"Non ho l'età (per amarti)" (

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 ...

for "I'm not old enough (to love you)"), usually given as just "Non ho l'età" () is a song recorded by Italian singer

Gigliola Cinquetti Gigliola Cinquetti (; born Giliola Cinquetti on 20 December 1947) is an Italian singer, songwriter, and television presenter. Life and career Gigliola Cinquetti was born into a wealthy family in Verona. From the ages of 9 to 13, she studied and ...

, with music composed by

Mario Panzeri Mario Panzeri (11 October 1911 – 19 May 1991) was an Italian lyricist and composer. He is well known for his composed songs that include "Maramao perché sei morto?" "Pippo non lo sa", "Lettera a Pinocchio", and "Grazie dei fior", which won t ...

and lyrics by

Nicola Salerno Nicola Salerno, also known as Nisa (11 March 1910 – 22 May 1969) was an Italian lyricist. He formed a famous songwriting duo with Renato Carosone. Career Nicola Salerno was born in Naples, Italy. His first hit was "Eulalia Torricelli" of ...

. It in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1964 The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the 9th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Dansevise" by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann. Organised by the Eur ...

, held in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, winning the contest, having previously won that year's

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 ...

Background

Conception

"Non ho l'età" was written by composer

and lyricist

Sanremo

Between 30 January and 1 February 1964, "Non ho l'età" performed by both

–in Italian– and

Patricia Carli Patricia Carli (born Rosetta Ardito on 12 March 1938) is an Italian and Belgian origin French singer, songwriter, lyricist and composer. Life and career Born in Taranto, Carli grew up in Belgium, where her parents had emigrated for work. Afte ...

–in French– competed in the 14th edition of the

, winning the competition. As the festival was used by

Radiotelevisione italiana 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 terr ...

(RAI) to select their song and performer for the of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, the song became the , and Cinquetti the performer, for Eurovision. Cinquetti recorded the song in Italian, English –as "This is my prayer"–, Spanish –"No tengo edad"–, French –"Je suis à toi"–, German –"Luna nel blu"–, and Japanese –"Yumemiru omoi", –.

Eurovision

On 21 March 1964, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the in

hosted by (DR), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Cinquetti performed "Non ho l'età" twelfth on the night, following 's "

Oração Portugal was represented by António Calvário, with the song "Oração", at the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 21 March in Copenhagen. "Oração" was chosen as the Portuguese entry at the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portugues ...

" by

António Calvário António Calvário da Paz (born 17 October 1938) is a Portuguese singer and artist from the late 1950s and 1960s. Life and career Born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique, in Africa, still as a child, he settled with his family in Portug ...

and preceding 's "

Život je sklopio krug Yugoslavia was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Before Eurovision Jugovizija 1964 The Yugoslav national final to select their entry, was held on 5 February at the Delavski Dom in Trbovlje, hosted by H ...

" by

Sabahudin Kurt Sabahudin Kurt (18 July 1935 – 30 March 2018) was a Bosnian folk and pop singer. Kurt represented Yugoslavia in Copenhagen in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 with the entry "Život je sklopio krug" ( en, "Life Has Come Full Circle"). He finish ...

. Gianfranco Monaldi conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the Italian entry. No video recording of her performance is known to have survived, only footage of part of her winning reprise exists in addition to the audio of the full radio broadcast. At the close of voting, the song had received 49 points, placing it first in a field of sixteen, winning the contest. Cinquetti was sixteen years old, making her the youngest Eurovision winner until the when 's

Sandra Kim Sandra Caldarone (born 15 October 1972), better known as Sandra Kim, is a Belgian singer of Italian descent who won the Eurovision Song Contest 1986. Her father was an Italian immigrant from Torrebruna in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo re ...

won the contest with "

J'aime la vie "J'aime la vie" (; "I Love Life") was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, performed for by Sandra Kim. Belgium had finished the 1985 contest in last place, and thus achieved the rare turnaround from last to first in the space o ...

