In the midst of this year's competition at the Sanremo Festival, a short message on social media was enough to spark media attention. Adriano Celentano has publicly expressed his support for Ermal Meta, who is competing with the song "Stella stellina", a ballad that deals with the topic of children killed in Gaza.
"Bravo Ermal! Your song is very beautiful. You sang it so well that it is almost impossible not to win," Celentano wrote.
Clear words, without any subtext, coming from an icon of Italian music and one of the country's most respected artists, have a special weight.
In the context of Sanremo, the kind words from Adriano Celentano are not just compliments, but a clear and influential support for Ermal Meta's victory.
Celentano is known for his limited presence on social media and for the fact that he rarely comments on music competitions. For this reason, his intervention has even more impact. Earlier, there was talk of the possibility of his involvement in the festival, especially after the public appeal made by Rosario Fiorello on the show "La Pennicanza", where he expressed that Celentano's presence on the Ariston stage would have a special meaning. This did not happen, but his message to Meta made him part of the discussion anyway.
Meta's reaction
After Celentano's post, Ermal Meta immediately reacted: "What an honor, master. Thank you." He then published a video of himself playing the song "Acqua e Sale", one of Celentano's famous songs, on guitar, as a form of gratitude.
Ermal Meta's song and its message
“Stella stellina” tells the story of a little Palestinian girl without a name, who becomes a symbol of all the children who have fallen victims of war. “Aysha, Amal, Layla, Nour, Hind… what does it matter? She could be no one’s daughter, everyone’s daughter,” explained Ermal Meta. The idea of ??the lack of a single name aims to show that the tragedy does not belong to just one individual, but to an entire generation.
On stage, the singer reinforced this message by having the name of a different girl sewn into her dress each evening. The first name was “Amal,” which means “hope.” A symbolic detail that makes the performance more direct.
Meta has expressed that he thinks that a song with such a theme would have a hard time winning: "I will never win, who would make a song like that a winner?"
Sanremo often reflects the social climate of the moment. This year, “Stella stellina” brought the issue of children who have fallen victim to the conflict in Gaza to the spotlight. Celentano’s support does not guarantee a result, but it does give more weight to the debate about the role of music in addressing difficult topics.
In the end, it remains to be seen whether the public and the jury will reward the song with votes. But Celentano's intervention has undoubtedly made it clear that "Stella stellina" is already one of the most discussed songs of this edition.
