Just a week ago we were convinced that there would only be 22 artists competing at the Sanremo 2020 Festival.

On the last day of 2019, Amadeus — host and artistic director of the Italian kermesse — surprisingly revealed the cast of the contest in an exclusive interview to newspaper La Repubblica, including former Eurovision acts Francesco Gabbani and Raphael Gualazzi.

But there were more surprises in store! During a special episode of I Soliti Ignoti — a popular game show hosted by Amadeus since 2017 — that aired tonight, the host unexpectedly announced two more names competing in the Big Artists category.

Rumours spread in the last 24 hours talked about two other Eurovision stars — Al Bano & Romina Power and Massimo Ranieri. Instead, the two additions are Tosca and Rita Pavone, both with a long career and already seen on the Ariston stage.

The titles of all the artists competing songs have also been revealed.

Sanremo Music Festival 2020 – Competing artists and song titles

Let’s find out the 24 artists competing in Sanremo and the titles of their songs.

Anastasio – “Rosso di rabbia”

Marco Anastasio is a rapper who won the 12th edition of X Factor Italy. He gained the double platinum certification with the number one record “La fine del mondo“. In 2019 he was a guest in Sanremo presenting the song “Correre“.

Giordana Angi – “Come mia madre”

She’s an Italian-French singer-songwriter who became famous coming second in the 18th edition of the talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi. Giordana’s first experience dates back to 2012, when she participated in the Newcomers section of Sanremo with “Incognita poesia“. In 2019 she released the number one album Voglio essere tua, anticipated by the gold single “Stringimi più forte“.

Bugo & Morgan – “Sincero”

An unpredictable couple formed by two artists on the music scene for more than 20 years. Cristian “Bugo” Bugatti is considered one of the most interesting and controversial artists to emerge from the Italian independent scene of the 1990s. Marco “Morgan” Castoldi is the founding member of Bluvertigo, a new wave band twice in Sanremo, in 2001 with “L’assenzio” and in 2016 with “Semplicemente“. He has also been a judge for seven seasons of X Factor Italy, winning five of them through acts he mentored such as Marco Mengoni, Chiara Galiazzo and Michele Bravi.

Diodato – “Fai rumore”

Antonio Diodato took part twice in Sanremo. He was the runner-up of the Newcomers section in 2014 with “Babilonia” and also participated in the main category together with Roy Paci with the song “Adesso” in 2018. In the last few weeks he has released the single “Che vita meravigliosa“.

Elodie – “Andromeda”

Elodie Di Patrizi is the runner-up from the 15th series of Amici di Maria De Filippi. In 2017 she sang the song “Tutta colpa mia” at the Ariston Theatre. In the past two years she has conquered the charts with the singles “Nero Bali” together with Michele Bravi and Guè Pequeno, “Pensare male” featuring The Kolors, and “Margarita” with her boyfriend Marracash.

Francesco Gabbani – “Viceversa”

Irene Grandi – “Finalmente io”

She is a very successful singer who debuted in 1994 in the Newcomers section of Sanremo with “Fuori“. She has participated three more times in the Festival — in 2000 with “La tua ragazza sempre“, in 2010 with “La cometa di Halley” and in 2015 with “Un vento senza nome“. In 2007 her song “Bruci la città” was excluded from Sanremo but became one of the most successful songs of the same year.

Raphael Gualazzi – “Carioca”

Jazz singer Raffaele “Raphael” Gualazzi represented Italy at Eurovision 2011 with “Madness of Love“, reaching second place, after winning the Newcomers category in Sanremo the same year with “Follia d’amore”. He has participated two more times at the Festival, in 2013 with “Sai (Ci basta un sogno)” and in 2014 with “Liberi o no“.

Paolo Jannacci – “Voglio parlarti adesso”

Son of the late singer Enzo Jannacci, Paolo Maria is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and jazz musician active since 1988. He plays piano, accordion and bass. His contribution is present in projects of different nature — musical productions, composition of soundtracks for films and documentaries, theatrical writing, acting. His latest album is titled Canterò.

Junior Cally – “No grazie”

Antonio Signore, aka Junior Cally, is a rapper from Rome who topped the FIMI Italian Albums chart in 2019 with “Ricercato”. He started his career wearing a gas mask. In the video of the single “Tutti con me” he revealed his face to the public for the first time.

Elettra Lamborghini – “Musica (E il resto scompare)”

Elettra Miura Lamborghini is a TV personality who made her debut in music collaborating with Guè Pequeno and Sfera Ebbasta in the remix of the single “Lamborghini“. She then successfully launched her solo career with the singles “Pem Pem“, “Mala” and “Tócame” featuring Pitbull, all certified and included in the debut album Twerking Queen.

