Update – Following the tragic events of September 24th, 2023 in northern Kosovo, the “Sanremo Giovani World Tour” concert scheduled for that date in Pristina, in agreement with the Municipality and other Kosovar institutions, has been moved to October 1st, 2023, same location (“Sheshi George W. Bush”) and same time (8 p.m.).
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The summer in Kosovo comes to an end with a great Italian concert. On Sunday, September 24, Pristina is hosting “Sanremo Giovani World Tour” (“George W. Bush Square”, 8 p.m.), the tour organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, that for five years has been taking the talents of the youth section of the famous “Sanremo Music Festival” all around the world.
The event features Martina Beltrami, Fiat 131, Noor and Maninni, as part of a free-entrance evening presented by Italian-Albanian singer Marsela Çibukaj, with artistic direction by Maurizio Filardo. The Kosovar duo made up by MC Kresha & Lyrical Son is also expected to perform as special guests.
Italian Ambassador in Pristina Antonello De Riu and Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Tirana Alessandro Ruggera explain: “We are extremely happy to enrich the Kosovar capital with an evening of great Italian music. Timeless and recent hits will blend thanks to the performances of the singers, proposing their own songs alongside new versions of great classics. The stage will then be transformed into a space for sharing experiences and holding an artistic and musical dialogue where the Italian singers, together with the beloved Kosovar duo, are going to thrill the audience with their creative energy, taking them on a singular sonic journey”.
“It is with great pride that we welcome to Pristina this extraordinary project, bringing Italian creativity to Kosovo through the Sanremo brand, known all around the world, and proudly mixing it with our musical traditions”, adds the Mayor of Pristina Përparim Rama, who guaranteed the support of the Municipality for the event.
Before the concert in Kosovo, “Sanremo Giovani World Tour” will come to Tirana (September 22) and, later on, in Belgrade (September 27) and Sarajevo (September 29).
ARTISTS
Martina Beltrami, singer-songwriter born in Rivoli (Torino), took part in the talent show “Amici di Maria de Filippi” in 2020. With her first song “Luci accese” she debuted as No.1 in the iTunes singles chart, entering the “New Music Friday Italia” and “Viral 50 Italia” playlists on Spotify. The artist is one of the faces of Spotify’s global campaign “Unlike Any Other”, dedicated to artists from the LGBTQIA+ community. In 2022 Artist First/Fiero Dischi released “Cara me”, her debut album. In the same year the singer also participated in her first edition of “Sanremo Giovani World Tour”, performing in Madrid, Brussels, Belgrade and Tirana.
Fiat 131, pseudonym of Alfredo Bruno, is the stage name inspired by his grandfather Alfredo’s loved car, which bore witness to his first love adventures under Lucio Dalla’s notes. After several concerts, gravitating between the Indie and R’n’B scenes, last summer Fiat131 won the Radio Deejay contest “Deejay on Stage”. He published “Per sentirsi meno soli”, a remake of the iconic “Notte prima degli esami” with the collaboration of Piazzabologna and the unmistakable voice of Antonello Venditti, entering all major indie editorial playlists on Spotify. He then participated in Sanremo Giovani with the song “Pupille”, hitting the Top 20 of the Airplay ranking of the most programmed Italian songs on the radio for the second time in a row.
Noor, pseudonym of Noor Amelie Mocchi, is an eighteen-year-old singer who studies singing and piano, who has been dedicating herself to songwriting for a couple of years. Daughter to an Italian father and a Kyrgyz mother. She lives in Urbino, where she grew up in two different worlds and cultures, leading her to develop a significant blend where music is the only constant. In 2021 she was one of the protagonists of the RAI TV series “Tu non sai chi sono io”; in the same year she released the singles “Respiro” and “A Quando”. She can currently be found in the recording studio writing her first album. The artist won “Area Sanremo” with the song “Tua Amelie” and participated in the final evening of “Sanremo Giovani” 2022.
Maninni, pseudonym of Alessio Mininni, cultivated a love for guitar, piano and drums from an early age, laying the foundations for what would be his path as a producer and author. His single “Senza” immediately entered the main editorial playlists of Spotify and hit Earone’s Top 100. Subsequently, he released the singles “Vestito rosso” and “Vaniglia”, supported by several national radio networks. In 2021 he signed a contract with Sony Music Italy and released the single “Bari NY”, broadcast by some of the most important national networks, followed by the songs “Irene” and “Caffè” in 2022. In the same year, he competed in the final of “Sanremo Giovani” with the song “Mille Porte”. He is about to release a new recording project, anticipated by the single “Dicono”.
SPECIAL GUESTS
MC Kresha, stage name of Kreshnik Fazliu, and Lyrical Son, born Festim Arifi, are two famous Kosovar artists born in 1984 and defined as “the icons of Albanian hip-hop”. Since 2011, they have released four collab albums, becoming very popular not only in their native country, but also between the entire Albanian-speaking public of the Western Balkans and beyond. In 2018, 2019 and 2022 they took part in the “Sunny Hill Festival”, the event organized in Pristina by the Anglo-Kosovan singer and pop icon Dua Lipa. The song “Menemadhe”, released in collaboration with Ledri Vula from their third album “United State of Albania”, currently boasts 61 million views on YouTube.
PRESENTER
Marsela Çibukaj was born in Lushnjë, 80 km south of Tirana, in 1984. At the age of 9 she embarked on a dinghy with her family and arrived in Italy, where she grew up in Velletri, near Rome. She has been passionate about music since her childhood and, all throughout her adolescence, experimented with various genres, ranging from blues to rock to acoustic. In 2012 she ranked second in “The Voice of Albania” and in 2013 she participated in the Italian version of the programme. After a collab with Noemi, she signed a contract with the Albanian “Top Channel” for a very popular prime time TV show, where she appeared for the following eight seasons. Winner of the “Kënga Magjike 2022” Festival, in December of the same year she received the title of “Ambassador of Italian language and culture in Albania” from the Italian Embassy in Tirana. She intends to release her first album as a singer-songwriter by the end of 2023.
ARTISTIC DIRECTION
Maurizio Filardo, artistic director of “Sanremo Giovani World Tour” since 2019, was the musical director for “Sanremo Giovani” in 2018 and for the show section of “Sanremo” 2019. He was also the musical director of the “Eurovision Song Contest 2022”. His career is divided amongst his commitments as a producer, arranger and composer of soundtracks for cinema and TV.
