"Nessuno" (literally "Nobody") is a 1959 Italian song composed by Antonietta De Simone and Edilio Capotosti. The song premiered at the ninth edition of 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 ...

, with a double performance by

Wilma De Angelis Wilma De Angelis (; born 8 April 1930) is a popular Italian singer and TV presenter. She is also very famous for her talk show ''A pranzo con Wilma'', and her cooking abilities. She hosted the cooking show ''Telemenù'' from 1978 through 1987 on ...

and

Betty Curtis Roberta Corti, better known by her stage name Betty Curtis (21 March 1936 – 15 June 2006), was an Italian singer active from 1957 to 2004. Curtis grew up in the Zone 8 of Milan's borough Cagnola. She started singing in night clubs at an early ...

, and placed at the eighth place. Ignored by the public in its original versions, the song got a large commercial success thanks to the rock'n'roll version recorded by Mina. Mina's version was performed in

fortissimo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...

and in a syncopated style, distorting the linearity of the original melody. This version of the song premiered at the Festival of Rock and Roll held at the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Ice Palace.Tato Crotti, Giovanni Bassi. ''Mina prima di Mina''. Rizzoli, 2007. . Mina's "Nessuno" was released as a "

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

" together with another song from the Sanremo Festival, "Tua", which had been originally performed by Jula De Palma and

Tonina Torrielli Tonina Torrielli (born 22 March 1934) is an Italian singer. In 1956, she represented Italy in the first Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Amami se vuoi", alongside Franca Raimondi with "Aprite le finestre "Aprite le finestre" ("Open t ...

. The song was later covered by numerous artists, including

Johnny Dorelli Johnny Dorelli (real name Giorgio Guidi; born 20 February 1937) is an Italian actor, singer and television host. Early life Dorelli was born in Meda, Italy. In 1946 he moved to New York City with his family, where his father, Nino D'Aurelio ...

Nilla Pizzi Nilla Pizzi, stage name of Adionilla Pizzi (; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), was an Italian singer and actress. Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She won the first edition of the ...

, Jula De Palma,

Tony Dallara Antonio Lardera (born 30 June 1936), better known by his stage name Tony Dallara, is an Italian former singer, actor and television personality. Biography Dallara was born in Campobasso in southern Italy, but grew up in Milan. After working as ba ...

, Fiorello,

Nico Fidenco Nico Fidenco (artistic name Domenico Colarossi; 24 January 1933 – 19 November 2022) was an Italian singer and film soundtrack composer who gained considerable popularity in 1960 with the release of the song "What a Sky" (Italian: "''Su nel cie ...

Miranda Martino Miranda Martino (born 29 October 1933) is an Italian singer and actress. Life and career Born in Moggio Udinese from Neapolitan parents, Martino started her career as singer in 1956. In 1957, she debuted at the Festival di Napoli and in 1959 ...

Track listing

* 7" single – MH-23 # "Tua" (Bruno Pallesi, Walter Malgoni) # "Nessuno" (Antonietta De Simone, Edilio Capotosti)

References

{{Authority control 1959 singles Italian songs 1959 songs Sanremo Music Festival songs Mina (Italian singer) songs