L'essenziale
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"L'essenziale" (; en, "The essential") is a song by Italian singer
Marco Mengoni Marco Mengoni (; born 25 December 1988) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 2009, after winning the third season of Italian talent show ''X Factor''. Since that he has sold over 2.8 million records in Italy, peaking the I ...
and the lead single from his second studio album, '' #prontoacorrere'' (2013). Released in Italy on 13 February 2013, the song was written by
Roberto Casalino Roberto Casalino (born 9 June 1979) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He composed, in collaboration with Tiziano Ferro, " Non ti scordar mai di me", "Stai fermo lì", " Novembre", brought to success in 2008 by Giusy Ferreri. He has written son ...
, Francesco De Benedettis, and Mengoni, and 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 Gius ...
. Casalino described the song as an Italian-style
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
that is about the necessity of essentiality. After winning the
Sanremo Music Festival 2013 The Sanremo Music Festival 2013 (''63° Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2013'') was the 63rd annual Sanremo Music Festival, a televised song contest held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, Liguria, between 12 and 16 February 2013 and b ...
, the song was chosen by
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 ...
as the Italian entry at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...
, held in
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
, Sweden on 18 May, finishing seventh among the 26 finalists. "L'essenziale" was commercially successful in Italy, debuting at number one on the
FIMI The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...
Singles Chart and being certified quadruple platinum for domestic downloads exceeding 120,000. It also became the third best-selling single of 2013 in the country, as well as the top selling song of the year by an Italian artist. A Spanish-language version of the song, titled "Incomparable", was released in February 2014, reaching the top 20 of the FIMI Singles Chart.


Background and composition

"L'essenziale" was written by Mengoni,
Roberto Casalino Roberto Casalino (born 9 June 1979) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He composed, in collaboration with Tiziano Ferro, " Non ti scordar mai di me", "Stai fermo lì", " Novembre", brought to success in 2008 by Giusy Ferreri. He has written son ...
, and Francesco De Benedittis, and 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 Gius ...
. Casalino began composing the song in September 2011, in
Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...
of the
Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...
region of Italy. During a break in a writing session with other authors, Casalino started playing guitar and wrote a first version of the music and lyrics of the song. Benedittis later contributed to the song, and Casalino recorded a first
demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
of "L'essenziale". Early in 2012, after hearing Casalino's recording, Mengoni started considering the song for his then-upcoming album. In an interview released to ''
TGCOM ''TGcom'' was an Italian news website owned by Mediaset, launched on March 8, 2001. The website contained mainly Italian and international news coverage, as well as political and entertainment news. TGCOM was closely linked to its sister departm ...
'', Mengoni revealed that he was not impressed by the song at first. Nonetheless, he decided to try to perform it. In October 2012, Mengoni met Casalino, and they rewrote part of the song's music and lyrics. During this session, Mengoni's idea of the song changed and, according to him, "it became a second skin, an obsession". The concept of the song was initially inspired by Casalino's personal experience. He revealed that when he began writing the song, he was living a moment in which he had to make important decisions about his future, and had started thinking he should come back to the essential things of life, like the people he really loved and who really counted in his life. After writing down a note with the word "essenziale" (Italian for ''essential'') on it, he composed the song. In an interview released to the Italian magazine ''
TV Sorrisi e Canzoni ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' (''TV Smiles and Songs'') is an Italian weekly listings magazine published in Segrate, Italy. History and profile ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' was established in 1952. Based in Segrate, Milan, the magazine is published by ...
'', Mengoni described "L'essenziale" as "an Italian-style
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
in the tipping point between love and social issues". He later explained that the song refers to all kind of relations, and that it is "about the necessity to go back to essentiality, to open to new emotions and to overcome the difficulties of these days", with the expression of "the urgency to free people from the superstructures and the general crisis". Casalino also claimed that the song's lyrics unwillingly reflect the problems of the Italian society during the 2010s, "without the aim to teach anything to its listeners".


