Friuli and Slovenia together at the MMS festival in Portorose

Tinkara says: «This year I wanted to present myself as an author, at the service of other singers. I thought that if our festival is always presented in both Slovenian and Italian, we needed a text that would unite our two friendly peoples and that was bilingual. I could only think of my right-hand man for everything that concerns Italian projects: the reliable Alberto Zeppieri. In reality, he and I had already thought of something that would represent Friuli and Slovenia for the European capital of culture 2025. But then it seemed more appropriate to focus attention on the festival to which I am particularly attached. It will be nice to be there among the audience and cheer this time for the artists who will bring our song on stage: De Cheapkiss Band».

Zeppieri confirms: «I met Tinkara in 2003, “through” Sergio Endrigo who wanted to buy some prosciutto from the Carso! That's right. Tinkara, who at the time was already a real revelation and who we had met shortly before at Radio Capodistria, had offered to accompany us and from there – thanks to a dinner with typical Istrian products – a long collaboration was born, which still today continues to generate projects of absolute quality».

The artistic director of the festival, Andrea F. (the former producer of Tinkara who had facilitated the meeting with Endrigo, as well as many other international collaborations of the singer) wants to underline the extended and collaborative nature of the event, which goes well beyond the usual television container: « This festival has a truly enviable tradition: it is in all respects the Slovenian Sanremo, which also takes place in what is called here the city of flowers, that is Portorose. In my role I try to pay maximum attention to the quality of the selected songs and I have introduced special prizes for some years: MMS Leggenda, MMS Autore and MMS Futuro, which allow us to have back on stage the names and authors who have made the history of the festival, but also the young artists or bands who give hope for the future of Slovenian music. This year I invented the MMS Radio Village, a way of having on site and involving the promotion of dozens of radio stations throughout the week, which I would like to become a characteristic and tradition of the MMS. Today it is the largest and most undisputed national showcase for artists and songs, and being in bilingual territory it is also the only festival that allows songs in Italian to compete. In these and other senses, as is right in music, its value goes far beyond the competition or the prizes .

The MMS festival has the characteristic of launching the careers of artists who later become very famous in Slovenia. As every year, the voting for the Festival Grand Prix will be divided between the audience in the hall, televoting, a jury of experts and a jury composed of representatives of the participating radio stations. The Melodie del Mare e del Sole Festival will also be visible and commented in Italian on Tv Capodistria and will be broadcasted deferred beyond the border by the Slovenian-language program of RAI Radio Trst A.