"From eternal boy to eternal rest it is a moment".
Gianni Morandi, 77, a glittering career and a very close relationship with the Festival, jokes at a press conference from Sanremo about his age. Yet the energy he releases on the stage where he climbs for the seventh time as a competitor (in 1987, among other things, he won with Enrico Ruggeri and Umberto Tozzi with "You can give more") and where he was host in 2011 and in 2012, it manages to be one of the freshest and newest of all.
"The secret - he reveals - is trying to reinvent life every day and be happy to face the new day".
The song, "Open all doors", written by Jovanotti and produced by the German musician of Turkish origin Mousse T. (with whom Morandi will play a medley on Friday's cover night) is fifth in the general press room ranking. The sonic impact follows the soul and funky style of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. “When I received it - says Morandi - I started singing it 10-15 times a day. There are so many difficult words and phrases that you have to chew over and over to make them yours. Now I can honestly feel it on me and it gives me energy ”.
Only a few weeks ago he risked exclusion from the race for having published (due to the brace in his hand after a domestic accident ) a small part of the song on social media. Rai has decided not to penalize him but the relationship with social media remains very important for Morandi: "I discovered that they are an extraordinary means if you use them well to keep in touch with people". The insults to which he is exposed as unfortunately all famous people do not scare him, far from it: “I think it is necessary to be nice to everyone, even to those who are rude. If you answer with irony maybe you make him change his mind ".
This year celebrates 60 years of activity: “I saw them all like in a movie the first night I went on stage. I was moved by the long applause that the Ariston audience gave me. Then the introduction started and luckily I concentrated ”. In his long journey he was not afraid to experiment, working with artists such as Lucio Dalla, Ligabue, Tommaso Paradiso and now Jovanotti: “As an interpreter I like to take a song as a director does with a screenplay, making it his film. In my opinion it is fortunate to be able to range in a wide repertoire. I know that some things are better and others worse, but it's nice to experiment ".
Its fuel is the audience: “For me the moment of truth is when I'm on stage in contact with others. When the public gives me an emotion and I give it back to them. I have done over 3 thousand concerts in my life. I know that many artists at my age have retired, continue to record but no longer perform. For me it is essential, as long as I have the strength, to be with people ”. Looking back, he has no regrets: “I would do practically everything: the tour with Lucio Dalla, the one with Claudio Baglioni, Sanremo with Ruggeri and Tozzi, I like teamwork. I've had so much in life that I'd be crazy to regret something ”.
With Massimo Ranieri and Iva Zanicchi he is one of the veterans of this Festival. Yet, he says, “it is the young people who give advice to me. They are so prepared, so strong that I cannot teach them anything, not even to be on stage. There can be an exchange, yes, but they are smart and formidable ".
