Francesco Facchinetti (born 2 May 1980), also known as Dj Francesco or as Oz, is an Italian DJ, producer, singer, musician and TV presenter. He rose to fame as a singer during the summer of 2003, when he released his debut single, "La canzone del capitano", which became a hit in Italy. Before retiring from his music career in 2007, he released three studio albums, and he competed in 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 ...
three times. He is the
founder
Founder or Founders may refer to:
Places
*Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium
* Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...
of Italian
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
trio "We Are PresidentS".
In 2004, he was also a contestant of the Italian reality show ''
L'isola dei famosi''. Three years later, he became the co-presented of the show. Starting from 2008, Facchinetti presented the first four series of ''
X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...
'', the Italian version of
the talent show created by
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...
in the United Kingdom. When
RAI
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...
decided to discontinue the show, Facchinetti presented ''
Star Academy
''Star Academy'', called ''Operación Triunfo'' ("Operation Triumph") in Spanish-speaking countries, is a highly successful television pop music talent contest with viewer voting and reality show elements.
Format
There are many versions of t ...
'', which replaced ''X Factor''. Together with his father
Roby Facchinetti, he was part of a duo coach on the third series of talent show ''
The Voice of Italy
''The Voice of Italy'' is a reality singing competition and Italian version of the international syndication ''The Voice'' based on the reality singing competition launched in the Netherlands, created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. Th ...
''. He was one of the Italian commentators for the second and third seasons of
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
's ''
Ultimate Beastmaster
''Ultimate Beastmaster'' is an American sports entertainment reality show competition that premiered on Netflix on February 24, 2017. The show differentiates itself from other obstacle course competition shows by showcasing not only international ...
'' alongside
Bianca Balti
Bianca Balti (; born 19 March 1984) is an Italian model.
Career
Balti was first booked for the cover of ''L'Officiel'', shot by Alexi Lubomirski. Her first notable advertisement campaign came for Dolce & Gabbana. She has appeared on the covers ...
.
Early life
Francesco Facchinetti was born in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
on 2 May 1980, to Italian singer
Roby Facchinetti, better known as a member of the pop band
Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Winn ...
, and Rosaria Longoni. His elder sister,
Alessandra Facchinetti
Alessandra Facchinetti (born 2 June 1972) is an Italian fashion designer who is known for her work as creative director at Gucci (2004–2005), Valentino (2008–2010) and Tod's (2013–2016).
Early life
Facchinetti is the daughter of singer an ...
, is a fashion designer.
Career
Music debut and ''Bella di padella''
After becoming part of a punk band, Facchinetti became a presenter of the Italian satellite television channel Hit Channel 102.5, directed by the record producer and talent scout
Claudio Cecchetto
Claudio Cecchetto (born 19 April 1952) is an Italian record producer and talent scout.
Life and career
Cecchetto was born in Ceggia, (metropolitan city of Venice). He has hosted several Italian music festivals, from Festival di Sanremo to ...
.
The jingle for his TV programme, "La canzone del capitano", was also used during
Canale 5's
quiz show ''Passaparola''.
[ After being released as his debut single under the pseudonym DJ Francesco, "La canzone del capitano" became a hit in Italy, peaking at number three on the FIMI Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks and being certified gold.]
His second single, "Salta", became another top 20 hit in Italy. In October of the same year, DJ Francesco received a nomination for Best Italian Revelation of the Year at the fourth Italian Music Awards
The Italian Music Awards were an accolade established in 2001 by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry to recognize the achievements in the Italian music business both by domestic and international artists.
The awards were given by an aca ...
. Facchinetti's third single, "Ti adoro", a rap version of Luciano Pavarotti's song with the same title, was released in February 2004.
In March of the same year, DJ Francesco competed in the 54th 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 "Era bellissimo", placing 11th in a field of 22. The song was included in his first studio album, ''Bella di padella'', also including DJ Francesco's previous singles, released in March 2004.
''L'isola dei famosi'' and ''Il mondo di Francesca''
In September 2004, DJ Francesco became a contestant of the reality show '' L'isola dei famosi''. In March 2005, he competed for the second time in 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 ...
, performing the song "Francesca" as part of the DJ Francesco Band. The song compteded in the category Groups, but it was eliminated after the second round of the competition.
The song became the lead single from DJ Francesco's second studio album, ''Il mondo di Francesca''.
In the meanwhile, Facchinetti debuted as a voice actor, dubbing Rodney in the Italian version of the computer animated
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...
film ''Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...
''.
The third studio album and the debut as a TV presenter
In 2006, Facchinetti started to present his own radio programme
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio networ ...
