Trouble at Italy’s San Remo song festival

Many countries have annual rituals that baffle outsiders. Every year, thousands of half-naked men run through the freezing streets of Inazawa in Japan. And every year at about the same time, Italy stages the San Remo song festival. For five nights, millions of Italians stay awake into the early hours to watch its snail-like progress towards a grand finale. And for five days the previous evenings’ televised provocations and commotions monopolise debate in the media, and in the cafés and bars of Italy.