Presenters

Shortly after the end of the 2020 edition, RAI officially confirmed Amadeus as the presenter of the 71st edition of the Sanremo Music Festival. Together with Amadeus, Italian comedian and television presenter Fiorello returned, after appearing as a regular guest in the previous edition, to cover the role of co-host.^[2] Alongside Amadeus and Fiorello, five co-hosts alternated during the five evenings: Matilda De Angelis, Elodie, Vittoria Ceretti, Barbara Palombelli and Beatrice Venezi.^[5][6][7] British supermodel Naomi Campbell was set to participate as co-host in the first evening, but due to restrictions imposed in United States for the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic, she had to give up the aforementioned role.^[8][9]

Voting

Voting occurred through the combination of four methods:^[10]

• Public televoting, carried out via landline, mobile phone, the contest's official mobile app, and online voting.
• Jury of the Press Room, TV, Radio and Web.
• Demoscopic jury, composed by music fans who voted from their homes via an electronic voting system managed by Ipsos.
• Musicians and singers of the Sanremo Music Festival Orchestra.

Voting during the five evenings for Big Artist section:^[10]

• First evening: Demoscopic jury.
• Second evening: Demoscopic jury.
• Third evening: Music and singers of the Sanremo Music Festival Orchestra.
• Fourth evening: Jury of the Press Room, TV, Radio and Web.
• Fifth evening: Televote. At the end, a ranking of the songs/artists was drawn up determined by the average of voting percentages obtained in all the evenings, determining the three finalist. To select the winner the voting systems had the following weight: 34% Public televoting; 33% Jury of the Press Room, TV, Radio and Web; 33% Demoscopic Jury.

Voting during the three evenings for Newcomers' section:^[10]

• First evening: The voting systems had the following weight: 34% Public televoting; 33% Jury of the Press Room, TV, Radio and Web; 33% Demoscopic Jury.
• Second evening: The voting systems had the following weight: 34% Public televoting; 33% Jury of the Press Room, TV, Radio and Web; 33% Demoscopic Jury.
• Fourth evening: The voting systems had the following weight: 34% Public televoting; 33% Jury of the Press Room, TV, Radio and Web; 33% Demoscopic Jury.

Newcomers' section

The artists competing in the Newcomers' section were selected through two separate contests: Sanremo Giovani and Area Sanremo.^[11][12]

Big section

The Big Artists section of the contest saw the participation of 26 artists. All the artists performed and were scored throughout the week, and every competing artist advanced to the final night.^[16][17]

First evening

The first thirteen Big Artists each performed their song and the first four Newcomers each performed their song for the first time in two matches, two for each one.

Second evening

The other thirteen Big Artists each performed their song and the other four Newcomers each performed their song for the first time.

Third evening

All the twenty-six Big Artists each performed a song that are part of the history of the Italian music. The artists can choose whether or not to be accompanied by Italian or foreign guests.

Fourth evening

The twenty-six Big Artists performed their songs once again, and the winner of the Newcomers' section was decided.

Fifth evening

The twenty-six Big Artists performed their entry for a final time. The top three songs moved on to the superfinal, which decided the winner of Sanremo 2021.^[27]

Local broadcast

Rai 1 and Rai Radio 2 brings the official broadcasts of the festival in Italy. The five evenings were also streamed online via the broadcaster's official website RaiPlay.

International broadcast

The international television service Rai Italia broadcast the competition in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe.