The 5 best moments of the third night of Sanremo 2023

The third night of Sanremo is always the most unfortunate. Not so much because of what happens, but because it is destined in the first place to repeat again what was done and said in the first two days of the Festival, and in the second place because it is in the middle between the presentation of the competing artists on the one hand and the duets and the big final on the other. In short, it is the slowest night of all. Neither the tired medley of Maneskin's hits (do they only have four songs in their repertoire?) nor the frankly bizarre skit of Gianni Morandi dancing too close to Paola Egonu lifted the show - all the fun seems to have taken place backstage where, apparently, Anna Oxa and Madame allegedly quarreled over the latter's positions on vaccines. A clash we would have liked to have seen live. Let's make some scattered notes: the Articolo 31, in their new, feel-good guise, were dressed like extras from The Handmaid's Tale; the disconnect between Marco Mengoni's BDSM leather daddy outfits and his song all tears and sighs is increasingly shocking; Gianmaria is perhaps the one who possesses the most convincing stage persona of all; he is a mix of Tate Langdon in American Horror Story and L o Near from Death Note; Ariete in Marni is a highlight, Madame in Off-White a turn-off, and Olly should wear white tank tops under the suit to get the right vibe, not the black one. An air of hurriedness dominated yesterday's show: which was odd given that Egonu's monologue was very concise, while the second speech by a very impressive Massimo Ranieri dragged on for much longer. The evening finally closed very late with a monologue by Alessandro Siani, he is good but the hour really absurd. Once again, we are all on the side of Fiorello who for his interlude showed up with a watch and wool plaid, as well as Lillo who, at least, got a laugh out of us.

So here are the 5 best moments (if we can find any) of the third night of Sanremo 2023.

1. Anna Oxa dons the Hobo-Chic look

Oxa's scream terrifies the West. Her song, Sali, with its mythological high notes, contains all the word that trigger boomers: falsehood, dignity, "ambiguity of our times", pure hearts eaten by greed... But when she's not busy smashing glasses with her insanely high pitch, our Sanremo queen makes the other contestants bite dust with decidedly on point looks. Yesterday Oxa opted for a hobo-chic vibe that you don't see every day (we suspect that at least the shoes if not the whole look were by Maison Margiela but we have no confirmation on that) wearing extra-large cargo, platform sneakers, a knee-length metallic maxi-cardigan, and even an Oliver Twist-style hat. The mainstream report cards you find out there fail the look, we promote it because whatever Oxa is doing, her personality is felt.

2. Lazza giving his mother flowers

The lady, framed by the cameras, wanted to disappear in her bouquet however, the scene was really cute. The Italian public loves a mama's boy, and Lazza is one of the surprises of this edition. Her gesture though, although probably cunningly contrived, seemed sincere - and we liked it that way.

3. Rocío, keep your hands off Amadeus

First reaction: shock. Italy is a republic founded on the marriage of Amadeus and Giovanna. Rocìo, with an all-Iberian coquetterie, and under the guise of a comic skit, leaves a chaste little kiss on his lips. The moment may not have been that big a deal, but all of Italy thought the exact same thing at the same moment. Even the director, rightly, cut off on a shot of Giovanna and their son. Their reactions were not shocked - but we were.

4. Grignani goes Grignani

Which part to prefer? The song interrupted due to audio problems, the thinly veiled jibe at Blanco, the struggle with his jacket to slip it off, the No War sign, Amadeus' abandonment with his flowers in hand, the bouquet toss on a lady in the audience, that «Porto via» said in a very low voice that the scandal hunters have already abundantly misunderstood by proving to possess a truly uncommon malice? The truth is that by now Grignani does not perform: being himself is the performance. The only note, the proportions of that outfit were really random: why are the pants so tight if the shirt and jacket are so wide and roomy on the upper body? Even if Grignani is a middle-aged man, it is not necessarily the case that he has to dress like a middle-aged man.

5. The Cugini di Campagna triumph over all

If the younger singers try to elevate their own, adolescent trap sensibility to songwriting, the more mature ones cannot escape the big black hole that is the format of the obnoxious, over-pathetic Sanremo ballad with choruses sung at the top of their lungs. The only exception, even more surprising considering their age, are the Cugini di Campagna who remind us that in the 1970s things were built to last while now they're only made to be consumed. Hoisted up on immense wedges and covered in sequins, the Cugini di Campagna are still in tip-top shape - and they don't even have to rely on trivial gimmicks like high notes that make the hearts of moms back home flutter.

BONUS BACKSTAGE

We establish a Backstage Bonus because the most interesting things, it seems, happen offstage. And where there's some locura, we're there to observe.

1. The mystery of the sound guy

Grignani and Damiano David had audio problems yesterday. Blanco had them the first night. All artists in general are constantly carrying their hands to their hearing devices while singing. Many of the songs sound like they are full of eaten words, sometimes you can't hear anything. Which irritates three times as much thinking about the level of preparation behind the Festival and the fact that the Ariston is a top-notch theater, with first-rate facilities -- in short, not the parish auditorium. Do we want to solve these audio problems or not?

2. Anna Oxa vs. Madame

It would have been mere gossip if a delusional post about Oxa conversing with law enforcement officials had not appeared on Oxa's social pages. The whole thing is communicated as a haiku whose Milly Milano, the singer's mysterious manager and spokeswoman, writes: «This is delinquency(?) / is violence on a woman (?) ... / 90 days». But we prefer what the vox populi says, and more than any haiku, we find poetic the «Just get a vaccine honey» of Oxa finally cutting the whole nerve-racking Madame vaccine debate short by telling her what any vaccinated Italian would have wanted to tell her for months. Amen.