Surrender. Thus we are faced with the third evening of Sanremo 2026. If Lillo had tried to resuscitate a Festival in a pharmacological coma, offering a glimmer of liveliness with his decidedly more ambitious sketches compared to what the various scripts had offered up until then – giving rise to hopes for a longed-for change of direction with respect to the boring sobriety of this edition -, it was enough to see Ubaldo Pantani in the role of Lapo Elkann, 24 hours later, to feel catapulted into an episode of Tale e Quale Show, with the Bigs playing themselves.

The safe second hand of Carlo Conti, who has called in another of his faithful protégés – probably in extremis, after the controversial withdrawal of Pucci – is yet another handbrake pulled in this Festival, which does nothing to hide all his tiredness after a golden decade.

Irina Shayk’s flop

Irina Shayk’s international card doesn’t add any pluses, except for the eyes. The only task of the evening is to read the name of the singers or conductors on the sign for the launch of the competing song. It’s okay that she wasn’t at the Ariston to talk about politics, as she had clarified a few hours earlier in the press conference, but having a star of that caliber and not having half the idea to reveal her a little more – as well as on her shoulders and décolleté – is a total flop. It would have been nice for her to be involved – as a Russian – in Laura Pausini’s performance with the Piccolo Coro dell’Antoniano, to the tune of “Hell the world”, for the touching message of peace. But perhaps this is asking too much.

The edition of mediocrity

The third evening of the Festival confirms the mediocrity of this edition. There is nothing memorable, everything begins and ends in that moment, from the lifetime achievement award to Mogol to the duet between Eros Ramazzotti and Alicia Keys. Not to mention Vincenzo De Lucia, once again struggling with the imitation of Laura Pausini.

It’s a Sanremo for employees, where everyone arrives, clocks in (on time, for goodness’ sake), does their thing and leaves. There is not a slip – not even from the stairs -, an exit over the top, an off-script. The catchphrases are outside the Ariston, like Elettra Lamborghini’s “bilateral parties”, or off the air, as shown by some videos of Laura Pausini that have been circulating on social media in the last few hours. During the commercial breaks, the singer improvises, entertains and has fun. She brings out the soul of a star performer that grew up with her on stages all over the world, trod on in her thirty-year career, until the red light of the camera comes back on and she goes back on air, caged in a role that, episode after episode, is evidently too tight for her.

So, in the realm of “nothing happens”, we throw our hands up in the third episode.