Tonight: Italy announces its entry during Sanremo Final

The 2012 Festival di Sanremo has been taking place since Tuesday this week with the participation of 22 entries divided into the two traditional categories of established artists, "Artisti", and the newcomers, called "Giovani". 

Just like last year, when Italy made a spectacular return to the Eurovision Song Contest placing second in the Final in Düsseldorf, the Italian entry for 2012 will be picked from those competing in Sanremo. Last year it was Raphael Gualazzi, the winner of the newcomer's category, who got the Eurovision ticket with Follia D'Amore/Madness Of Love.

These are the ten finalists of the participating "Artisti":

• Arisa - La Notte (The Night) (Giuseppe Anastasi)
• Samuele Bersani - Un Pallone (A Balloon) (S.Bersani)
• Gigi D'Alessio e Loredana Berté - Respirare (Breathing) (Gigi D'Alessio, Vincenzo D'Agostino)
• Dolcenera - Ci Vediamo A Casa (See You At Home) (Dolcenera)
• Emma - Non È L'Inferno (It's Not Hell) (Francesco Silvestre, Enrico Palmosi, Luca Sala)
• Eugenio Finardi - E Tu Lo Chiami Dio (And You Call It God) (Roberta Di Lorenzo)
• Pierdavide Carone & Lucio Dalla - Nanì (Pierdavide Carone, Lucio Dalla)
• Noemi - Sono Solo Parole (It's Only Words) (Fabrizio Moro)
• Francesco Renga - La Tua Bellezza (Your Beauty) (F.Renga, Diego Mancino, Dario Faini)
• Nina Zilli - Per Sempre (Forever) (Roberto Casalino, N.Zilli)

These are the "Artisti" that have been eliminated before the Final:

• Matia Bazar - Sei Tu (It's You) (Piero Cassano, Giancarlo Golzi, Fabio Perversi)
• Chiara Civello - Al Posto Del Mondo (In A Place In The World) (Diana Tejera, Chiara Civello)
• Irene Fornaciari - Grande Mistero (Big Mystery) (Davide Van De Sfroos)
• Marlene Kuntz - Canzone Per Un Figlio (Song For A Son) (Cristiano Godano, Riccardo Tesio, Luca Bergia)

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The final of the newcomer's section took place on Friday night. Declared winner is Alessandro Casillo and the ranking of the finalists of the "Giovani" competition is as follows:

1. Alessandro Casillo - È Vero (Che Ci Sei) (It's True) (Matteo Bassi, Emiliano Bassi)
2. Erica Mou - Nella Vasca Da Bagno Del Tempo (In The Bath Time) (Erica Musci)
3. Iohosemprevoglia - Incredibile (Incredible) (Vittorio Nacci)
4. Marco Guazzone - Guasto (Fault) (Marco Guazzone, Stefano Costantini, Dario Ceruti)

Erica Mou won the Critics Award and the Radio Award. These four were eliminated in the duels last Wednesday:

• Giordana Angi - Incognita Poesia (Unknown Poetry) (Giordana Angi)
• Bidiel - Sono Un Errore (I'm A Mistake) (Brando Madonia, Mattia Madonia)
• Celeste Gaia - Carlo (Celeste Gaia Torti)
• Giulia Anania - La Mail Che Non Ti Ho Scritto (The Mail I Didn't Write To You) (Giulia Anania, Dario Faini, Emiliano Cecere)

The presenter of Sanremo, Gianni Morandi who represented Italy at the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest with Occhi Di Ragazza, will introduce last year's winning duo from Azerbaijan, Ell/Nikki, to nominate the Italian entry.

Which will become the Italian entry? Tune in tomorrow with Eurovision.tv and the webcast we provide you to follow the Final of Sanremo 2012!