Sanremo viewing figures impress again

(ANSA) - Rome, February 9 - The second night of the televised 2017 Sanremo Music Festival attracted an average of 10.367 million viewers on Wednesday. Presented by Carlo Conti and Maria De Filippi, the annual music bonanza on the Ligurian coast continued to be watched by 46.6% of the total audience, a slight reduction from the same night last year (49.91%).
    However, this figure was still the second highest since 2005, state broadcaster RAI1 chief Andrea Fabiano said at a press conference on Thursday. The most noteworthy moments of the second night included American actor Keanu Reeves playing rock on a bass guitar, British pop star Robbie Williams kissing an embarrassed De Filippi on the mouth and an appearance by AS Roma captain and former Italy striker Francesco Totti, who signed footballs and kicked them into the public as the viewing figures peaked at 14.34 million.
    In the 'Tutti Cantano Sanremo' section, a 'model employee' from the Sicilian city of Catania was brought on stage who had never taken a sick day and who criticized workers who try to cheat their workplaces. De Filippi added on the issue of unemployment that the youth jobless rate in "Italy is at 40%. Many young people cannot follow the example of this man".
    She went on to mention a young man from the Friuli region who committed suicide in January due to a lack of prospects for the future. At the press conference on Thursday, she joked about the kiss and said that "I hope the kiss goes viral" and that now "every evening Carlo Conti will have to kiss someone".
    The first to be eliminated from competition on Wednesday, Marianne Mirage, said that she "wasn't expecting it, but I'll go forward with more energy than before". At the festival on Friday there will be Kitonb, Luca Zingaretti, Robin Schulz, Virginia Raffaele and the model Marica Pellegrinelli, who is also Eros Ramazzotti's wife.
    As part of 'Tutti Cantano Sanremo ' there will be Gaetano Moscato, a grandfather who lost a leg in the Nice attack but saved two of his grandchildren in doing so. One will be present with him at the Ariston. Agriculture Minster Maurizio Martina noted on Thursday that Sanremo also "offers a unique and privileged showcase for Italian flowers", a sector that "is worth over 2.5 billion euros and gives jobs to 100,000 in 27,000 enterprises."