This year too we have collected in a playlist the songs that are candidates as the hits of the summer: who will survive until September?
On paper, 2026 seems generally better than last year, where almost everyone had given their worst, and despite a weak Sanremo Festival as hasn't happened for years, which however served us on a silver platter one of the biggest hits of the year, “Ossessione” by Samurai Jay, still at No. 1 of the singles after 15 uninterrupted weeks (and read SEVENTEENTH in the final ranking of the Festival) and which will certainly accompany us also for the beautiful season, together with the new song “Flamenco paranoia”.
Also in pole position are the pounding “Al tuo Paese” by Serena Brancale, Levante and Delia (last week no.1 on EarOne, rising to no.4 on FIMI) and “La testa gira” by Fred De Palma, Anitta and Emis Killa (no.2 in the singles, while the radios so far have been squeamish about a solid hit); let's also keep an eye on “Sorry excuse lo siento” by Pinguini Tattici Nucleari, the dominator of the summer 2025 Alfa, this time accompanied by Jovanotti in “Buon vento”, “Bossa nostra” by Gaia (written with Zanotti from Pinguini), “Buona Domenica” by Sayf (already at the top on EarOne). Also inevitable are The Kolors with “Rolling Stones” and Annalisa with “Canzone summer” (even though for 3 months she has struggled quite a bit to enter the FIMI top 30). Francesco Gabbani's “Summer funk”, Fulminacci's “Maledetto me”, Achille Lauro's “Comuni immortali”, Madame con Marracash's “Cabana” and Irama's “Cabana” are doing well on the radio.
First rounds instead for “Canto d'amore” by Angelina Mango with Marco Mengoni, “Partenope” by Merk & Kremont with The Kolors and Serena Brancale, “Bad habits” by Mace with Salmo and Colapesce, “Tu cosa do tonight” by Noemi, “Hippy ya yo (pero also no)” by J-Ax, “Da Dio” by Bresh, “Bam bam bianca” by Elettra Lamborghini, “Poetry” by the winner of the Sanremo Festival Sal Da Vinci, “Businessman” by Ditonellapiaga, “Santa” by LDA & Aka 7even, “Without clothes” by Colombre and Maria Antonietta, “The girls” by Clara and Sangiovanni, “A possibility” by Malika Ayane, “Tucamacarena” by the unstoppable Baby K.
Up and down so far are “Amore è” by Elisa, “Rugiada” by Arisa, “Porno” by Bambole di Pezza, “Calma metafisica” by Ermal Meta, “La più bella del mondo” by Rocco Hunt”, “Forte” by nayt, “Stessa direzione” by Paola Iezzi.
This year too, no Amici leavers were received.
For rap and trap fetishists, we recommend Geolier (“Authority”), Artie 5ive (“Swag Music”), Shiva with Kid Yugi (“Babyface”), Sfera Ebbasta with Dystinct (“Ayayay”) and Tony Boy (“Broken Heart”); separate category (it's all up to you to understand which one) “Cadillac” designed by Guè, TonyPitony and Shablo.
As always, foreign songs chase each other (after all, the frantic search for the summer hit has been an entirely Italian phenomenon for years).
Standing out are Alex Warren (both with “Fever Dream” and the brand new “Passenger”), the golden couples Madonna with Sabrina Carpenter (“Bring Your Love”) and Lady Gaga with Doechii (“Runway”), Karol G with Manu Chao (“Viajando por el mundo”), Olivia Rodrigo (“Drop Dead”), Ariana Grande (“hate that I made you love me”), Taylor Swift (“I Knew It, I Knew You”), Sienna Spiro (“Material Lover”), SOMBR (“Potential”), Harry Styles (“Dance No More”), Tame Impala with Jennie (“Dracula”), Olivia Dean (“So Easy – To Fall In Love”), Gracie Abrams (“Hit the Wall”), MEEK (“Beautiful Freeks”), BTS (“Come Over”). Shakira with Burna Boy instead signs the official song of the 2026 World Cup (which we will see from home), “Dai Dai” (we can already say that it is not up to “Waka Waka”)…
Among the gems, we like the new one by Lola Young (“From Down Here”), Noah Kahan (“Doors”), Malcolm Todd (“Earrings”), Ella Langley (“Choosin' Texas”).
On the dance front, stand out Anotr with 54 Ultra (“Talk To You”), the Bausa (“Magnetic”), Martin Garrix with Ed Sheeran (“Repeat It”), Bob Sinclar & Kiesza (“I Can't Wait!”), Anyma & Joji (“Beautiful”), Calvin Harris & Jazzy (“Satisfy”), Kasango & Alejandro Garrido (“AIE”), Bebe Rexha with David Guetta (“Sad Girls”).
For the Indian reserve always looking for Latin vibrations, the list includes “Maladie” by Mauvais djo, “Como Ouro” by Mari Froes, “Yapaque” by Farruko, “La graciosa” by Quevedo & Elvis Crespo.
In September we will take stock to crown the hits (and flops) of this summer at risk of kerosene.
