Sanremo 2025 -Francesca Michielin: I embrace the imperfection, which is a bit the "mud in paradise"

Francesca Michielin returns to the Sanremo Festival with the song Mud in paradise, First great piece of his new musical and stylistic evolution.

Poignant and totalizing ballad, “Mud in Paradise” is a love song that arises from the need to react at the end of a relationship and retraces with clear images the evolution of the relationship between two people.
The song represents Francesca Michielin's “Revenge Song” version who, as Taylor Swift teaches, is always an excellent solution to put together the pieces of an broken heart.

We met Francesca who told us about the creative process behind “Mud in Paradise”, the artistic collaborations that enriched her path and expectations for her participation in the Sanremo 2025 festival.

The interview

Francesca, you can tell us about the origin of Mud in paradise?

“Mud in Paradise” was born in a period of intense personal reflection. I wanted to create a ballad that had a classic guise, but the concept of “classic” is rather vague for me. In international music, this type of composition is back in vogue: very clean ballads, with the orchestra.
Perhaps the concept of classic returns precisely because it is classic.

What themes do you face in the song?

The phrases present in the song are thoughts that, at a certain point in life, emerge but that often do not write in a song.
I am a millennial, I am 30 years old and I lived my stories. Some people I have been with are already planning the future with someone else, and this makes you think. I hope that with this song to embrace many people who feel like this, not only millennial, but also of other generations.

How would you describe the creative process behind this song?

I worked with several authors, like Davide Simonetta, but I write a lot and I am quite demanding. Porto ideas in the studio, texts or turns of agreements that I like, and we develop them together. Each song has something to say, and the creative process is magical. In this case, it was a path of personal catharsis.

What is your approach to musical writing?

I believe that the writer should be inspired, but also constantly work. I am the daughter and grandson of artisans; My father has always told me that, even when things can't succeed, you have to create something anyway. Going to the studio regularly helps me elaborate things and working on myself. Although some songs will never see the light, the fact of being there and working greatly improves my writing.

For the evening of the covers you will perform with rkomi on the notes of The new Broadway star by Cesare Cremonini. How was this collaboration born?

When I met Mirko (Rkomi) at X Factor, we wished to work together, but for various reasons it never happened.
When Carlo introduced the rule of the evening of the covers, I wanted to honor it. We thought of several ideas and we were thinking about “the new Broadway star” by Cremonini, one of the most important songwriters we have.
This year also the 30 years after Ginger Rogers' death, an icon for me. We will also celebrate with a look inspired on stage, preparing a 2.0 version of the song, respecting Cremonini but adding something of ours.

What do you expect from this participation in Sanremo?

I don't know what will happen, but I will live it 100%. It is a moment of rebirth and integration with myself. I have always been very perfectionist and maniac of control, but this time I would like to embrace the imperfection, which is a bit the “mud in paradise”. We will see what will happen.

Are you curious to see some artist in the race in particular?

Yes, I am particularly curious to listen to Massimo Ranieri and Achille Lauro. Massimo is an artist who has always admired, while Achille, who has always intrigued me, this time seems particularly inspired by me. I can't wait to find out what they will bring on stage.

The celebrations

The 2025 will also be a year of celebrations: on February 25 Francesca will turn 30, while in March the tenth anniversary of the release of “Love exists” occurs, Hit extracted from the second studio album “Di20” and which still today resonates in radio and on all digital platforms, depopulating in recent months also on the main social networks. For the occasion, on Friday 31 January Francesca will publish “Love exists 2025 Reloaded”, a new version of the song that sees the Okgiorgio production.

“Love exists” was a fundamental song for my journey, a game changer, a song with a particular writing and innovative dress. His text is a hymn to love in the most universal and transversal sense there is. “Love has a thousand stems, love is a single flower” for me it is the most powerful phrase, because love is one.

There are no loves of Serie A and Serie B, every love is valid and in dark times like these, in which many people are invisible for those who love, it is important that this song rises even stronger, with the “enhanced” production by Okgiorgio , with whom I worked a lot in this year of study experiments. “