Sanremo: Singing, scandals and Zlatan AFP, ROME It has been dismissed as immoral, outdated and reality TV kitsch. It has also been hailed as Italy’s national treasure, a song festival that captures the soul of the country each year. Whether for the soaring melodies or the feuds, botched ballads and bad outfits, Italians delight in the annual five-day Sanremo Music Festival that began yesterday, a national pastime inspiring both nostalgia and derision. The COVID-19 pandemic this year has made its mark — the orchestra, performers and presenters play without a live audience, while supermodel Naomi Campbell was forced to pull out due to travel complications.