At the top of the bookmakers’ ranking as favorite to win the Sanremo Festival is Serena Brancale, with a 28.57% probability of winning. The singer-songwriter from Salento, in the meantime, has received the “Lunezia Award for Sanremo 2026” for his song Here with me, dedicated to his mother Maria De Filippis, an Italian-Venezuelan musician and teacher, who passed away in October 2020. This is the motivation of the Award Commission.
“In the commitment to a single choice, we therefore indicate the work of Serena Brancale. Because mother and daughter have the same cells. Two universes, here and elsewhere, which seek and find each other. A work that enters through pathos and centered words. A text of certain musical-literary potential”.
Who was Serena Brancale’s mother
Serena’s mother not only gave her a passion for music, but also guided her in her first artistic experiences. This is the artist’s memory:
«My maternal grandfather used to pick me up from school and, at home, made me listen to jazz, his great passion. Mum sang and opened her own school. He was from Celle del Campo, but had Venezuelan origins and loved Latin American music, which we danced to together. He met my father, Agostino, a footballer by profession, originally from Carbonara, and they fell in love listening to Pino Daniele’s cassettes, settling in Valenzano. Mom made me listen to a lot of folk. I love the Spanish flamenco singer Estrella Morente. And Shakira for her performances.”
In 2020, after her mother’s death, Serena published a series of photos that portrayed them together accompanied by a promise: «I will be your voice. Your hands, your pride. AND I will be strong. I promise you. Stronger than before. Strong as only you were».
The strong bond with the Serena Brancale family had already been demonstrated in last edition of the Sanremo Festival when he had called to conducting the orchestra during her performance of the competing song Anema and her sister Nicole core, piano teacher. The bond with his father Agostino Brancale, a former Serie C footballer, is very close.
