Italy: «Non mi avete fatto nient» to continue normally in San Remo

At the press conference earlier today,  the organizing committee of the Sanremo 2018, announced that «Non mi avete fatto niente» of Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro continue to compete normally at the 68th Sanremo Festival.

Their participation in the Festival was suspended yesterday to investigate whether the rules of the festival  had been violated by them. It all began when it became known that in 2016, the same composer, Andrea Febo, had submitted the song «Silenzio» by Ambra Calvani and Gabriele De Pascali to the category of young artists.

«Silenzio» looks very much like to a part of the melody of  Non mi avete fatto niente, although it has other lyrics. Despite the fact that the 2016 song in question was written by the same composer so there is no question of copying, there is again a question of violating the regulations, since all of Sanremo’s nominated songs should not have been commercially released or interpreted in public, before the first night of the festival, where they are publicly presented for the first time.

The song may not have commercial traffic at the time, but it was performed at various concerts and Italian festivals.

RAI‘s announcement on the issue:

«Following its recent technical considerations, Rai believes that Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro should not be excluded from Sanremo, as the originality of the song is in line with the rules in force. The two tracks have different lyrics and melodies. The repetition of the melody between the two songs does not exceed one minute and 3 seconds in total over 3 minutes and therefore is less than 1/3. The song is therefore new and stays in the contest.»

Earlier, one of the two singers, Ermal Meta, posted his own answer on the topic:

Hello guys,

It’s time to talk.

We have heard of plagiarism regarding our song of Sanremo and the bone of contention is a song written by Andrea Febo (Fabrizio’s historical collaborator) that was presented in the Selections of Sanremo Giovani 3 years ago, was discarded and NEVER commercialized.

Fabrizio, Andrea and I have kept a part of that song not to sacrifice something beautiful (which we have told in more interviews) and all three together we wrote a NEW song with a completely different meaning.

Plagiarize means to copy, but it is ABSURDLY RIDICULOUS considering that Andrea Febo has written with me and Fabrizio “Non avete fatto niente”.

We have also been authors for many years and have written many songs contributing to different successes for ourselves and others. Those who know us know it.

When we decided to tell a general mood with this song we did not do it to introduce ourselves to the Festival, but to talk about peace. We are very sorry for what is happening because we did not come to the festival to make fun of people, but to embrace it.

We are sure that everything will be for the best.
A hug,

Ermal

«Non mi avete fatto niente» remains on top to win the bets and its possible early exit from the contest had led Italy to drop from fourth to eleventh on the betting board. However, it remains unknown whether the EBU will allow Italy to compete with this song in Lisbon, since of course Meta & Moro will win Sanremo and opt to join Eurovision with this song.

This evening, on the third night of Sanremo, Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro will perform their second appearance.