, ''Non esco, c'è Francesco'', broadcast by RTL 102.5. On 16 June of the same year he released his first single for Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...
, "Non cado più", under the mononym Francesco. The single, presented during the singing competition Festivalbar
The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...
, was certified gold in Italy.[
In February 2007, Facchinetti competed in the 57th Sanremo Music Festival, performing the song "Vivere normale", a duet with his father Roby Facchinetti. The song placed eighth in a field of twenty, and was later included in Francesco's third studio album of the same title. The album also spawned the singles "Amante e regina" and "Superman".]
On 27 June 2007, Facchinetti presented the 2nd Venive Music Awards, an award ceremony celebrating pop music.[ In September of the same year, he started to co-present the fifth series of '' L'isola dei famosi'', from the ]Cayos Cochinos
The Cayos Cochinos or Cochinos Cays consist of two small islands (''Cayo Menor'' and ''Cayo Grande'') and 13 smaller coral cays situated northeast of La Ceiba on the northern shores of Honduras. Although geographically separate, they belong to ...
islands, in Honduras. As a result, he received the Premio Regia Televisiva, also known as Oscar TV, for TV Personality Revelation of the Year in March 2008.
''X Factor'', ''Star Academy'' and ''Rai Boh''
In March 2008, Facchinetti became the presenter of the first series of the Italian talent show ''X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...
''. Facchinetti also presented the following three series of the show. In the meanwhile, Facchinetti also presented the music show ''Scalo 76'', the Italian Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2008, and ''Il più grande (italiano di tutti i tempi)''. In 2011, when Rai 2
Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, tal ...
decided not to confirm ''X Factor'' replacing it with ''Star Academy'', Facchinetti was chosen as the presenter of the new show. During the same year, he presented the music-based show ''Ciak si canta'' with Belén Rodríguez
María Belén Rodríguez Cozzani (, ; born 20 September 1984), better known as Belén Rodríguez or Belén, is an Argentine television personality, actress and model. Based in Milan since 2004, Rodríguez has hosted variety shows and appeared ...
.
In 2012, Facchinetti founded a dance trio, We Are presidents. The band's first single, "Hello World", was released in November 2012.
In January 2013, Facchinetti presented a new late night show, ''Rai Boh'', which experimented with chaos-based interviews.
''Braccialetti rossi'' soundtrack and ''The Voice of Italy''
In 2014, Facchinetti returned to music, performing the song "Conta" for the Italian drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
television series ''Braccialetti rossi''. The song was released as a single in February of the same year.[ He also recorded the theme song for the second series of the same show, "L'inizio del mondo", a duet with Niccolò Agliardi, released as a single in 2015.]
During the spring of 2015, Facchinetti was chosen as part of a duo coach for the third series of Italian talent show ''The Voice of Italy
''The Voice of Italy'' is a reality singing competition and Italian version of the international syndication ''The Voice'' based on the reality singing competition launched in the Netherlands, created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. Th ...
'', together with his father Roby Facchinetti. Father and son won the program.
Personal life
During the reality show ''L'isola dei famosi'', Facchinetti started an on-again off-again relationship with fellow contestant and Venezuelan television personality Aída Yéspica. Their relationship lasted until July 2006. In August 2010, Facchinetti started dating Italian TV presenter Alessia Marcuzzi
Alessia Marcuzzi (born 11 November 1972) is an Italian television host and actress.
Career
Born in Rome, to father Eugenio, from Trieste, and mother Antonietta from Roseto Valfortore, in the province of Foggia, she has debuted in Telemontecarlo ...
. On 4 September 2011, Marcuzzi gave birth to their first daughter, Mia Facchinetti. On 9 October 2012, Alessia Marcuzzi and Francesco Facchinetti announced their separation through a co-written official message[ posted on their Facebook and Twitter official accounts.
Facchinetti has worn the brands Adidas and Plein, promoting them into the Italian press.
On October 17, 2021, mixed martial artist ]Conor McGregor
Conor Anthony McGregor ( ga, Conchúr Antóin Mac Gréagóir; born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight double-champion. He is the first ...
allegedly attacked Facchinetti without provocation, in a nightclub in Rome, breaking Facchinetti's nose. Facchinetti is planning to sue McGregor for the unprovoked attack.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
References
External links
Francesco
at Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
*
DJ Francesco
at Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Facchinetti, Francesco
1980 births
Living people
Italian television presenters
Singers from Milan
Participants in Italian reality television series
People from Brianza
21st-century Italian male singers
Mass media people from Milan