Popular Italian Reggae singer Raiz decided to give up his participation in Italy’s national music competition Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo (Sanremo Italian song festival) because his performance was scheduled for Friday night.
According to reports in Italy, Raiz, a Sabbath observer, decided to quit the competition when he found out when it was to take place.
The Sanremo competition is the most popular of its kind in Italy and receives worldwide attention.
Raiz (Gennaro Della Volpe) was born in Naples, April 22, 1967. Thanks to his friendship with keyboard player, composer, and sometimes producer for the Italian band Almamegretta, Raiz became the voice of Almamegretta.
Raiz converted to Judaism in 2009. Since then he’s been observing Jewish law and keeping Shabbat.
According to reports in Italy, Volpe announced to the members of his band, Almamegretta, where he is the soloist, that he won’t participate in the competition because of the date conflict, and presented them with two options: show a video of the band’s performance, or go on stage without him.
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, where previously unreleased songs compete for audience approval. It was the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest
