February 1968). "Immensa platea per Sanremo". La Stampa. Vol. 102, no. 30. p. 8. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  28. ^ a b "San Remo a la argentina" [San Remo, the Argentine way]. Crónica (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina. 27 February 1967. p. 24. Retrieved 1 October 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  29. ^ a b "Televisie en radio" [Television and radio]. De Standaard (in Dutch). Brussels, Belgium. 10 February 1968. p. 25. Retrieved 18 August 2025 – via BelgicaPress [nl].
  30. ^ "Телевизия" [Television]. Rabotnichesko Delo (in Bulgarian). Sofia, Bulgaria. 3 February 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 12 March 2025 – via Arcanum Newspapers.
  31. ^ a b "neděle – 10. března 1968" [Sunday – 10 March 1968]. Rozhlasový týdeník (in Czech). No. 10. 21 May 1984. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 27 September 2024 – via Kramerius [cs].
  32. ^ a b "Radio-Télévision". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 24 February 1968. pp. 21–22. Retrieved 17 May 2025 – via National Library of Luxembourg.
  33. ^ "TV – szombat II.3" [TV – Saturday II.3]. Rádió- és Televízió-újság (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary. 29 January 1968. p. 13. Retrieved 10 February 2025 – via MTVA Archívum.
  34. ^ "A rádió és a televízió mai műsorából" [From today's radio and television programmes]. Népszabadság (in Hungarian). Budapest, Hungary. 3 February 1968. p. 12. Retrieved 14 May 2025 – via Arcanum Newspapers.
  35. ^ "Telewizja" [Television]. Dziennik Bałtycki (in Polish). Gdańsk, Poland. 3 February 1968. p. 5. Retrieved 10 February 2025 – via Baltic Digital Library [pl].
  36. ^ "tv". Scînteia (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania. 3 February 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 17 May 2025 – via Arcanum Newspapers.
  37. ^ "Radio y television" [Radio and television]. Diario de Barcelona (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 3 February 1968. p. 17. Retrieved 15 May 2025 – via Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona [ca].
  38. ^ a b "Fernsehprogramme" [TV programmes]. Der Bund (in German). Bern, Switzerland. 4 February 1968. p. 30. Retrieved 17 May 2025 – via E-newspaperarchives.ch.
  39. ^ a b "TV – dimanche 4 février" [TV – Sunday 4 February]. Radio TV – Je vois tout (in French). Vol. 46, no. 5. Lausanne, Switzerland. 1 February 1968. pp. 52–53. Retrieved 17 May 2025 – via Scriptorium.
  40. ^ a b "Settimana dal 6.2.1968 al 9.2.1968" [Week from 6.2.1968 to 9.2.1968]. Eco di Locarno (in Italian). Locarno, Switzerland. 3 February 1968. p. 11. Retrieved 17 May 2025 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese [it].
  41. ^ "Телевизија" [Television]. Borba (in Serbo-Croatian (Cyrillic script)). Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 3 February 1968. p. 24. Retrieved 17 May 2025 – via Belgrade University Library.
  42. ^ "RTV Ljubljana". Delo (in Slovenian). Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. 3 February 1968. p. 8. Retrieved 17 May 2025 – via Digital Library of Slovenia.
  43. ^ "tv kompas" [tv compass]. Večernji list (in Serbo-Croatian). Zagreb, Yugoslavia. 3 February 1968. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  44. ^ Ansa (16 December 1967). "Il cantante Don Backy lascia Celentano per presentare a Sanremo le sue canzoni". La Stampa. Vol. 101, no. 297. p. 7. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  45. ^ Donaggio, Emio (5 February 1968). "Celentano respinge l'accusa di truffa ma Don Backy rinnova i suoi attacchi". Stampa Sera. Vol. 101, no. 30. p. 7. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  46. ^ Ansa (1 February 1968). "Forse Eartha Kitt non canterà al Festival". La Stampa. Vol. 102, no. 27. p. 6. OCLC 1367283024. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
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