Music video and promotion

The music video for "L'essenziale" was filmed in
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 ...
and
Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
of
Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
, and was directed by
Giuseppe La Spada Giuseppe La Spada (born 1974 in Palermo) artist, director and photographer inspired by nature, poetry and sound. Biography Giuseppe La Spada is an interdisciplinary artist whose research explores the human-nature relationship, with the aim of se ...
. La Spada also produced and edited the video for the song. It was released to
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
on 15 February 2013. In the first part of the video, Mengoni plays the song at home on a piano, while during the second half, he performs the song underwater. As explained by La Spada during an interview, the music video is a "sort of escape from the world we live in, a jailbreak made of pictures, musics at the piano, water. Because water is the fundamental element that leads us back to the principle of life." A backstage "
making-of In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) vid ...
" video was later released to Mengoni's YouTube channel on 28 March of that year. While promoting the single and launching ''#prontoacorrere'', Mengoni performed the song several times. After singing it during the
Sanremo Music Festival 2013 The Sanremo Music Festival 2013 (''63° Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2013'') was the 63rd annual Sanremo Music Festival, a televised song contest held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, Liguria, between 12 and 16 February 2013 and b ...
, he performed an acoustic version of it during
Fabio Fazio Fabio Fazio (; born 30 November 1964) is an Italian television presenter. After debuting in 1982, he presented many TV programs, including ''Quelli che... il Calcio'', ''Vieni via con me'' and ''Quello che (non) ho''. Since 2003, he presents the ...
's TV show, ''
Che tempo che fa ''Che tempo che fa'' (; ) is an Italian television late-night talk show hosted by Fabio Fazio.''Italy: Be Fluent in Italian Life and Culture'', Andrew Whittaker, page 219; Thorogood Publishing, year 2010, seGoogle books/ref> It has been broadcas ...
'' in March 2013. On 6 April of that year, Mengoni performed the song during the first episode of the talent show ''
Amici di Maria De Filippi ''Amici'' (initially called ''Saranno Famosi'') is an Italian talent show. Created by Maria De Filippi, the show began in 2001 and has since aired annually. The show is produced by Fascino P.G.T. s.r.l. (owned by Maria De Filippi) and is broadca ...
'', for a duet with contestant Verdiana Zangaro. That same month, during the last episode of the
TV comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first United States television ...
show ''Zelig'', Mengoni also dueted with comedian Giovanni Vernia in a parody of "L'essenziale". "L'essenziale" was also featured as the last song on the set list for Mengoni's tour of the same name, preceding the encore. On 13 April 2013, he sang it during Eurovision in Concert, an event held in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and preceding the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...
, while on 11 May of that year, he performed it as part of Radio Italia Live, a concert featuring several Italian artists and organized by the broadcaster
Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana ''Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana'' is an Italian music radio station based in Cologno Monzese, Italy, entirely devoted to Easy listening Italian music. It was the first to use this format in Italy. It was founded in 1982 by the Italian musici ...
in
Piazza del Duomo, Milan Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is the main ''piazza'' (city square) of Milan, Italy. It is named after, and dominated by, Milan Cathedral (the ''Duomo''). The piazza marks the center of the city, both in a geographic sense and because o ...
.


Commercial performance

"L'essenziale" debuted at number one on the Italian FIMI Singles Chart during the week ending on 17 February 2013, four days after its release. It held the top spot of the chart until mid April 2013, spending eight consecutive weeks at number one in Italy, before falling outside the top ten three weeks later. On 21 February of that year, the single was certified gold by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana, while it went multi-platinum by 2 April 2013, denoting domestic downloads exceeding 60,000 units. As of December 2014, the single has been certified quadruple platinum in Italy, denoting 120,000 shipments. "L'essenziale" later became the best selling-single in Italy during the first six months of 2013 and the third best-selling single of the year, behind " Get Lucky" by
Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...
and
Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
, and
Avicii Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first rec ...
's " Wake Me Up". The song also reached the top spot of the Italian
Nielsen Music Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
airplay chart for two consecutive weeks. "L'essenziale" further charted within the top 40 in Switzerland, and it charted on the Belgian
Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...
charts for both
Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
and
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
. After being performed during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, it debuted at number 44 on the
Spanish Singles Chart 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 ...
and number 69 on the Dutch
Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...
. In February 2014, a Spanish-language version of the song, titled "Incomparable", was released as a digital single, peaking at number 14 in Italy.


Song contests


Sanremo Music Festival

"L'essenziale" was performed for the first time at the 63rd Sanremo Music Festival on 12 February 2013, as one of Mengoni's entries to the contest, together with "Bellissimo". On the first night of the contest, "L'essenziale" won against the latter as the song to be performed by Mengoni for the next stages of the competition, receiving a score of 52.17% based on televotes combined with preferences of a jury composed of
music journalists Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
. During Mengoni's performances, the Sanremo Festival Orchestra was directed by Fabio Gurian. On the final night of the song contest, held on 16 February 2013, "L'essenziale" finished in first place, receiving 36% of votes in the last round of the competition, beating the remaining entries within the top three:
Elio e le Storie Tese Elio e le Storie Tese (; literally "Elio and the Troubled Stories"), often abbreviated EelST, was an Italian comedy rock band from Milan, formed in 1980. Its leader was Stefano Belisari, better known as Elio. They announced their split on 17 Oct ...
's "
La canzone mononota "La canzone mononota" is a 2013 single by Elio e le Storie Tese. Elio e le Store Tese participated with this song to the Sanremo Music Festival 2013 The Sanremo Music Festival 2013 (''63° Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo 2013'') w ...
" and
Modà Modà is an Italian pop band from Milan. Formed in 2002, the band currently consists of lead singer Kekko Silvestre, guitarists Diego Arrigoni and Enrico Zapparoli, bass guitarist Stefano Forcella and drummer Claudio Dirani. History 2000–2003 ...
's "Se si potesse non morire". That same night, an internal jury also selected Mengoni among the other participants to the festival as the Italian entry in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...
. The artist selection was exclusive from the competition, the results of which were not directly related to Mengoni's selection; the song that he would sing would be determined at a later date.


