[3][4] The festival was won by Olly with "Balorda nostalgia", earning him the right of first refusal to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.

[7] Despite proposals by RAI to remain for 2025,[8] Amadeus confirmed during a press conference on 5 February 2024 that the 2024 edition would be his final time in the role.

[14] In late December 2024, the hosts of PrimaFestival, the introductory segment aired before each of the nights and during the opening red carpet, were announced to be Bianca Guaccero, Gabriele Corsi and Mariasole Pollio;[15] comedy duo I Sansoni was added to the cast on 3 February 2025.

[18] On 13 June 2024, Conti announced the first changes in the rules and the organisation of the contest: these include the reintroduction of the separate Newcomers' section, which was last featured in 2021, and that of DopoFestival, which would be reduced in length compared to previous editions; the "cover night" was retained, and once again none of the entries was eliminated before the final.

On the final night, after the top five songs have been announced, there would be another round of voting, but unlike previous years, the results would then be added to the overall score.

The contest was held from 12 November to 18 December 2024, and took place in three stages:[12][23] Online submissions for the standard selection were open between 10 July and 8 October 2024.

On 17 October 2024, it was announced that 564 acts had applied, 46 of which were selected by a musical committee – composed of professionals Ema Stokholma [it; fr], Carolina Rey [it], Manola Moslehi, Enrico Cremonesi [it] and Daniele Battaglia, and chaired by the artistic director (Conti) with RAI director Claudio Fasulo [it] – to take part in an audition round in Rome on 23 October, where 24 artists were selected to compete.

[40] Upon the announcement of the new artistic director, Italian consumers association Codacons [it] issued a statement requesting that Conti establish a professional committee to select the competing entries, to ensure that they meet musical standards and that their selection is not based on the artists' "number of social media followers, web views or temporary fame deriving from their participation in singing talent shows", as well as the inclusion of a Codacons representative in each phase of the preparations in order to guarantee public transparency.

[42] However, this was not granted, and shortly before the announcement of the competing artists, Codacons filed a complaint to RAI over some of the rumoured participants, requesting that any songs featuring "wrong, miseducative or dangerous messages" be banned from the festival.

[43] On 29 January 2025, Emis Killa, who was among the selected entrants with the song "Demoni", announced his intention to withdraw from the competition due to legal issues.