"Nessun grado di separazione" (; en, No degree of separation) is a song recorded by Italian singer Francesca Michielin. Written by Michielin herself along with Cheope, Federica Abbate and Fabio Gargiulo; the song 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 G ...

. Placed second in the Sanremo Music Festival 2016, the song released as a single from the reissued version of Michielin's second studio album, ''

di20 ''di20'' (to be read ''diventi'', Italian for "you become", a pun on the age of the artist on its release date) is the second studio album by Italian singer Francesca Michielin, released by Sony Music Italy on 23 October 2015 and produced by Mi ...

are''. A bilingual English and Italian version of the song called "No Degree of Separation" represented Italy in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting ...

held in Stockholm, Sweden.

Composition and recording

Michielin explained the lyrical content of "Nessun grado di separazione" in several interviews, claiming that the song is inspired by the six degrees of separation theory and contains the message that, "despite all of the cultural differences, there shouldn't be distances between people". Particularly, the composition's verses, biographical and introspective, tell the story of "a girl who lives in a drawer ..together with all her crumpled dreams, and who, at a certain point, finds the courage to come out from that shelter to face the true life", with the will to open herself to the outside world, overcoming fears and preconceptions. Michielin also added that she recorded background vocals for the track on the same day of the

November 2015 Paris attacks The November 2015 Paris attacks () were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 9:15p.m., three suicide bombers ...

, therefore she was furthermore inspired to reflect on the song's lyrics and on "all the barriers that exist between people, while the truth is that we are all human beings with dreams and hopes".

Sanremo Music Festival and Eurovision Song Contest

On 13 December 2015, during

Massimo Giletti Massimo Giletti (born 18 March 1962) is an Italian television presenter and journalist. Biography He was born in a wealthy family from Piedmont. His father Emilio Giletti was a racing driver and a industrialist, owner of a textile factory in th ...

's TV show ''L'arena'', Carlo Conti announced the list of performers and songs selected to compete in the 66th Sanremo Music Festival, which included Francesca Michielin's "Nessun grado di separazione". Michielin performed the song for the first time at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo during the second evening of the show, on 10 February 2016. The song placed second in the competition, behind

Stadio Stadio (literally, ''Stadium'') is an Italian pop rock band formed in 1977. The members are Giovanni Pezzoli (drums), Roberto Drovandi (bass guitar), Andrea Fornili (guitar), and Gaetano Curreri (vocals and keyboard). Formation and early reco ...

's "

Un giorno mi dirai "Un giorno mi dirai" (English: ''One day you will tell me'') is a song recorded by the Italian band Stadio. Written by the band's frontman Gaetano Curreri along with Saverio Grandi and Luca Chiaravalli, the song was released as a single from their ...

". The band was then eligible to represent Italy in the

, but they declined, stating they would be on a previously planned tour in May 2016. Their decision led RAI to select Michielin as the Italian entry for the 61st edition of the European competition. On 14 March 2016, a bilingual version of "Nessun grado di separazione", titled "No Degree of Separation", was announced as Michielin's entry for the contest. This version is entirely in Italian, except for the last chorus, which was adapted in English by American songwriter Norma Jean Martine; the track also has a different arrangement. Michielin performed this version for the first time on 22 March 2016, during the Web show ''Webnotte'', streamed live by '' la Repubblicas website. Since Italy is part of the "Big 5", Michielin automatically qualified to compete in the final on 14 May 2016, where she placed 16th with 124 points.

Media appearances

In 2020, the song was featured on the soundtrack of the miniseries '' We Are Who We Are'', directed by Luca Guadagnino.

Track listing

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Italian-language songs Francesca Michielin songs Sanremo Music Festival songs of 2016 Macaronic songs Eurovision songs of Italy Eurovision songs of 2016 Songs written by Cheope Sony Music singles Number-one singles in Italy Song recordings produced by Michele Canova Songs written by Federica Abbate Songs written by Francesca Michielin