The 2017 Sanremo music festival got off to a flying start on Tuesday, attracting an average of 11.374 million viewers, 50.4% of the audience share.
The show is again being presented by Carlo Conti, this time in tandem with veteran TV host Maria De Filippi.
Last year festival, also presented by Conti, attracted 11.134 million viewers on the opening night - 49.48% of the share.
Audience figures during the first evening of the 2017 Sanremo music festival peaked twice at just over 16 million viewers, director of state broadcaster RAI 1 channel Andrea Fabiano said Wednesday.
The televised music bonanza attracted an average of 11.374 million viewers, 50.4% of the audience share.
The first peak of 16,131,000 viewers came at 21:40 local time, when Italian heartthrob actor Raoul Bova presented 26-year-old Elodie. The second peak of 16,113,000 viewers came during the homage to the rescue workers at the Rigopiano hotel where 29 people died following an avalanche triggered by earthquakes on January 18. The audience share peaked at 23:51 with 57.1% at the end of the performance by Ricky Martin, which also saw festival host and artistic director Carlo Conti dancing on stage.
Another highlight was a duet by Tiziano Ferro and Carmen Consoli, two of Italian pop's biggest names.
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