Eurovision Song Contest

In March 2013, "L'essenziale" was announced by RAI as the song to be performed by Mengoni during the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. This marked the first time that Italy was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest by the winning song of the Sanremo Music Festival since 1997, when
Jalisse Jalisse () is an Italian musical duo consisting of spouses Alessandra Drusian (born 18 May 1969) and Fabio Ricci (born 5 September 1965). In 1997 they won the Sanremo Festival, "Big" category, with the song "Fiumi di parole" and took part in the ...
performed "
Fiumi di parole "Fiumi di parole" (literally "Rivers of words") is a song recorded by the Italian duo Jalisse. The song was written by Fabio Ricci, Carmen Di Domenico and Alessandra Drusian. It is best known as the entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, hel ...
". In choosing to perform the song in Italian, Mengoni stated that he wanted to "export an Italian DOC product". In order to fulfill the rules of the contest, the version performed during the competition and included in the
compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...
of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was shortened to a length of three minutes and eleven seconds. In particular, the Eurovision version does not include an instrumental part, as well as some lines of the last chorus. Since Italy is part of the " Big Five", it automatically qualified for the final of the competition, held in
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
, Sweden, on 18 May 2013. Mengoni's performance was scheduled as the 23rd of the night. While singing the song, he was alone on stage, performing with modest movements and colours, and wearing a
suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...
designed for him by
Salvatore Ferragamo Salvatore Ferragamo (5 June 1898 – 7 August 1960) was an Italian shoe designer and the founder of luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. An innovative shoe designer, Salvatore Ferragamo established a reputation in the 1930s. ...
's
Massimiliano Giornetti Massimiliano Giornetti (born 29 October 1971 in Carrara) is an Italian fashion designer. He has been the creative director of the luxury goods company Salvatore Ferragamo from 2004 to 2016, and the creative director at the Hong Kong luxury fashion ...
. While commenting on this choice, Mengoni explained: "For this song, which is called 'The Essential', me and my team decided to be just like that on stage. I think it also fits with the message of this Eurovision Song Contest, 'We Are One'. Music doesn't need the spending of a lot of money, you just need the air to hear it." The song finished seventh in a field of 26, receiving 126 points, including the top score from Spain, Switzerland, and Albania. This marked Italy's third top ten result in a row since its return to the contest in 2011.


Track listings

* Digital downloadCitations regarding the digital release of "L'essenziale" by Marco Mengoni in various selected countries: * * * #"L'essenziale" – 3:41 * Digital download (Spanish-language version)Citations regarding the digital release of "Incomparable" by Marco Mengoni in various selected countries: * * * #"Incomparable" – 3:37


Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from '' #prontoacorrere'''s liner notes. Musicians *
Roberto Casalino Roberto Casalino (born 9 June 1979) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He composed, in collaboration with Tiziano Ferro, " Non ti scordar mai di me", "Stai fermo lì", " Novembre", brought to success in 2008 by Giusy Ferreri. He has written son ...
– composer * Francesco De Benedettis – composer *
Larry Goldings Lawrence Sam “Larry” Goldings (born August 28, 1968) is an American jazz keyboardist and composer. His music has explored elements of funk, blues, and fusion. Goldings has a comedic alter ego known as Hans Groiner. Life and career Gold ...
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
,
keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...
* Raggie Hamilton –
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...
*
Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitch ...
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
s *
Marco Mengoni Marco Mengoni (; born 25 December 1988) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 2009, after winning the third season of Italian talent show ''X Factor''. Since that he has sold over 2.8 million records in Italy, peaking the I ...
– composer, vocals *
Gary Novak Gary Novak (born in 1969) is an American session drummer who has collaborated with numerous artists as varied as George Benson, Maynard Ferguson, Chick Corea Elektric Band, Brandon Fields, Lee Ritenour, Michael McDonald, Natalie Cole, David Sanbo ...
drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s * Luca Scarpa – piano, Hammond organ, keyboards * Davide Tagliapietra – guitars Production * Antonio Baglio – mastering *
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 Gius ...
– producer * Csaba Petocz –
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
* Pino "Pinaxa" Pischetola – mixing * Davide Tagliapietra – engineer


Charts


Weekly charts

;Italian-language version ;Spanish-language version


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essenziale 2013 singles Marco Mengoni songs Eurovision songs of 2013 Eurovision songs of Italy Number-one singles in Italy Sanremo Music Festival songs of 2013 Songs written by Roberto Casalino Pop ballads 2013 songs Songs written by Marco Mengoni Sony Music singles Song recordings produced by Michele Canova 2010s ballads