Achille Lauro – “Me ne frego”

Lauro De Marinis, aka Achille Lauro was one of the most talked-about singers in Italy in 2019 after his debut in Sanremo with “Rolls Royce“. After the Festival he released the gold-certified album 1969. His upcoming album will be inspired by the ’90s, as demonstrated by the first single “1990“, released in October 2019.

Le Vibrazioni – “Dov’è”

A four-piece band that made its breakthrough in 2003 with “Dedicato a te“, now considered a cult song of Italian pop music. They’ve been in the competition two times before — in 2005 with “Ovunque andrò” and in 2018 with “Così sbagliato“.

Levante – “Tiki Bom Bom”

Claudia “Levante” Lagona is a Sicilian singer-songwriter who achieved success in 2013 with the gold-certified earworm “Alfonso“. She released four albums. In 2017 she sung the hit “Pezzo di me” together with Max Gazzè, which was followed by the experience as judge in the eleventh edition of X Factor Italy.

Marco Masini – “Il confronto”

Marco Masini is an emblem of the ’90s thanks to the outspoken lyrics of his hits like “Vaffanculo” and “Bella stronza“. He’s recorded eight participations in Sanremo with two gold medals: in 1990 with “Disperato” among the Newcomers and in 2004 with “L’uomo volante“.

Enrico Nigiotti – “Baciami adesso”

He’s a singer-songwriter who made himself known in 2009 by taking part in Amici di Maria De Filippi, and then joining the Newcomers of Sanremo 2015 with “Qualcosa da decidere“. In 2017 he came third in the 11th series of X Factor Italy, publishing the platinum-certified hit “L’amore è” the same year. He then took part in Sanremo 2019 with “Nonno Hollywood“.

Rita Pavone – “Niente (Resilienza 74)”

She experienced great success in the 1960 thanks to songs like “Datemi un martello“, “Il ballo del mattone” and “La partita di pallone“. His name also entered the charts of the United States and Spain. Rita took part in three editions of Sanremo: in 1969, 1970 and 1972.

Piero Pelù – “Gigante”

Historical co-founder of Litfiba, Pietro Pelù has been active since 1980. With the group, he indelibly marked the Italian rock scene of the ’90s thanks to the success of singles such as “Il mio corpo che cambia” e “Regina di cuori“. Since 1999 Pelù has been pursuing a solo career, continuing to win public acclaim. In recent years he served as a coach in three editions of The Voice of Italy.

Pinguini Tattici Nucleari – “Ringo Starr”

Six-piece indie-rock band, led by Riccardo Zanotti, formed in Bergamo in 2010. An EP and four albums to date. Their most known singles are “Tetris“, “Verdura” and the gold-certified single “Irene“.

Rancore – “Eden”

With a Croatian father and Egyptian mother, Tarek Iurcich, aka Rancore, is a rapper from Rome. He started making himself known by participating in lots of freestyle battles. His style is defined by himself as “hermetic rap”. He took part in Sanremo 2019 with Daniele Silvestri with the entry “Argentovivo“, awarded with the Critics’ prize.

Riki – “Lo sappiamo entrambi”

Runner-up in the sixteenth edition of Amici di Maria De Filippi, Riccardo “Riki” Marcuzzo’s career reached its peak in the months following his participation in the talent with the EP Perdo le parole, awarded with three platinum records, and the album Mania, double platinum. He also attempted the launch in the Latin American market with the duets “Dolor de cabeza” with the American boyband CNCO and “Resulta” with the Mexican band Reik.

Tosca – “Ho amato tutto”

Tiziana Tosca Donati is a singer and actress who debuted in the Newcomers of Sanremo 1992. In 1996 she came back in the main category, winning the Festival with “Vorrei incontrarti fra cent’anni“, a duet with Ron. Two other appearances at the Ariston Theatre in 1997 with “Nel respiro più grande” and 2007 with “Il terzo fuochista“.

Alberto Urso – “Il sole ad Est”

He is the winner of the latest edition of Amici di Maria De Filippi. His first television experience was at a very young age, in 2010, when he entered the singing show Ti lascio una canzone. He released two albums in 2019. With the first one, Solo, he topped the FIMI Italian Albums chart, getting a gold record.

Michele Zarrillo – “Nell’estasi o nel fango”

This singer-songwriter from Rome has participated in Sanremo 12 times prior. He won the Newcomers section in 1987 with “La notte dei pensieri“. In Sanremo he presented many fundamental songs of his repertoire: “Una rosa blu“, “Cinque giorni“, “L’elefante e la farfalla“, “L’acrobata” and “L’alfabeto degli amanti“.

Who is your favourite on the Sanremo 2020 lineup? Who do you think will win the contest? Tell us your thoughts below.