Italy: Olly wins Sanremo 2025 with "Balorda nostalgia" – Will NOT go to Eurovision
It's official: after five long nights of great music we now know who holds a place in Sanremo history. It's Olly after winning Sanremo 2025 with the song "Balorda nostalgia"
UPDATE 22 February 2025, 14:35 CET
Olly won't go to Eurovision 2025
After winning Sanremo 2025, Olly had the option to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song "Balorda nostalgia."
After a week of reflection, Olly has decided NOT to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025.
The runner-up of Sanremo, Lucio Corsi, has instead accepted the offer to be the Italian representative in Basel with the song "Volevo essere un duro."
Olly writes on Instagram:
– For days I have been asking myself and asking everyone's opinions, the answer is always the same: "In the end you have to do what you feel," because everyone knows how much I count for me to be myself, always.
– Here I don't think you would be sad if I move concerts for Eurovision, but I firmly believe that I need to connect with everything that is happening to me, before looking even further, to continue with my beloved live apprentice of which I always speak with infinite pride.
– I therefore decided to give up the opportunity to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, with the awareness that it is one of those things that perhaps happen to you only once in life.
I thank those who voted for me and gave me the opportunity to have this privilege: I hope to see you soon at my concert to reciprocate all the love I am receiving in these days.
– For me this decision is my way of listening to myself and perhaps also my twisted way of telling you thanks.
Someone will say that I am giving up a dream, here I think I have only chosen to live it with my times.
– I make a huge good luck to anyone who will take my place: music in Italy is full of formidable artists and the cast of this year is the most sincere test.
Always believe it!
Something is changing and it is for everyone.
– I hug you and see you on tour,
Federico
Questo è tutto, abbiamo un vincitore!
After five incredible nights of shows, Festival di Sanremo 2025 has officially came to an end. The 75th edition of Sanremo left us with many great memorable moments, laughs, and of course, incredible music. All of that means one thing...we have a winner of the 75th edition of Festival di Sanremo!
Once the votes between the press jury, radio jury, and televote were combined, it became official: Olly was presented the honor of the Sanremo 2025 victory. Olly, with the song "Balorda nostalgia," has taken the crown and is forever engraved in Sanremo history.
All 29 acts took the stage one last time in hopes of advancing to the Superfinal. The ranking from the first three nights were combined with tonight's to determine the final ranking of all the performers. Five acts advanced and underwent another round of voting, split three ways (33% press jury, 33% radio jury, 34% televote) to determine the winner.
For the final night the co-hosts alongside the one and only Carlo Conti were Alessia Marcuzzi and Alessandro Cattelan, who was one of three hosts for Eurovision 2022 held in Turin. All three of them presented a show that was truly a great way to close out the festival.
"Balorda nostalgia" was written by Federico Olivieri, Julien Boverod, and Pierfrancesco Pasini.
Sanremo 2025 – 5th night
First round
| Voting | Televoting from the 5th night combined with the results from the first three nights |
Superfinal
| Voting | 33% radio jury 33% press jury (TV, online media) 34% televoting |
It wouldn't be Sanremo if there weren't any interval acts to help make the evening even better. We saw the night open up with the catchy Sanremo 2025 theme song, a song many watchers throughout the week couldn't get out of their heads: "Tutta l'Italia" by Gabry Ponte (which later won San Marino Song Contest 2025). Tonight on the Suzuki Stage Tedua sang "Bagagli" in a captivating performance.
Mahmood also made an appearance tonight to premiere his new song "Sottomarini."
Antonello Vendetti delivered a powerful performance with the songs "Amici mai" and "Ricordati di me" to help add a bit more of a special touch to the show. We also had Planet Funk give us a fun and charismatic performance with "Nights in white satin."
Festival di Sanremo 2025 was one for the books. The iconic 75th edition of the legendary festival is one to remember. With all now said and done...ci vediamo il prossimo anno, Sanremo!
