Sanremo’s Sole Suitor: Rai Courts the Festival Once Again, Unopposed and Unbothered
It seems the suspense has left the building.
Despite the Council of State’s insistence that the city of Sanremo open the Festival’s organisation to public bidding — a move aimed at ensuring fair competition and democratic transparency — the outcome was, well, profoundly Italian: only the usual suitor turned up.
As the submission deadline passed on Monday, it emerged that Rai — Italy’s public broadcaster and long-standing partner of the Festival di Sanremo — was the only entity to submit a proposal. No sign of Mediaset, no shadow of Warner Bros. Discovery. Not even a politely worded email of interest from La7. Just Rai, ever faithful, ever present.
A Monopolistic Romance?
In what now resembles more an enduring marriage than a competitive procurement process, Rai’s solo candidacy once again raises eyebrows — and glasses — among commentators. Is this devotion? Convenience? Or a sign of an entrenched monopoly so lovingly embraced that no one else dares show up at the altar?
The Comune di Sanremo, tasked with implementing the court’s request for an open call, dutifully published a tender for the Festival’s organisation and broadcasting rights from 2026 to 2028. The process was transparent, the deadline fixed, the expectations high.
And yet, as the dust settled: silence. Followed by a single busta, politely delivered — no doubt with a flourish of protocol — from Rai.
Mager’s Moment
Mayor Alessandro Mager, who presides over Sanremo with the poise of a man who knows that most national scandals eventually become operas, has not expressed regret. On the contrary, he seemed quite pleased. When asked whether the town had received multiple offers, Mager responded with the kind of serene shrug that only Italian mayors and retired gondoliers can pull off.
He also hinted that conversations with Carlo Conti, the newly reappointed Festival artistic director, may resume shortly. One assumes the cappuccinos are already being brewed.
A Festival Beyond Bidding?
The larger question lingers: Has Sanremo become too big — or too idiosyncratically Italian — for anyone else to host? Or is it simply that no private broadcaster dares shoulder the risk of taking over a national institution that sits somewhere between Eurovision, the Vatican, and La Settimana Enigmistica in terms of cultural importance?
Whatever the reason, the Council of State may have asked for a fair and open race — but ended up presiding over a one-horse pageant. Not that anyone seems particularly surprised.
The Festival di Sanremo appears poised to continue under the familiar banner of the public broadcaster — complete with all the drama, glamour and extended monologues the audience has come to love.
One must wonder, though, whether next time they’ll bother with a tender at all — or simply send Rai a Valentine’s card.
Source: AdnKronos
