Drusilla Foer has taken the third episode of Sanremo

After a second bumpy episode with a bizarre atmosphere, serenity returned to the stage of the Ariston in the form of Drusilla Foer who, among other things, pronounced one of the rare sensible and appreciable monologues of the very bigot-pleasing history of the Ariston, presented herself in pajamas asking Amadeus to hurry and close the show, mocked «all those who were scared of seeing a man in drags» dressing up as Zorro and silenced Iva Zanicchi with elegance in a little dialogue between the two that the web has immediately memized, distorting it a little - and even if the two are friends and Zanicchi has not made any controversial statement, while watching the scene live I almost heard the voice of Mortal Kombat screaming in the background:«Finish her!». Last night's second driving force, in order, was Cesare Cremonini who brought to the stage an energy that Rai had not seen in years - also making a funny dance on the notes of 50 Special with a lady of the audience on which the camera lingered for a second too long - Mediaset docet, apparently. In general, in this very very long episode of Sanremo there was a different energy, less awkward by moralistic observations, more cheerful and carefree. 

Both Foer and Cremonini had so much panache and flair that by comparison Amadeus, with his shiny jacket, was confused with the lights and stage colors, reducing himself to the Miss Rottermaier of the situation, defining a song «zesty and irreverent» and pointing out that in reality Tananai's song, Sesso Occasionale, was actually an «hymn to monogamous love» - we get it Ama! I almost have the feeling that the audience is treated like a ten-year-old child, who understands situations, but to whom Mother Rai does not want to explain how children are made. Why mincing so many words to say that a song is about sex? Just watch any Netflix series or any advertisement at bus stops to see allusions to sex – I think we can survive some Sanremo songs. But in any case, the presentations written by a primary school teacher, the obligatory respects to the sponsors, the now fixed visit of some guest in uniform clearly uncomfortable could not obscure the energy that was there yesterday. For next year, give the Festival to Drusilla Foer – it deserves it all.

As for the singers in the competition, as we know, repetita iuvant and this new round of performances has allowed us to better understand the quality of the various songs. On Elisa and Mahmood & Blanco there is little to discuss, they are the two favorites of this year: she has the most technically Sanremo-sounding song of the group and, as a voice and stage presence she could bury the entire competition; the duo instead has a unique energy and the freshness of novelty, crazy outfits (Ann Demeulemeester on the stage of the Ariston? Yessir) and especially Blanco, who is so radically different from any other young man who showed up at Sanremo – without him Brividi would not be half the song it is. There was a huge glow-up of La Rappresentante di Lista that, after the villains of Batman, channeled the vibes of Carrie by Stephen King with a semi-charred prom dress, made a reference to Matia Bazar and carried herself as pleasantly indignant. Faced with these young people, the older generation has lost its shine: Gianni Morandi's song and a shattering those of Massimo Ranieri and Iva Zanicchi who, yes, are classic and timeless but sound exceptionally complaining. And then: Noemi, Yuman, Le Vibrazioni, Giusy Ferreri, Fabrizio Moro and Giovanni Truppi – all good but what a drag. 

Another thing to note during this episode-river is the presence of young singers who seem to be on stage just to have fun: from «young-girlie-latino-sassy-sensual disaster bop» by Ana Mena (I quote a tweet seen last night); up to Tananai whose outfits I appreciate but whose song has the power to confuse me deeply; passing through Rkomi, which has great untapped potential but who needs a more on-point song, and for the various others Aka 7even, Michele Bravi, Highsnob & Hu. The energy was real with Irama and Sangiovanni, Ditonellapiaga and Matteo Romano – all charged up and great to listen to, even if already equipped with their own following therefore already with a certain experience behind them. If we kept only them, put Drusilla in the place of Amadeus and eliminated the somewhat pearl-clutching moralism that you breathe on stage the Festival would certainly have that locura that it now lacks. Last note, always on the subject of locura, for the Fantasanremo – which this year has become, together with the comments on Twitter, the meta-frame that gives meaning to the very vision of the festival and has added a dimension of pleasant eccentricity that, together with Drusilla and a few other singers, is scarce on the Ariston stage.