Sunday, 19 February 2023, 16:00 – 17:15 PST. Online zoom. Il Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo annually highlights the best of Italian singers, songwriters, and songs. The winner receives national and international recognition, going on to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest. Sanremo has become a cultural institution that shines the spotlight not only on musical productions, but an Italian identity.

It is a cultural arbiter of italianità, which begs the question: What makes a song Italian? Is it the singer, the words, the overall messaging, all of the above? What happens when the winner is labeled a non-Italian like it happened when Alessandro Mahmood’s “Soldi” won the festival in 2019 ? His victory provoked a social media explosion, giving even more visibility to a question that has been debated for more than 700 years: Who is Italian? Who represents Italy?