"Io sì (Seen)" (, "I Yes") is a song written by

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

Laura Pausini Laura Pausini (; born 16 May 1974) is an Italian singer. She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with her debut single "La solitudine", which became an Italian standard and an internat ...

and Niccolò Agliardi, and recorded by Pausini for the soundtrack of the 2020 film ''

The Life Ahead ''The Life Ahead'' ( it, La vita davanti a sé) is a 2020 Italian drama film directed by Edoardo Ponti, from a screenplay by Ponti and Ugo Chiti. It is the third screen adaptation of the 1975 novel ''The Life Before Us'' by Romain Gary. It stars ...

''. The song was produced by

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

and released as a digital single on 23 October 2020. On 30 October 2020, the song was released for airplay to Italian mainstream radios. "Io sì (Seen)" won the awards for Song of the Year at the

Capri Hollywood International Film Festival The Capri Hollywood International Film Festival is an annual international film festival held every late December or early January in Capri, Italy. Established in 1995, the competition section is open to international films, animation, documentarie ...

, Best International Song at the CinEuphoria Awards, Master in Music Award at the

Los Angeles Italia Film Festival The Los Angeles Italia Film Festival or Los Angeles-Italia Film Fashion and Art Fest is an Italian film festival held in Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, Ca ...

, Outstanding Song – Feature Film at the

11th Hollywood Music in Media Awards The 11th Hollywood Music in Media Awards was held on January 27, 2021 to recognize the best in music in film, TV, video games, commercials, and trailers. The nominations were announced on January 15, 2021. Kenny Loggins was honored with the Career ...

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

25th Satellite Awards The 25th Satellite Awards is an award ceremony honoring the year's outstanding performers, films and television shows, presented by the International Press Academy. The nominations were announced on February 1, 2021. The winners were announced ...

and the award with the same name at the

78th Golden Globe Awards The 78th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in American television of 2020, as well as film in 2020 and early 2021, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The ceremony took place on February 28, 2021, nearly two months ...

(the first non-English song to win the award and Pausini the first Italian singer ever to win the prize). The song won the award for best original song at the 75th Nastro d’Argento Awards. It also received nominations for

at the 93rd Academy Awards, making it the first song sung entirely in Italian to be nominated, and for Best Song at the

26th Critics' Choice Awards The 26th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on March 7, 2021, at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, honoring the finest achievements of filmmaking and television programming in 2020. The ceremony was broadcast on The CW and Taye ...

Background and composition

"Io sì (Seen)" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

. Diane Warren wrote the original version of the song, with English-language lyrics, specifically for the film ''The Life Ahead'', and involved Pausini in the project during the summer of 2020. After watching the film, Pausini accepted to perform the song, identifying herself in its message about diversity and against prejudice, racism, also talks about the hard life of orphaned or poor children, people struggling to have or adopt children, to people who are invisible and need to be seen and especially to the difficult situation that the world lives in these times. Pausini translated the song in Italian with her frequent collaborator Niccolò Agliardi. Despite being used to compose instinctively, Pausini and Agliardi worked on the lyrics adaptation for 25 days, since she wanted to be sure to respect the film's meaning. The song was produced, mixed, with most instruments played by

, and recorded in

Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to t ...

in Pausini's home studio built in her parents' house. The film only features the Italian-language version of the song, but it was also recorded by Pausini in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. The strings were arranged by David Campbell and recorded in Prague with the FILMHarmonic Orchestra.

Music video

The music video for the song was released on 30 October 2020. It was directed by

Edoardo Ponti Edoardo Ponti (born 6 January 1973) is an Italian director. He is the younger son of actress Sophia Loren and producer Carlo Ponti Sr. and the brother of conductor Carlo Ponti Jr. Early life Ponti was born on 6 January 1973 in Geneva, Swit ...

, and features a cameo appearance by

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

, leading actress in the film ''The Life Ahead'', also directed by Ponti and featuring "Io sì (Seen)" as its theme song. Reiterating the film's message, the video shows several women close-ups, with the purpose to represent their individual uniqueness, intensity and truthfulness. In November 2020, Pausini released a backstage video, with scenes taken while shooting the song's official music video.

Accolades

Live performances

Pausini performed the song live at the International Peace Honors on 17 January 2021 and at the virtual ceremony of the

, held on 27 January 2021. Moreover, on 3 March 2021, following the victory of the song at the

for

, Pausini was invited as a guest at the second night of the 71st Sanremo Music Festival, where she sang "Io sì (Seen)" with the Sanremo Festival Orchestra. On 25 April she sang the song at the 93rd Academy Awards from the rooftop of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with accompaniment by

during the pre-show of the ceremony and eventually she performed it opening the 66th David di Donatello Awards inside the

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

;Production and music credits

References

{{authority control Laura Pausini songs 2020 singles 2020 songs 2020s ballads Best Original Song Golden Globe winning songs Song recordings produced by Greg Wells Songs written by Diane Warren Songs written by Laura Pausini Songs written by Niccolò Agliardi Warner Music Group singles Atlantic Records singles Songs about racism and xenophobia