" –initially claiming to be fifteen, it was later revealed that Kim was only thirteen–. The song was followed as contest winner in by "

Poupée de cire, poupée de son "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (; English: "Wax doll, rag doll") is a song written by Serge Gainsbourg and recorded by French singer France Gall. It is best known as the Luxembourgian winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965, hel ...

" by

France Gall Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall (9 October 1947 – 7 January 2018), known professionally as France Gall, was a French ''yé-yé'' singer. In 1965, aged 17, she won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg. Between 1973 and 1992, s ...

for . It was followed as Italian representative that year by "

Se piangi, se ridi "Se piangi, se ridi" (English: "If you cry, if you laugh") is a song written by Gianni Marchetti, Roberto Satti and Mogol. It was first performed during the 15th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, in January 1965, when Italian singer Bobby ...

" by

Bobby Solo Roberto Satti better known as Bobby Solo (born 18 March 1945) is an Italian singer, musician and film actor. Singing career In 1964, Solo participated in the Sanremo Music Festival with the song " Una lacrima sul viso" ("A Tear on your Face", w ...

Aftermath

"Non ho l'età" became a considerable commercial success for Cinquetti, in Italy, the rest of Europe,

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, and other countries worldwide. Cinquetti later returned to compete in Eurovision at the , when she finished second with " Sì", behind " Waterloo" by

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

. On 4 May 1991, she co-hosted the held in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

alongside

Toto Cutugno Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno (; born 7 July 1943) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for his worldwide hit song, "L'Italiano", released on his 1983 album of the same title. Cutugno also won the Eurovision Song Conte ...

, where they performed their Eurovision winning songs, "Non ho l'età" and " Insieme: 1992" respectively, as the opening act. On 14 May 2022, in the held in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, she performed "Non ho l'età" as an interval act at the grand final. Cinquetti was proved not to be a UK 'one-hit-wonder' when an English recording of her 1974 Eurovision entry –titled "Go"– reached #8 in the UK chart.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Legacy

Linda Scott's version

Linda Scott Linda Scott (born Linda Joy Sampson; June 1, 1945) is an American pop singer and actress who was active from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Her biggest hit was the 1961 million-selling single, " I've Told Every Little Star". She went on to ...

's recording of the song's English version, "This Is My Prayer", was released as the

B-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 compan ...

of the single " That Old Feeling" in late 1964. In the Philippines, it topped the national chart for twelve straight weeks beginning on 12 December 1964.

Other covers

"Non ho l'età" has been recorded by a wide range of artists in other languages, for example, in Icelandic –as "Heyr mína bæn"– by Ellý Vilhjálms.Rateyourmusic.com, Gigliola Cinquetti, discography entry
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Lili Ivanova ''Lili'' is a 1953 American film released by MGM. It stars Leslie Caron as a touchingly naïve French girl whose emotional relationship with a carnival puppeteer is conducted through the medium of four puppets. The film won the Academy Award for ...

, a famous Bulgarian singer, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

singer

Rebecca Pan Rebecca Pan Di-hua (; also Poon Tik-wah, Pan Wan Ching) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. Early life She was born in Shanghai on 29 December 1931 and moved to Hong Kong in 1949. Career Her singing career began in 1957. One of her songs, which ...

, covered the song in 1964. Polish-Belarusian singer covered the song in Polish –"Nie wolno mi"–. made a Finnish cover –"Liian nuori rakkauteen"–.

Sandra Reemer Barbara Alexandra "Sandra" Reemer (17 October 1950 – 6 June 2017) was an Indo-Dutch singer and television presenter. She represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest on three occasions, tying with Corry Brokken for most app ...

recorded the song in Dutch –"Als jij maar wacht"–.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Non ho l'eta Eurovision songs of 1964 Eurovision songs of Italy Eurovision Song Contest winning songs Sanremo Music Festival songs of 1964 Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in France Songs in Italian Songs written by Nicola Salerno Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles 1964 songs Songs written by Mario Panzeri Gigliola Cinquetti songs