# Sanremo Music Festival 1961

The Sanremo Music Festival 1961 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 1961), officially the 11th Italian Song Festival (11º Festival della canzone italiana), was the eleventh annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo between 26 January and 6 February 1961.
The show was presented by Lilli Lembo and Giuliana Calandra for the first three nights, while Alberto Lionello replaced Calandra in the final night. Ezio Radaelli served as artistic director.
According to the rules of this edition every song was performed in a double performance by a couple of singers or groups. The winners of the festival were Luciano Tajoli and Betty Curtis with the song "Al di là". Curtis went on to perform the song for Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 1961.

## Participants and results

Participants and results :
| Song, performing artist(s) and writer(s) | Rank |
| "Al di là" – Luciano Tajoli, Betty Curtis (Mogol, Carlo Donida) | 1 |
| "24.000 baci" – Little Tony, Adriano Celentano (Piero Vivarelli, Lucio Fulci, Adriano Celentano) | 2 |
| "Il mare nel cassetto" – Gino Latilla, Milva (Piero Carlo Rolla, Eligio La Valle, Fernando Lattuada) | 3 |
| "Io amo tu ami" – Mina, Nelly Fioramonti (Gino Redi, Enzo Bonagura) | 4 |
| "Le mille bolle blu" - Jenny Luna, Mina (Vito Pallavicini, Carlo Alberto Rossi) | 5 |
| "Come sinfonia" - Pino Donaggio, Teddy Reno (Pino Donaggio) | 6 |
| "Febbre di musica" - Arturo Testa, Tonina Torrielli (Biri, Vittorio Mascheroni) | 7 |
| "Mandolino… mandolino" - Sergio Bruni, Teddy Reno (Vian, Pugliese) | 8 |
| "Carolina, dai!" – Rocco Granata, Sergio Bruni (Daniele Pace, Mario Panzeri) | 9 |
| "Un uomo vivo" - Gino Paoli, Tony Dallara (Gino Paoli) | 10 |
| "Non mi dire chi sei" - Miranda Martino, Umberto Bindi (Giorgio Calabrese, Umberto Bindi) | 11 |
| "Lei" - Fausto Cigliano, Joe Sentieri (Riccardo Pazzaglia, Joe Sentieri) | 12 |
| "A.A.A. Adorabile cercasi" - Bruno Martino, Jula de Palma (Bruno Martino, Brighetti, Vito Pallavicini) | Eliminated |
| "Benzina e cerini" - Giorgio Gaber, Maria Monti (Giorgio Gaber) | Eliminated |
| "Che freddo!" - Edoardo Vianello, Luciano Rondinella (Carlo Rossi, Edoardo Vianello) | Eliminated |
| "Una goccia di cielo" - Jolanda Rossin, Nadia Liani (Gino Negri) | Eliminated |
| "Lady Luna" - Jimmy Fontana, Miranda Martino (Dino Verde, Armando Trovajoli) | Eliminated |
| "Libellule" - Betty Curtis, Joe Sentieri (Alberto Testa, Guido Viezzoli) | Eliminated |
| "Mare di dicembre" - Claudio Villa, Sergio Renda (Luciano Beretta, Giulio Libano) | Eliminated |
| "Notturno senza luna" - Aura D'Angelo, Silvia Guidi (Giovanni D'Anzi) | Eliminated |
| "Patatina" - Gianni Meccia, Wilma De Angelis (Gianni Meccia, Franco Migliacci) | Eliminated |
| "Pozzanghere" - Niki Davis, Tony Renis (Orfellius, Lamberto Pellini, Tony Renis, Matteo Treppiedi) | Eliminated |
| "Qualcuno mi ama" - Achille Togliani, Cocky Mazzetti (Piero Soffici, Manlio Darena) | Eliminated |
| "Tu con me" - Aurelio Fierro, Carla Boni (Antonio Amurri, Ettore Ballotta) | Eliminated |

## Broadcasts
### Local broadcast

All shows were broadcast on Italian Television and Secondo Programma, beginning at 22:00 CET (21:00 UTC).

### International broadcast

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
International broadcasters of the Sanremo Music Festival 1961 :
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) |
| France | RTF | RTF | |
| Switzerland | SRG SSR | TSR | Denis Michel |
| Switzerland | SRG SSR | RSI | |
| Turkey | İstanbul Radyosu [tr] | İstanbul Radyosu [tr] | |
| United States | WOL | WOL | |