Gigliola Cinquetti (; born Giliola Cinquetti on 20 December 1947) is an Italian singer, songwriter, and television presenter.

Life and career

Gigliola Cinquetti was born into a wealthy family in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

. From the ages of 9 to 13, she studied and took piano lessons, taking exams in music theory. She loves painting and art. Her career as a professional singer began when she was 16. At the age of 16 she won 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 annual ...

in 1964 singing "

Non ho l'età "Non ho l'età (per amarti)" (Italian for "I'm not old enough (to love you)"), usually given as just "Non ho l'età" (), was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, held in Copenhagen. It was performed in Italian by Gigliola Cinquet ...

" ("I'm not old enough"), with music composed by

Mario Panzeri Mario Panzeri (11 October 1911 – 19 May 1991) was an Italian lyricist and composer. He is well known for his composed songs that include "Maramao perché sei morto?" "Pippo non lo sa", "Lettera a Pinocchio", and "Grazie dei fior", which won t ...

and lyrics by

Nicola Salerno Nicola Salerno, also known as Nisa (11 March 1910 – 22 May 1969) was an Italian lyricist. He formed a famous songwriting duo with Renato Carosone. Career Nicola Salerno was born in Naples, Italy. His first hit was "Eulalia Torricelli" of ...

. Her win enabled her to represent Italy in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1964 The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the 9th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Dansevise" by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann. Organised by the Eu ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

with the same song, where she claimed her country's first ever victory in the event. Cinquetti became the youngest winner of the contest, aged 16 years and 92 days. Only one younger artist has triumphed since:

Sandra Kim Sandra Caldarone (born 15 October 1972), better known as Sandra Kim, is a Belgian singer of Italian descent who won the Eurovision Song Contest 1986. Her father was an Italian immigrant from Torrebruna in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo re ...

in 1986. The song became an international success, even spending 17 weeks in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and ending the year as the 88th best-selling single in the U.K. in 1964, something highly unusual for Italian-language material. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a platinum disc in August 1964. In 1966, she recorded "

Dio, come ti amo "Dio, come ti amo" (English translation: "God, How I Love You") is a song which was first performed as duo by Domenico Modugno and Gigliola Cinquetti at the Sanremo Music Festival 1966. By winning the competition, it was chosen as the entry in ...

" ("God, How I Love You"), which became another international hit. One of her other songs, " Alle porte del sole" (released in 1973), was re-recorded in both English (as " To the Door of the Sun") and Italian by

Al Martino Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop croone ...

, two years after its initial release; "To the Door of the Sun" reached No. 17 on '' Billboards

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

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 The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. Cinquetti returned in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1974 The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brighton, United Kingdom and was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporati ...

, held in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, where she again represented Italy. Performing the song " Sì" ("Yes"), the music and lyrics of which were written by Mario Panzeri,

Daniele Pace Daniele Pace (20 April 1935 – 24 October 1985) was an Italian composer, lyricist and singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, Pace started his career as lead vocalist of the group I Marcellini. After a brief solo career as a singer ...

, Lorenzo Pilat and Carrado Conti, she came second with 18 points after " Waterloo", sung by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

, who won with 24 points. The live telecast of her song was banned in her home country by the Italian national broadcaster

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 ...

, as the event partially coincided with the campaigning for the

1974 Italian divorce referendum An abrogative referendum on the divorce law was held in Italy on 12 May 1974. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1048 Voters were asked whether they wanted to repeal a government law passed three year ...

which was to be held a month later in May. 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 Subliminal stimuli (; the prefix ' literally means "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). A 2012 review of functional magnetic resonanc ...

and a form of propaganda to influence the Italian voting public to vote 'Yes' in the referendum. The song remained censored on most Italian state TV and radio stations for over a month. Cinquetti later recorded versions of the song in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

("Go (Before You Break My Heart)"), French ("Lui"),

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

("Ja") and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

("Si"). The English-language version reached number 8 in the

in June 1974. She graduated from the art school of Salerno, also obtaining the qualification to teach. She married Luciano Teodori in 1979, and they have two children together — Giovanni and Costantino. She has a sister named Rosabianca. Her parents are Luigi and Sara. In the 1990s, Cinquetti became a professional journalist and TV presenter, and among others she hosted the current affairs programme ''Italia Rai'' on

RAI International Rai Italia is the international English language television service of Rai Internazionale, a subsidiary of RAI, Italy's public national broadcaster. Rai Italia operates a television network that broadcasts around the world via 3 localized feeds. ...

. She later co-hosted the

Eurovision Song Contest 1991 The Eurovision Song Contest 1991 was the 36th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rome, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song " Insieme: 1992" by Toto Cutugno and was organised by the European Br ...

with

Toto Cutugno Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno (; born 7 July 1943) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for his worldwide hit song, "L'Italiano", released on his 1983 album of the same title. Cutugno also won the Eurovision Song Conte ...

, who had brought the event to Italy with his victory in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

the previous year – the country's first win in the contest since her own twenty-six years earlier. In 2008, Cinquetti received an award as a tribute to her career in Italy and around the world. She published an autobiography in 2014. Cinquetti returned to the Eurovision stage to perform "Non ho l'età" as an interval act during the final of the in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Sanremo performances

In the following occasions, Gigliola Cinquetti performed at the

: *1964 "

(per amarti)" – with

Patricia Carli Patricia Carli (born Rosetta Ardito on 12 March 1938) is an Italian and Belgian origin French singer, songwriter, lyricist and composer. Life and career Born in Taranto, Carli grew up in Belgium, where her parents had emigrated for work. Afte ...

*1965 "Ho bisogno di vederti" – with

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

*1966 "Dio come ti amo" – with

Domenico Modugno Domenico Modugno (; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu (song), Nel blu dipinto di blu", ...

*1968 "Sera" – with Giuliana Valci *1969 "La pioggia" – with

France Gall Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall (9 October 1947 – 7 January 2018), known professionally as France Gall, was a French ''yé-yé'' singer. In 1965, aged 17, she won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg. Between 1973 and 1992, ...

*1970 "Romantico blues" with Bobby Solo *1971 "Rose nel buio" – with Ray Conniff *1972 "Gira l'amore (Caro bebè)" *1973 "Mistero" *1985 "Chiamalo amore"' *1989 "Ciao" *1995 "Giovane vecchio cuore"

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Gigliola Cinquetti'' (1964) * ''La rosa nera'' (1967) * ''Gigliola per i più piccini'' (1967) * ''L'orage'' (1969) * ''Il treno dell'amore'' (1969) * ''Cantando con gli amici'' (1971) * ''... E io le canto così'' (1972) * ''Fidèlement votre...'' (1972) * ''Su e giù per le montagne'' (1972) * ''Stasera ballo liscio'' (1973) * ''Bonjour Paris'' (1974) * ''Auf der Strasse der Sonne'' (1974) * ''Go (Before You Break My Heart)'' (1974) * ''Gigliola e la banda'' (1975) * ''Pensieri di donna'' (1978) * ''Il portoballo'' (1982) * ''Tuttintorno'' (1991) * ''Giovane vecchio cuore'' (1995) * ''I successi'' (1999) * ''20.12'' (2016)

Charting singles

Filmography

Films

Television

Notes

References

External links

*
grattia.com Gigliola Cinquetti Videos

Russian page about Gigliola Cinquetti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cinquetti, Gigliola 1947 births Living people Musicians from Verona Italian women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Italy Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1964 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winners Sanremo Music Festival winners Spanish-language singers of Italy Mass media people from Verona Italian singers Italian singer-songwriters Italian women singer-songwriters