Annalisa Minetti (born 27 December 1976 in

Rho Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...

) is an Italian singer, politician and

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athlete. Minetti was a beauty pageant contestant in the 1997 edition of

Miss Italia Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest in 1939 many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film. History The forer ...

; she gained public attention because she was the first blind woman admitted to the competition. She placed in 7th position and won the title of ''Miss Gambissime'' (Miss Super Legs).

Sanremo Music Festival

At the age of 15, helped by her uncle, she took the first steps into the music scene, singing in

piano bar A piano bar (also known as a piano lounge) consists of a piano or electronic keyboard played by a professional musician. Piano bars can be located in a cocktail lounge, bar, hotel lobby, office building lobby, restaurant, or on a cruise ship. Usu ...

s covers of

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

and Aretha Franklin, her favorite artist. In 1998 she won the 48th edition of the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annua ...

with the song ''Senza te o con te''.

Paralympic Games

As a para-sport athlete Minetti competes in the T11 disability classification category. She competed in the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

but due to there being no T11 race in the schedule, she entered the T12 event. She ended the race in third position but set a new world record for her class, beating the previous record set by Miroslava Sedlackova.

Personal history

In the Italian legislative elections of 2013 Annalisa Minetti was candidate with the political movement of Mario Monti.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Minetti, Annalisa 1976 births Living people Civic Choice politicians 21st-century Italian politicians Sanremo Music Festival winners Paralympic athletes of Italy Paralympic bronze medalists for Italy Visually impaired middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics World record holders in Paralympic athletics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Blind musicians Italian blind people 21st-century Italian women politicians Italian disabled sportspeople 21st-century Italian singers 21st-century Italian women singers Paralympic athletes of Fiamme Azzurre Paralympic athletes of Fiamme Oro Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Italian female middle-distance runners