# Sanremo Music Festival 1981

The Sanremo Music Festival 1981 (Italian: Festival di Sanremo 1981), officially the 31st Italian Song Festival (31º Festival della canzone italiana), was the 31st annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo between 5 and 7 February 1981 and broadcast by Rete Uno. The show was hosted by Claudio Cecchetto, assisted by the actress Eleonora Vallone and by the singer Nilla Pizzi (winner of the festival in 1951 and 1952).
The winner of the festival was Alice with the song "Per Elisa".
Massimo Troisi should have participated in the final night of the festival with three segments as a comedian, but just before he took the stage, he decided not to appear because of the cuts to his monologues that were required by RAI executives.

## Participants and results

Participants and results :
| Song, performing artist(s) and writer(s) | Rank |
| "Per Elisa" – Alice (Carla Bissi, Franco Battiato, Giusto Pio) | 1 |
| "Maledetta primavera" – Loretta Goggi (Paolo Amerigo Cassella, Totò Savio) | 2 |
| "Tu cosa fai stasera?" – Dario Baldan Bembo (Paolo Amerigo Cassella, Dario Baldan Bembo) | 3 |
| "Roma spogliata" – Luca Barbarossa (Luca Barbarossa) | 4 |
| "Sarà perché ti amo" – Ricchi e Poveri (Enzo Ghinazzi, Daniele Pace, Dario Farina) | 5 |
| "Hop hop somarello" – Paolo Barabani (Paolo Barabani, Enzo Ghinazzi, Gian Piero Reverberi) | 6 |
| "Ma chi te lo fa fare" - Marinella (Vito Pallavicini, Gian Pietro Felisatti) | 7 |
| " Su quel pianeta libero" - Michele Zarrillo (Michele Zarrillo, Totò Savio, Paolo Amerigo Cassella) | 8 |
| "Pensa per te" - Marcella (Giancarlo Bigazzi, Gianni Bella) | 9 |
| "Midnight" - Passengers (Kim Arena, Felice Piccareta) | 10 |
| "Ancora" - Eduardo De Crescenzo (Franco Migliacci, Claudio Mattone) | Finalist |
| "Angela" - Leano Morelli (Manrico Mologni, Leano Morelli) | Finalist |
| "La barca non va più" - Orietta Berti (Bruno Lauzi, Pippo Caruso) | Finalist |
| "Blue (Tutto è blu)" - Sterling Saint Jacques (Pier Michele Bozzetti, Giuseppe Bozzetti, Vitaliano Caruso) | Finalist |
| "Caffè nero bollente" - Fiorella Mannoia (Mimmo Cavallo, Rosario De Cola) | Finalist |
| "Follow Me (Se amore vuoi)" – Carmen & Thompson ( Luciano Angeleri, Carmen & Thompson) | Finalist |
| "Io mi" – Stefano Tosi (Carlo D’Apruzzo, Mirko Filistrucchi, Stefano Tosi) | Finalist |
| "Non posso perderti" – Bobby Solo (Danilo Ciotti, Roberto Satti) | Finalist |
| "Questo amore non si tocca" – Gianni Bella (Giancarlo Bigazzi, Gianni Bella) | Finalist |
| "I ragazzi che si amano" – Collage (Claudio Daiano, Angelo Valsiglio, Paolo Masala) | Finalist |
| "Amore mio" – Enzo Malepasso (Depsa, Enzo Malepasso) | Eliminated |
| "Bianca stella" – Sebastiano Occhino (Sebastiano Occhino, Luigi Albertelli) | Eliminated |
| "Che brutto affare" – Jo Chiarello (Franco Califano, Angelo Varano) | Eliminated |
| "Guerriero" – Opera (Antonello Barilà) | Eliminated |
| "Mille volte ti amo" – Umberto Napolitano (Umberto Napolitano) | Eliminated |
| "Toccami" – Tom Hooker (Renato Brioschi, Massimo Chiodi) | Eliminated |
| "Tulilemble" – Domenico Mattia (Gian Pietro Felisatti) | Eliminated |
| "Un’isola alle Hawaii" – Franco Fasano (Franco Fasano, Depsa) | Eliminated |

## Guests

Guests :
| Artist(s) | Song(s) |
| Lio | "Amoureux solitaires" |
| Alberto Sordi | "E va'... E va'..." |
| Charles Aznavour | "Poi passa" |
| Milva | "La Rossa" |
| Bad Manners | "Lorraine" |
| Hall & Oates | "Private Eyes" |
| Dire Straits | "Tunnel of Love" "Romeo and Juliet" |
| Robert Palmer | "Johnny and Mary" |
| Barry White | "Just the Way You Are" |

## Broadcasts
### Local broadcast

All shows were broadcast live on Rete Uno, after eight years in which the live broadcast was restricted only to the final night of the festival.

### 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 1981 :
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
| Costa Rica | Canal 13 | Canal 13 | | |