"Follia d'amore" is a song by

Raphael Gualazzi Raffaele Gualazzi (born 11 November 1981), better known as Raphael Gualazzi, is an Italian singer and pianist. He was born in Urbino. Biography ''Love Outside the Window'' On 16 September 2005, Gualazzi released his first studio album, titled '' ...

. It was the winner of the

Sanremo Music Festival 2011 The Sanremo Music Festival 2011 was the 61st annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, province of Imperia, during the five nights between 15 February 2011 and 19 February 2011. The artistic director of the show was Gia ...

in the newcomer artists' section and also won the Critics' "Mia Martini" Award for newcomers. On 19 February 2011, Gualazzi was chosen by a specific jury among the participants at the Sanremo Festival to be the Italian entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The song, performed in a bilingual English-Italian version retitled "Madness of Love", won second place in the contest, surpassing most expectations. It was the first Italian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest in 14 years, having last entered in . The song is included in the soundtrack of the movie ''

Manuale d'amore 3 ''The Ages of Love'' ( it, Manuale d'amore 3, also known as ''Manual of Love 3'') is a 2011 Italian romantic comedy film consisting of three segments. It was directed by Giovanni Veronesi, and it is a sequel of '' Manual of Love'' (2005) and ''Ma ...

'', directed by

Giovanni Veronesi Giovanni Veronesi (born 1962) is an Italian film screenwriter, actor and director. Born in Prato, he is the brother of the writer Sandro Veronesi. He started his career writing scripts for directors such as Francesco Nuti, Leonardo Pieraccioni, ...

. It also received a nomination for the

Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

2011 for Best Original Song.

Background

Written by Raphael Gualazzi and produced by Gualazzi himself with Ferdinando Arnò, "Follia d'amore" is a

stride piano Stride jazz piano, often shortened to stride, is a jazz piano style that arose from ragtime players. Prominent stride pianists include James P. Johnson, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Willie "the Lion" Smith, Fats Waller, Luckey Roberts, Mrs Mills a ...

song with swing, R&B and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

influences, characterized by a retro style inspired by the American popular music of the 1920s. Gualazzi described the song as the "perfect synthesis of the musical world that inspired me, from

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

and

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

, the

, an evolution of

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

, a genre with which I got in touch when I was twenty, and I immediately loved it. I later tried to mix this genre with my

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

education and with the Italian vocal style". Talking about the lyrical content of the song, Gualazzi explained that it is based on the two most important ingredients to enjoy life, madness and love.

Sanremo Music Festival

Gualazzi performed the song for the first time on 16 February 2011, during the second night of the 61st Sanremo Music Festival. After qualifying for the final, Gualazzi sang his entry again on 18 February 2011, and on the same night he was declared the winner of the newcomers' section. The following night, Gualazzi received the Mia Martini Critic's prize, receiving 67 points out of 108, and he was officially chosen as the act representing Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The song also received the Press, Radio & TV Award. During Gualazzi's performances, the Sanremo Festival Orchestra was conducted by Ferdinando Arnò, co-producer of the song.

Music videos

The Italian version of the videoclip was directed by Valentina Be. For the English-language version of the song, another videoclip was filmed, directed by Duccio Forzano.

Eurovision Song Contest

During the Eurovision Song Contest, Gualazzi performed a half-English version of the song, titled "Madness of Love". His performance marked 's comeback in the competition, after a 13-year-long absence: the last Italian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest had been "

Fiumi di parole "Fiumi di parole" (literally "Rivers of words") is a song recorded by the Italian duo Jalisse. The song was written by Fabio Ricci, Carmen Di Domenico and Alessandra Drusian. It is best known as the entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, hel ...

" by

Jalisse Jalisse () is an Italian musical duo consisting of spouses Alessandra Drusian (born 18 May 1969) and Fabio Ricci (born 5 September 1965). In 1997 they won the Sanremo Festival, "Big" category, with the song "Fiumi di parole" and took part in the ...

in 1997. Since Italy was included in the " Big Five", Gualazzi automatically qualified for the Eurovision final, held on 14 May 2011. His performance was the twelfth of the night. Receiving 189 points, Gualazzi came in second place, behind

Ell & Nikki Ell & Nikki, also known as Eldar & Nigar (), are an Azerbaijani pop duo consisting of singers Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal. On 14 May 2011 they won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 for Azerbaijan with their entry " Running Scared". It was the co ...

's " Running Scared", representing Azerbaijan.

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Peak positions

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control Eurovision songs of 2011 Eurovision songs of Italy Italian-language songs English-language Italian songs Jazz songs Macaronic songs Sanremo Music Festival songs 2011 songs Songs written by Raphael Gualazzi Sugar Music singles