Olly
Born Federico Olivieri, Olly is a 23-year-old Italian singer, rapper, and songwriter who has been active in the industry since 2016. Olly was born in Genoa, which is where the Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini is located, the place where he studied music and singing.
2016 saw him form the music collective Madmut Branco, who released the project Piacere Mixtape. Olly released his first EP, "Namaste," in 2017, which is a collaboration with rapper Matsby.
In the following years he experienced rising success in his music, from collaborating with Italian singer and rapper Alfa on multiple tracks to his song "Il primo amore," which obtained over 100,000 views on YouTube in the week of its release.
After posting a cover of the song "La notte" by Arisa on Instagram in 2021 (which was successful), he recorded it as a duet alongside her and published it as a single. Olly signed his first record deal after that with Aleph Records (distributed by Epic Records for Sony Music).
This is not Olly's first Sanremo appearance though! After placing in the top six of Sanremo Giovani in 2022, Olly took the Festival di Sanremo stage in 2023 with his song "Polvere."
His most recent studio album "Tutta vita" (with Jvli) peaked at number one and has since gone gold. This album includes the number-one charting and two-time platinum single "Per due come noi," which features Sanremo 2024 winner Angelina Mango.
Sanremo 2025
- 11 February 2025: Sanremo Night 1
- 12 February 2025: Sanremo Night 2
- 13 February 2025: Sanremo Night 3
- 14 February 2025: Sanremo Night 4
- 15 February 2025: Sanremo Final
This year commemorated the 75th edition of the legendary Festival di Sanremo. It consisted of five shows, all held in the iconic Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy. Artistic Director Carlo Conti hosted all five shows, but each night was joined by special co-hosts.
All the acts performed their songs. Voting to determine the top five (presented in a random order) of the night came 100% from the press jury (TV and online media).
Co-hosts: Antonella Clerici and Gerry Scott.
15 acts performed their song for a second time. The top five, decided by 50% radio jury, 50% televote from Night 2 were announced at the end of the evening in a random order.
Co-hosts: Bianca Balti, Cristiano Malgioglio, and Nino Frassica.
The remaining 14 of the acts performed their song for a second time. The top five, decided by 50% radio jury, 50% televote from Night 3 were uncovered in a random order at the end of the evening.
Co-hosts: Miriam Leone, Elettra Lamborghini, and Katia Follesa.
Cover night! Each act took the stage to perform a song or medley of either an Italian or international song. Each act had the option to duet with a guest performer or another competing act. The winning cover of Cover Night was unveiled at the end of the evening, but will not be considered toward the overall score. Voting to determine the winning cover song was split three ways: 33% radio jury, 33% press jury (TV and online), and 34% televote.
Co-hosts: Mahmood (Eurovision 2019 and 2022, Sanremo 2024) and Geppi Cucciari.
- Night 5: Saturday, 15 February:
L'ultima notte! All 29 acts took the stage again to perform their songs. The rankings from the first three Nights, and televotes from Night five, were combined to determine who the top five were.
Those five headed to the Superfinal and performed their song a final time, with the winner determined by a vote split three ways: 33% radio jury, 33% press jury (TV and online), and 34% televote. The winner of the Superfinal will be presented the opportunity to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025 in May.
Co-hosts: Alessandro Cattelan and Alessia Marcuzzi
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
Italy has participated in 49 Eurovision contests. They have won three times:
- 1964: Gigliola Cinquetti – Non Ho L'étà
- 1990: Toto Cutugno – Insieme: 1992
- 2021: Måneskin – Zitti e buoni
Their worst result came in 1966, when they finished last.
Italy's most well-known song is "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu," better known as "Volare" from 1958. It is also the most covered Eurovision Song Contest song ever. The song has been covered by famous stars such as Dean Martin, Cliff Richard, David Bowie and many more.
Italy took a long pause from the Eurovision Song Contest between 1998 and 2010. Since then, Italy has been a "Big-5" country, which means they don't have to go through the Semi-final round and are automatically qualified for the Grand Final.
