In 1999, French actress Laetitia Casta charmed audiences with her beauty and simpatia. She returns to Sanremo this year as a guest star.
Legendary television presenter Raffaella Carrà presented the festival, one of the few women to do so, in 2001.
Vittoria Belvedere, valletta in 2002 when Pippo Baudo hosted for the 10th time, made the nude look fashionable.
Simona Ventura was one of the rare female presenters of the festival. The edition she hosted in 2004 was also one of the most controversial.
Michelle Hunziker was praised by many for her conduct on the stage, which made her more of a co-host (alongside Pippo Baudo) than a valletta. But she may be remembered more for her fall on the stage than for that.
Ballet dancer Eleonora Abbagnato, étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, taught some dance moves during the 2009 edition of the festival.
Elisabetta Canalis, better known as former girlfriend of George Clooney, looked beautiful in a Roberto Cavalli dress (2011). However, beauty was pretty much all she had to show as nobody was impressed with her clumsy behavior.
Czech model Ivana Mrazova rekindled the controversy over foreign showgirls on the Ariston stage (2012).
Model Bianca Balti was one of the female guest stars of the 2013 edition of the festival, which, breaking with tradition, didn't feature any showgirls alongside the presenters for the entire event duration.
Israeli model Bar Refaeli, descending the feared stairs over which many showgirls have tripped, was another guest star of the 2013 edition.
The 64th Festival della Canzone Italiana, a.k.a. il Festival di Sanremo, begins today at Teatro Ariston in Sanremo. As last year, this edition of the festival will be presented by Fabio Fazio and Luciana Littizzetto.
While the festival has almost always been hosted by males, a regular presence has been that of the valletta - one beautiful (sometimes two) woman alongside the presenter. Two notable exceptions have been Raffaella Carrà, who hosted the Festival herself in 2001 and Simona Ventura who did the same in 2004.
Here's a look at some of the showgirls and models who have graced the Ariston stage since 1999.
