Italy: Olly wins Sanremo 2025

In another hotly contested festival Olly proved too strong - taking home the Golden Lion on the final evening of Sanremo 2025 with the entry Balorda nostalgia. Olly fought off stiff competition from Brunori Sas and Lucio Corsi this year in a very open field.

Balorda nostalgia hovered around the top of the scoreboard throughout the festival and took the all-important primo position by the final evening. The entry is currently #1 on Spotify Top 50 Italy with 6.7 million streams and on YouTube boasts 1.6 million views on his live performance from the opening evening.

He also has four other songs from his latest album Tutta Vita in the Italian Top 50 on Spotify so it is no surprise he scored big points at he festival this year!

The results sequence saw rounds of boos and shock from the crowd at the Ariston Theatre. There was much dismay at favourites Achille Lauro and Giorgia finishing just short of the Top 5. It wouldn't be Sanremo without a little drama! Until the full breakdown of results is published it is unsure if the juries or televote let down their scores.

Fedez and Simone Cristicchi were firm favourites heading into the final evening but lost steam during their final performances. Fedez struggling with the vocal technicality of the song and the emotional appeal of Simone Cristicchi's entry had already been felt at it's peak at the start of the festival.

This resulted in an entirely male Top 5 which fans were quick to point out online. It has been 21-years since female artists have won in back-to-back editions of Sanremo.

Top 5 Results:

1st: Olly – Balorda nostalgia 

2nd: Lucio Corsi – Volevo essere un duro 

3rd: Brunori Sas – L’albero delle noci

4th: Fedez – Battito

5th: Simone Cristicchi – Quando sarai piccola 

Remaining Placings:

6th: Giorgia – La cura per me 

7th: Achille Lauro – Incoscienti giovani

8th: Francesco Gabbani – Viva la vita

9th: Irama – Lentamente

10th: Coma_Cose – Cuoricini

11th: Bresh – La tana del granchio

12th: Elodie – Dimenticarsi alle 7

13th: Noemi – Se ti innamori, muori

14th: The Kolors – Tu con chi fai l’amore? 

15th: Rocco Hunt – Mille vote ancora

16th: Willie Peyote – Grazie, ma no grazie

17th: Sarah Toscano – Amarcord

18th: Shablo ft. Guè, Joshua and Tormento – La mia parola 

19th: Rose Villain – Fuorilegge

20th: Joan Thiele – Eco

21st: Francesca Michielin – Fango in paradiso

22nd: Modà – Non ti dimentico

23rd: Massimo Ranieri – Tra le mani un cuore

24th: Serena Brancale – Anema e core 

25th: Tony Effe – Damme ‘na mano 

26th: Gaia – Chiamo io, chiami tu

27th: Clara – Febbre

28th: Rkomi – Il ritmo delle cose

29th: Marcella Bella – Pelle diamante 

Who is Olly?

Olly, or Federico Olivieri, is a 23-year-old singer from Genoa in Northern Italy.

He competed in the sixteenth edition of Sanremo Giovani, earning the right to compete at Sanremo 2023 by coming second. At the time, placing highly at Sanremo Giovani was a ticket to the big stage of Sanremo.

He competed debuted at Sanremo with the entry Polvere. Placing twenty-fourth at the end of the festival. The song faired much better on the charts than at the festival itself.

Since then, dropped an LP Tutta vita which has been met with resounding praise and been rewarded on the charts. The LP went platinum and reached #1 in Italy. As of today, he has four songs still within the Italian Top 50 on Spotify from the LP.

Sanremo 2025 marked his second appearance at the festival.

What is Balorda nostalgia about?

Balorda nostalgia translates to "stupid nostalgia". It is a pop ballad, centered on the story of a separation that the protagonist cannot accept, in which nostalgia resurfaces even in the most banal ways in everyday life.

Olly described his song in an interview with RAI as:

"...it talks about a feeling of loss, it talks about a bit of a bad take, but a bad take that isn't an end in itself like all the songs I've been writing lately, it always ends with a sense of general liberation. If it were an image it would probably be colors: black, blue, mixed, but then everything heats up, a bit of a mess, like me, after all, it depends on the moments"

The song is currently #1 on the Top 50 Spotify charts in Italy.

Eurovision

It's to be noted that the winner of Sanremo will not necessarily go onto to represent Italy at Eurovision 2025. A decision is sometimes made on stage, shortly after the show or days later. It is up to the winner. In all circumstances follow us here at Aussievision to stay up to date with the latest news.

Read next:

Famous singers to have performed at Sanremo Music Festival

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