🇮🇹 Italy: Can Yaman Will Co-Host an Evening of Sanremo 2026

RAI has revealed this evening that the Turkish actor Can Yaman will be among the co-hosts of the Festival di Sanremo 2026.

Can Yaman has been announced by RAI as one of the co-hosts that will join Carlo Conti and Laura Pausini during one of the evenings of Festival di Sanremo 2026. More precisely, Can will join the two presenters on the first night of the Festival, on February 24.

36-year-old Can Yaman is an internationally renowned star and one of the most recognised actors on contemporary television. He speaks fluent Turkish, English, Italian and Spanish, a quality that has allowed him to establish himself successfully in international productions. He has starred in numerous series around the world, such as Rai’s “Sandokan” and “El Turco”, and he is currently filming his first series in Spain, “El laberinto de las mariposas”.

Four-time Festival di Sanremo artist and representative of San Marino at Eurovision 2022, Achille Lauro was previously announced as one of the co-hosts for one of the evenings of Festival di Sanremo 2026.

Festival di Sanremo 2026

Festival di Sanremo 2026 will take place between February 24 and 28, with Carlo Conti and Laura Pausini hosting all five nights. The complete line-up of Festival di Sanremo 2026 is the following:

• Arisa – “Magica favola” (Magical tale)
• Bambole di pezza – “Resta con me” (Stay with me)
• Chiello  – “Ti penso sempre” (I’m always thinking of you)
• Dargen D’Amico – “Ai ai”
• Ditonellapiaga – “Che fastidio!” (How annoying!)
• Eddie Brock – “Avvoltoi” (Vultures)
• Elettra Lamborghini – “Voilà”
• Enrico Nigiotti – “Ogni volta che non so volare” (Every time I can’t fly)
• Ermal Meta – “Stella stellina” (Star, little star)
• Fedez & Masini – “Male necessario” (Necessary evil)
• Francesco Renga – “Il meglio di me” (The best of me)
• Fulminacci – “Stupida sfortuna” (Stupid bad luck)
• J-Ax – “Italia Starter Pack”
• LDA & Aka 7even – “Poesie Clandestine” (Clandestine poems)
• Leo Gassmann – “Naturale” (Natural)
• Levante – “Sei tu” (It’s you)
• Luchè – “Labirinto” (Maze)
• Malika Ayane – “Animali notturni” (Nocturnal animals)
• Mara Sattei – “Le cose che non sai di me” (The things you don’t know about me)
• Maria Antonietta & Colombre – “La felicità e basta” (Happiness, that’s all)
• Michele Bravi – “Prima o poi” (Sooner or later)
• Nayt – “Prima che” (Before)
• Patty Pravo – “Opera”
• Raf – “Ora e per sempre” (Now and forever)
• Sal Da Vinci – “Per sempre sì” (Forever yes)
• Samurai Jay – “Ossessione” (Obsession)
• Sayf – “Tu mi piaci tanto” (I really like you)
• Serena Brancale – “Qui con me” (Here with me)
• Tommaso Paradiso – “I romantici” (The romantics)
• Tredici Pietro – “Uomo che cade” (Man who falls)

Ermal Meta represented Italy alongside Fabrizio Moro at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Raf represented Italy alongside Umberto Tozzi at the Eurovision Song Contest 1987.

As has been the case in previous years, the winner of Festival di Sanremo will receive the right to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. Should the winner decline to go to Eurovision, then it will be offered to the runner-up. Should they choose to decline, it will continue to be offered in order of the final results.

How the Big Contest will work

Night One – All 30 competing artists will perform with the press room voting. At the end of the night the top five artists will be revealed in a random order.

Night Two & Three – Half of the artists will perform on each night, with the radio juries and televoters voting for their favourites, each will have a 50% say in the result. At the end of the night, the top five artists will be revealed in a random order.

Night Four – As is tradition, the fourth night will see the artists performing covers alongside guest acts. They will perform either Italian songs or international songs that were released before December 31, 2025. The results of this night will not contribute to the overall result.

Night Five – All thirty artists will return to the stage with their songs, with all three juries voting. Televoting will account for 34% of the result and the press room and radio jury voting will have a 33% say each. The nights results will be combined with those of nights one to three, with the acts placing 30th to 6th revealed. The top five will then progress to a final round of voting. The three juries will vote again and those results will be combined with all previous results to name the winner.

Lucio Corsi represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with “Volevo essere un duro”. He finished 5th, scoring a total of 256 points.

Source: RAI