Gloria Christian (born 24 June 1934) is an Italian

Canzone Napoletana Canzone napoletana (), sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song ( nap, canzona napulitana ), is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well represented b ...

singer, mainly successful between the second half of the 1950s and the 1960s.

Life and career

Born in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, the daughter of a Neapoletan trumpeter and of a Venetian mother, at early age Christian moved with her family to Naples, where she graduated at the Istituto Magistrale Pimentel Forseca. Still as a student, she was part of a jazz band and of the dance orchestra led by Renato Marini.Enzo Giannelli. "Christian, Gloria". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. pp.374-6. In 1956, she participated to the radio musical contest "La bacchetta d'oro", which got her an early popularity and a contract with the label Vis.Enzo Giannelli. "Christian, Gloria". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. pp.374-6. In 1957 she got her first hit, a cover version of " Que Sera, Sera" which ranked #3 on the Italian hit parade. Between 1957 and 1962 Christian entered the main competition at 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 ...

four times, getting two significant successes with the songs "Casetta in Canadà" (1957) and "Timida serenata" (1958). She also entered the competition at the

Festival di Napoli The Festival della Canzone Napoletana ("Festival of Neapolitan Song"), commonly known as the Festival di Napoli, is a Neapolitan song contest. The first edition was held in 1952 and the last in 2004. From 1952 to 1970 the show was broadcast on RAI ...

ten times, getting a large success with her 1959 entry "

Cerasella ''Cerasella'' is a 1959 Italian teen comedy film directed by Raffaello Matarazzo. It is loosely inspired by the lyrics of the song " Cerasella". Cast *Claudia Mori: Cerasella *Mario Girotti: Bruno *Luigi De Filippo: Alfredo *Alessandra Pana ...

" and winning the competition in 1962 with the song "Marechiaro Marechiaro". In 1970 she was the presenter of the last edition of the festival. During her career Christian was also active as an actress in musical comedies, notably appearing in ''

Rugantino ''Rugantino'' is a musical comedy by Pietro Garinei and Sandro Giovannini, which debuted at the Teatro Sistina in Rome, Italy, on 15 December 1962. Music was written by Armando Trovaioli. It is a comedy set in the papal Rome of the 19th century. ...

''.

References

External links

* * * 1934 births Living people Singers from Naples Italian pop singers Italian women singers {{italy-singer-stub