At the age of 16 she won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1964 singing "Non ho l'età" ("I'm Not Old Enough"), with music composed by Nicola Salerno and lyrics by Mario Panzeri. Her victory enabled her to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 with the same song, and she went on to claim her country's first ever victory in the event. This became an international success, even entering UK Singles Chart,[1] traditionally unusual for Italian material. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a platinum disc in August 1964.[2] In 1966, she recorded "Dio, come ti amo" ("God, How I Love You"), which became another worldwide hit.
She returned to fame in Eurovision Song Contest 1974, again representing Italy. Performing the song "Sì" ("Yes"), the music and lyrics of which were written by Mario Panzeri, Daniele Pace, Lorenzo Pilat and Carrado Conti, she finished second behind "Waterloo", sung by Sweden's ABBA.
According to author and historian, John Kennedy O'Connor's, The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, the live telecast of her song was banned in her home country by the Italian national broadcaster RAI, as the event partially coincided with the campaigning for the 1974 Italian referendum on divorce which was held a month later in May.[3]
RAI censored the song because of concerns that the name and lyrics of the song (which constantly repeated the word 'Sì') could be accused of being a subliminal message and a form of propaganda to influence the Italian voting public to vote 'Yes' in the referendum.[4] The song remained censored on most Italian state TV and radio stations for over a month.
An English language version of the song, "Go (Before You Break My Heart)", reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1974.
One of her other songs, "Alle Porte del Sole" (released in 1973), was re-recorded in English (as "Door of the Sun") and Italian by Al Martino, two years after its initial release, and reached #17 on Billboard's Hot 100 in the United States. Cinquetti's own English version of the song was released as a single by CBS Records in August 1974, with her original 1973 Italian version on the B-side.
Cinquetti went on to co-host the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 with Toto Cutugno, who had brought the event to Italy with his victory in Zagreb the previous year - the country's first win in the contest since her own twenty-six years earlier.
In the 1990s she became a professional journalist and TV presenter, and she currently hosts the current affairs programme Italia Rai on RAI International.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigliola_Cinquetti
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| She was the winner of the 1964 ESC in Denmark. |
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| And she became second, after ABBA, in 1974. |
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| While hosting the contest in 1991. |
Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno (born July 7, 1943) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician.
Toto Cutugno was born in Fosdinovo, Tuscany, to a Sicilian father and a Tuscan mother. Shortly after his birth the family moved to La Spezia (Liguria).
He began his musical career as a drummer, but later formed a band that performed his own songs. He also had cowritten for popular French-American singer Joe Dassin, contributing some of his most famous songs, including "L'été indien" ("Africa"), "Et si tu n'existais pas" and "Le Jardin du Luxembourg" (written with Vito Pallavicini).[1] He also co-wrote Dalida's "Laissez moi danser" (Voglio l'anima"), which became a Platinum record shortly after its release.
In 1976 Cutugno participated for the first time in the Sanremo Music Festival coming up with 3rd place with his band Albatros with the song, Volo 504. He then won in 1980 with the song "Solo noi", and again in 1983, with his smash hit, "L'Italiano", and subsequently finished second in six editions: in 1984 with the song "Serenata" ("Serenade"), in 1987 with "Figli" ("Sons" or "Children"), in 1988 with "Emozioni" ("Emotions"), in 1989 with the song "Le mamme" ("The Mamas"), in 1990 with Ray Charles with the song "Gli amori" ("Loves", but entitled "Good Love Gone Bad" in Charles' version) and in 2005 with Annalisa Minetti with the song "Come noi nessuno al mondo" ("No One Else in the World Like Us"). Toto Cutugno participated in the festival a total of 13 times.
He won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1990 with his own composition "Insieme: 1992" ("Together: 1992"), a ballad which celebrated European political integration. Along with Gigliola Cinquetti, Italy's only other Eurovision winner from 1964, he presented the 1991 contest, which was staged in Rome as a result of his victory.
Cutugno may be best-known for his worldwide hit song, "L'Italiano (Lasciatemi Cantare)", which was on his hit CD, "I Grandi Successi".
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toto_Cutugno
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| During his performance in the 1990 contest. |
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