The 2026 Sanremo Festival will start from a certainty, a symbol of Italian music in the world. Tiziano Ferro will in fact be the super guest of the first evening, Tuesday 24 February. The announcement came directly from Carlo Conti, who returns to lead the event for what he has already defined as his last Festival. A choice that aims to immediately bring the center of attention back to music, relying on one of the most popular and transversal artists in our panorama.
For Ferro this is a return to Ariston after the experience of 2020, when he was a regular guest for five evenings. Today the Latina singer-songwriter arrives at Sanremo in a different phase of his career, fresh from the release of his new album I’m great and ahead of a stadium tour starting at the end of May.
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A cast of music and TV faces: waiting for the names of the co-hosts
Alongside Ferro, the first evening will also see Laura Pausini on stage, a stable presence of this edition who will co-host with Carlo Conti. Another name that we will find in all five evenings will be Max Pezzali, connected from the Tuscan Coast. As for the other co-hosts, we will have Can Yaman in the first evening and Achille Lauro and Lillo in the second.
The issue of female representation also remains open, currently limited to Pausini alone, despite the many rumors that have circulated in recent months. However, Conti promised that this week he will announce the other names, with the wait continuing to grow to understand who the women at his side will be.
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The Pucci case and the issue of substitution
In addition to the wait, however, the controversies that accompanied the definition of the cast are raging. A few days after its debut, Sanremo 2026 had to deal with the resignation of Andrea Pucci. The comedian, initially announced as co-host, decided to take a step back after strong criticism on social media, linked to his personal positions and to, to say the least, unfortunate comments on Elly Schlein and Tommaso Zorzi, just to name a few. A case that has sparked debate far beyond the television sphere and which has inexplicably also involved our political representation.
The replacement is not yet official, but the rumors converge on a specific name: Nino Frassica. A choice that appears consistent with Conti’s strategy. Frassica was already at the Ariston in the last edition, gathering consensus thanks to a surreal and non-divisive comedy, capable of lightening up without fueling controversy. However, the rumors speak of Frassica being present on the final evening and not on the third evening on Thursday 26 February, the one of the covers, where we should have seen Pucci. Therefore, if the comic part seems safe with the presence of Frassica, it remains to be seen who we will find on stage in the evening of the duets.
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