"Sì" ("Yes") is the name of the entry to the

Eurovision Song Contest 1974 The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brighton, United Kingdom and was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporati ...

, which finished second behind the entry " Waterloo" sung 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 ...

Background

The lyrics and musics were written 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 ...

Daniele Pace Daniele Pace (20 April 1935 – 24 October 1985) was an Italian composer, lyricist and singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, Pace started his career as lead vocalist of the group I Marcellini. After a brief solo career as a singer ...

, and Corrado Conti. It was sung 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 ...

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 ...

. During the preview programmes, Cinquetti sang the song alone in a dark room. The music video was broadcast in black and white as

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 ...

did not move to full color broadcasts until 1977. On the contest night, Cinquetti performed the ballad in a blue dress, accompanied by an orchestra and four teenage female backup singers, dressed in light yellow blouses and autumnal

floral A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

skirts. The song is sung in the first person where she reflects and describes her love for a man, and the exhilaration she feels when she finally says "yes" to him, which signifies that they can start the rest of their lives together. Throughout the song, the word "sì" is repeated sixteen times. It was the seventeenth and final song of the evening, following 's " E depois do adeus" which would later be used as a signal in Portugal to begin the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

.O'Connor, John Kennedy. ''The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History''. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 Under the scoring system of the time, each country had ten jurors, each of whom allocated one point to the song which they deemed to be the best. "Sì" received 18 votes in this manner, including 5 from the , 4 from , 2 each from and , and single votes from , , , . It was Italy's second best result to date, with Cinquetti having won the contest with "

Non ho l'età "Non ho l'età (per amarti)" (Italian for "I'm not old enough (to love you)"), usually given as just "Non ho l'età" (), was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, held in Copenhagen. It was performed in Italian by Gigliola Cinquet ...

" . Cinquetti later recorded versions 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 ...

("Go (Before You Break My Heart)"),

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

("Lui"),

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

("Ja") and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

("Sí"), which were released across Europe. A Finnish rendering, "Niin", was recorded by

Lea Laven Lea Laven (née Luukinen; after that Marjanen, Forssell and Tulonen; born 19 June 1948, Haukipudas) is a Finland, Finnish pop singer. Laven grew up in meager circumstances in the small town of Haukipudas: she began singing in shows while in sch ...

and became a Top Ten hit in Finland.

Censorship of song in 1974

The live telecast of the song was banned in her home country by the Italian national broadcaster RAI as the event partially coincided with the campaigning for the 1974

Italian referendum on divorce An abrogative referendum on the divorce law was held in Italy on 12 May 1974.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1048 Voters were asked whether they wanted to repeal a government law passed three years ...

which was held a month later in May. RAI censored the song due to concerns the name and lyrics of the song (which constantly repeated the word "SI") could be accused of being a

subliminal message Subliminal stimuli (; the prefix ' literally means "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). A 2012 review of functional magnetic resonance ...

and a form of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

to influence the Italian voting public to vote "YES" in the referendum. The song remained censored on most Italian state TV and radio stations for over a month. As a consequence, the song failed to enter to Top 40 chart in Italy, and still remains one of the lesser known Eurovision entries in the country. As opposed to "Non ho l'età", "Sì" also failed to make a significant impact on the charts in Continental Europe and Scandinavia – with one notable exception: the English version "Go (Before You Break My Heart)" reached eighth position in the British charts in June 1974 (with the Spanish version on the B-side), making it one of the very few non-winning Eurovision entries to become a commercial success in the UK.ESCtoday.com, song info "Sì"
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Charts

References

External links

Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Si (Song) Eurovision songs of Italy Songs written by Mario Panzeri Eurovision songs of 1974 Songs written by Daniele Pace Gigliola Cinquetti songs Censorship of music

Background

Censorship of song in 1974

Charts

See also

References

External links