La Serata delle Cover: Sanremo's Most Unpredictable Night

The fourth night of Festival di Sanremo 2026 — held on Friday, 27 February 2026 at the Teatro Ariston — is unlike any other evening of the festival. This is the Cover Night (La Serata delle Cover), one of Sanremo's most beloved traditions: all 30 competing artists step away from their own songs and instead perform an Italian or international classic, each accompanied by a special duet guest of their choice.

The Cover Night is a celebration of music history and artistic range. It reveals a different dimension of each competitor — how they inhabit a song that isn't theirs, how they collaborate with another artist, and what their personal taste in music looks like. Some covers stay faithful to the original; others become radical reinventions. The unpredictability is exactly the point, and the Cover Night has produced many of Sanremo's most memorable moments over the years.

The evening begins at 20:40 CET on RAI 1 and is streamed live via RaiPlay. Hosting duties are shared by Carlo Conti and Laura Pausini, joined tonight by special co-presenter Bianca Balti, the internationally acclaimed Italian supermodel. The evening opens with Laura Pausini herself performing a personal medley — "Ritorno ad amare", "Immensamente" and "Io canto" — before the covers competition begins.

Does the Cover Night Count?

An important distinction: the Cover Night results are separate from the main competition ranking. The cover performances are judged by a combined vote of Press Jury (33%), Radio Jury (33%), and Televoting (34%), and a Cover Night winner is announced — but this result does not affect the cumulative Grand Final standings. The main competition rankings remain unaffected. Tonight is purely a celebration of music and collaboration, with its own independent prize.

The Full Running Order

All 30 competing artists perform tonight, each with a duet partner performing a classic song. The official running order, as published by RAI – La scaletta della serata cover, is:

Elettra Lamborghini with Las Ketchup – "Aserejé"
Eddie Brock with Fabrizio Moro – "Portami via"
Mara Sattei with Mecna – "L'ultimo bacio"
Patty Pravo with Timofej Andrijashenko – "Ti lascio una canzone"
Levante with Gaia – "I maschi"
Malika Ayane with Claudio Santamaria – "Mi sei scoppiato dentro il cuore"
Bambole di pezza with Cristina D'Avena – "Occhi di gatto"
Dargen D'Amico with Pupo & Fabrizio Bosso – "Su di noi"
Tommaso Paradiso with Stadio – "L'ultima luna"
Michele Bravi with Fiorella Mannoia – "Domani è un altro giorno"
Tredici Pietro with Galeffi, Fudasca & Band – "Vita"
Maria Antonietta & Colombre with Brunori Sas – "Il mondo"
Fulminacci with Francesca Fagnani – "Parole parole"
LDA & Aka 7even with Tullio De Piscopo – "Andamento lento"
Raf with The Kolors – "The Riddle"
J-Ax with Ligera County Fam – "E la vita, la vita"
Ditonellapiaga with TonyPitony – "The lady is a tramp"
Enrico Nigiotti with ALFA – "En e Xanax"
Serena Brancale with Gregory Porter & Delia – "Bésame mucho"
Sayf with Alex Britti & Mario Biondi – "Hit the Road Jack"
Francesco Renga with Giusy Ferreri – "Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola"
Arisa with Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma – "Quello che le donne non dicono"
Samurai Jay with Belén Rodríguez & Roy Paci – "Baila morena"
Sal Da Vinci with Michele Zarrillo – "Cinque giorni"
Fedez & Marco Masini with Stjepan Hauser – "Meravigliosa creatura"
Ermal Meta with Dardust – "Golden Hour"
Nayt with Joan Thiele – "La canzone dell'amore perduto"
Luchè with Gianluca Grignani – "Falco a metà"
Chiello with Maestro Saverio Cigarini – "Mi sono innamorato di te"
Leo Gassmann with Aiello – "Era già tutto previsto"

For the full list of each artist's own competition song, visit the Festival di Sanremo 2026 – Night 1 page.

Special Moments Beyond the Ariston

In keeping with Sanremo's tradition of extending the festival beyond the main stage, the Cover Night features additional performances from the wider Sanremo universe. Francesco Gabbani — himself a two-time Sanremo winner — performs live from the Suzuki Stage in Piazza Colombo, while Max Pezzali appears via live link from the Costa Toscana cruise ship docked in the harbour. The Premio Città di Sanremo career award is presented to Caterina Caselli, one of the most important figures in Italian music history, in recognition of her decades of contribution as both artist and producer.

The Cover Night Tradition

The Cover Night has been a fixture of Sanremo's format for many years and has produced some of the festival's most iconic performances. When an artist takes a beloved song and reimagines it — whether through a new arrangement, an unexpected genre shift, or a powerful new interpretation — the result can become the talking point of the entire week. Tonight's lineup of pairings is deliberately eclectic: international pop legends (Las Ketchup), celebrated Italian singer-songwriters (Fiorella Mannoia, Brunori Sas, Gianluca Grignani), jazz giants (Gregory Porter), classical soloists (Stjepan Hauser, Timofej Andrijashenko), and even an animated cat-cartoon theme (Cristina D'Avena with "Occhi di gatto") all feature. This breadth is Sanremo's gift to its audience — an evening where anything can happen.

How to Watch

Festival di Sanremo 2026 Night 4 begins at approximately 20:40 CET on RAI 1. For viewers outside Italy or those preferring on-demand viewing, RaiPlay offers full live and catch-up streaming with no subscription required. As noted on the official Eurovision 2026 Vienna page, the Sanremo winner will represent Italy in Vienna — making everything that happens this week part of a much larger story.

What's Next?

The Cover Night concludes the build-up phase. Tomorrow — Saturday, 28 February — is the Grand Final, when all 30 artists perform their competition songs one final time and the Golden Lion is awarded. The winner earns the right to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna. Visit the Events Calendar to follow all remaining Sanremo and Eurovision 2026 events.

Cover Night Results

This event concluded on 27 February 2026. The Cover Night results are independent from the main competition standings — all 30 artists continued into the Grand Final on 28 February with their cumulative rankings unaffected.

🏆 Cover Night Winner

Ditonellapiaga with TonyPitony – "The Lady Is a Tramp"

Top 10 Cover Night Rankings

Ditonellapiaga with TonyPitony – "The Lady Is a Tramp" 🏆
Sayf with Alex Britti & Mario Biondi – "Hit the Road Jack"
Arisa with Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma – "Quello che le donne non dicono"
Bambole di Pezza with Cristina D'Avena – "Occhi di gatto"
Tredici Pietro with Galeffi, Fudasca & Band – "Vita"
Sal Da Vinci with Michele Zarrillo – "Cinque giorni"
LDA & Aka 7even with Tullio De Piscopo – "Andamento lento"
Nayt with Joan Thiele – "La canzone dell'amore perduto"
Dargen D'Amico with Pupo & Fabrizio Bosso – "Su di noi"
Luchè with Gianluca Grignani – "Falco a metà"

A Special Surprise

The evening featured an unannounced appearance by Gianni Morandi, who joined his son Tredici Pietro on stage during his cover of "Vita" — one of the most talked-about moments of the night. The evening attracted 10.5 million viewers with a 65.2% audience share, one of the highest rated Cover Nights in recent Sanremo history.

For full official coverage, visit the official Festival di Sanremo website on RAI.

What's Next?

The Grand Final took place on 28 February 2026, with all 30 Campioni performing their competition songs one final time and the Golden Lion awarded. The winner represents Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna. Visit the Events Calendar for all upcoming Eurovision 2026 events.