"L'amore è femmina" (; en, "Love is female") is a song recorded by Italian singer-songwriter Nina Zilli for her second studio album of the same title. It was produced by

Michele Canova Michele Canova Iorfida is an Italian record producer, arranger, songwriter and engineer. Since 2003, Iorfida has been responsible for more than 18 million album sales worldwide. His work with artists including Jovanotti, Tiziano Ferro, and Gius ...

and written by Zilli herself with American songwriter Charlie Mason (later won the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European ...

) and Swedish songwriters Christian Rabb, Kristoffer Sjökvist and Frida Molander. The song was selected by the Italian 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 ...

to represent

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

, which was held in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. During the contest, it was performed in English-Italian language, titled "L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)".

Background and composition

The song was originally written in English by Christian Rabb, Kristoffer Sjökvist, Frida Molander and Charlie Mason. A demo of the song was later sent to Zilli's manager, Fabrizio Giannini. After hearing the song, Zilli translated the lyrics in Italian and recorded it with the title "L'amore è femmina". The song was chosen as the sixth track of her second studio album, named after the song itself. Explaining the meaning of the song, Zilli claimed that the lyrics are written from the point of view of a woman telling her man that he should not expect anything from her if he acts "like a stupid". Zilli also stated that the song contains references to sensual love, specifying that she didn't intend to write a sort of new "

Material Girl "Material Girl" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her second studio album, '' Like a Virgin'' (1984). It was released on November 30, 1984, by the Sire label as the second single from ''Like a Virgin''. It also appears slightly ...

Critical reception

OndaRock.it's Claudio Fabretti described the song as "an essay of muffled vocalism, counterpointed with a lot of choruses and

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitc ...

s on a rocking rhythm".

Eurovision Song Contest

During the Final of the 2012 Sanremo Music Festival, Nina Zilli was announced by the ESC 2011 winners

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 ...

as the singer who would represent Italy at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. One week later, her Sanremo entry, " Per sempre", was confirmed as the song chosen to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. However, on 13 March 2012, RAI and Universal Music Italy announced that the Italian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest would be the title-track of her second studio album, '' L'amore è femmina''. The version that represented

Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Italy participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Italian entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by the Italian broadcaster RAI. The artist was selected by a special committee from the participan ...

was mostly sung in English, but it kept some of its parts in Italian. It was presented on 23 March 2012, at Eurovision's official website. A video of Zilli singing the song inside the studio was uploaded on their YouTube channel. As Italy is one of the Eurovision's "Big Five", she automatically qualified for the final, where she finished in 9th place with 101 points.

Music videos

On 23 March 2012, a preview video for "L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)" was uploaded on Eurovision.tv's YouTube channel. It shows Zilli inside the studio singing the international version of the song that represented Italy in Eurovision 2012. The official music video, featuring the Italian-language version of the song, later premiered on 7 May 2012 on

Gazzetta TV Gazzetta TV was an Italian terrestrial television channel owned by RCS MediaGroup, specialized in sports broadcastings edited of the editorial staff of the La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italian sports newspaper. Launched on 26 February 2015, it forwa ...

. The video, directed by Cosimo Alemà and filmed in March 2012 at a

palazzo A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

EUR, Rome EUR is a residential and business district in Rome, Italy, part of the Municipio IX. The area was originally chosen in the 1930s as the site for the 1942 World's Fair which Benito Mussolini planned to open to celebrate twenty years of Fascism, ...

, focuses on Zilli, who is accompanied by six male dancers. The video for the international version of the song that represented Italy in Eurovision was eventually released on 10 March 2012.

Live performances

The song was presented for the first time on a

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

on 25 April 2012, when Zilli performed live the Italian-language version of the song on the Italian programme '' Quelli che... il Calcio''. The song was also included in the setlist of her L'amore è femmina tour, which started on 10 April 2012 in Florence.

Track listing

* Digital Download # "L'amore è femmina (Out of Love)" – 3:01

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amore e femmina, L' 2012 singles Nina Zilli songs Eurovision songs of 2012 Eurovision songs of Italy Italian-language songs Macaronic songs Songs with lyrics by Charlie Mason (lyricist) Universal Music Group singles 2011 songs Song recordings produced by Michele Canova English-language Italian songs