"Marianne" was the entry in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1968 The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's first victory at the with the song " Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw. Despite havi ...

, performed in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Sergio Endrigo Sergio Endrigo (; 15 June 1933 – 7 September 2005) was an Italian singer-songwriter. Born in Pola, Istria in Italy (now Pula, Croatia), he has been often compared—for style and nature—to authors of the so-called "Genoa school" like Gino P ...

. The song is a ballad, with Endrigo expressing his love for the title character. He sings, however, that she never stays with him, and he wonders about what she is doing. Nonetheless, his feelings for her remain unaltered. The song was performed eleventh on the night, following 's

Isabelle Aubret Isabelle Aubret (; born Thérèse Coquerelle; 27 July 1938) is a French singer best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 with the song "Un premier amour". Early life Thérèse Coquerelle was born in Lille, France, on 27 July ...

with " La source" and preceding the 's

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

with "

Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary Music Albums * ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...

". At the close of voting, it had received 7 points, placing it 10th in a field of 17. It was succeeded as Italian representative at the 1969 contest by

Iva Zanicchi Iva or IVA may refer to: Organizations * Independent Voters Association, a North Dakota U.S. political organization * Informationsvidenskabelige Akademi, a Danish university * Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, (Swedish: ''Kungliga Ing ...

with " Due grosse lacrime bianche".

Cliff Richard version

Following the Contest, it was rewritten 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 ...

by Bill Owen for Cliff Richard to record. "Marianne" features an accompaniment by the Mike Leander Orchestra and was released as a single in September with the B-side "Mr. Nice", written by

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

. It peaked at number 22 on 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 ...

Reception

Reviewing for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', Peter Jones described "Marianne" as "a really lovely ballad, a hymn of praise to a chick, and Cliff really shows off his vocal range, to a swelling, swirling orchestral backing laid down lovingly by Mike Leander. As ever, it's a distinctive vocal treatment and perhaps Cliff's most ambitious bit of actually singing on record". For ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Derek Johnson described the song as "a piquant and emotional ballad" that "certainly doesn't register with an immediate impact. But once you've heard it a few times, you'll find that the haunting melody is firmly implanted in your mind, and you just can't lose it".

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 8476 # "Marianne" – 3:19 # "Mr. Nice" – 2:13 7": Columbia / DSA 834 (South Africa) # "Marianne" – 3:19 # "Close to Kathy" – 2:48

Charts

References

1968 singles Eurovision songs of Italy Eurovision songs of 1968 Cliff Richard songs 1968 songs Songs written by Sergio Endrigo Sergio Endrigo songs Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor {{italy-stub