Mara Maionchi (; born 22 April 1941 in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

) is an

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 ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and a

TV personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

Biography

Mara began her career in 1967, as secretary in the ''

Ariston Records Ariston Records was a Record label, record company established in Milan, Italy, by Alfredo Rossi (1925–2008). It was active from 1964 to 1989. It was part of the larger Ariston Group, which was founded in 1949 by Alfredo and his brother, th ...

'' press office, working with

Ornella Vanoni Ornella Vanoni (; born 22 September 1934) is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. She is one of the longest-standing Italian artists, having started performing in 1956. She has released about 112 works between LP, EPs and greatest hits alb ...

and

Mino Reitano Beniamino "Mino" Reitano (December 7, 1944 – January 27, 2009) was an Italian singer, songwriter and actor. Reitano was born in Fiumara, a small village in Calabria. His father, an employee at the local railway station, was very passionat ...

. She is married with

Alberto Salerno Alberto Salerno (born 30 December 1949) is an Italian lyricist and producer. Life and career Born in Milan, Salerno is the son of the popular lyricist Nisa. He started composing lyrics in the late 1960s, becoming a usual collaborator of Mino Rei ...

(son of

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 ...

, songwriter of hits like ''Torero'', '' Tu vuò fà l'americano'', ''Guaglione'', ''

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 ...

'' e ''Un ragazzo di strada'') and has two daughters Giulia and Camilla, who are her press officers. In 1969 she reached the ''Numero Uno'', record label founded by Mogol and

Lucio Battisti Lucio Battisti (5 March 1943 – 9 September 1998) was an influential Italian singer-songwriter and composer. He is widely recognized for songs that defined the late 1960s and 1970s era of Italian songwriting. Battisti released 18 studio albums ...

. The experience with the pair of authors led her, in the 1970s, to the ''

Dischi Ricordi Dischi Ricordi is an Italian record company founded on by and Guido Crepax, active from 1958 to 1994. History Dischi Ricordi had its seat in Milan (Via Giovanni Berchet, 2). In 1994, the company was bought by BMG, who acquired the catalog w ...

'', where she became a talent discoverer of singers like

Gianna Nannini Gianna Nannini (; born 14 June 1954Who Is Who
''Bello e possibile'' ...

. Later, she became

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

, following the musical path of

Fabrizio De André Fabrizio Cristiano De André (; 18 February 1940 – 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter, the most prominent ''cantautore'' of his time. His 40-year career reflects his interests in concept albums, literature, poetry, political pro ...

and

Mia Martini Mia Martini (; born Domenica Rita Adriana Bertè ; 20 September 1947 – 12 May 1995) was an Italian singer, songwriter and musician.James Christopher MongerMia Martini allmusic.com Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

. In the 1990s, she met

Tiziano Ferro Tiziano Ferro (; born 21 February 1980) is an Italian singer, songwriter, producer and author. He broke through in 2001 with his international hit single "Perdono" and has remained commercially successful since then, in several countries. Ferro h ...

in ''SanremoLab'' academy and produced his first three

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s. Completing the experience with the ''Nisa'', she founded with her husband and the daughters the record label ''Non ho l'età'', with the aim of promoting new musical talents. In 2008, she became ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' judge on

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, tal ...

, with Morgan and

Simona Ventura Simona Ventura (born 1 April 1965) is an Italian television presenter. Television career Ventura was born in Bentivoglio. She started in TV on "Domani Sposi" with Giancarlo Magalli on Rai Uno. Her love for sport took her into sports reportin ...

. In year-end she hosts with

Francesco Facchinetti Francesco Facchinetti (born 2 May 1980), also known as Dj Francesco or as Oz, is an Italian DJ, producer, singer, musician and TV presenter. He rose to fame as a singer during the summer of 2003, when he released his debut single, "La canzone del ...

on the same channel Saturday show ''Scalo 76''. In 2009 she was confirmed for the second and the third series, with the same judges, and for the third series with Morgan and

Claudia Mori Claudia Mori (born Claudia Moroni, Rome, 12 February 1944), is an Italian producer, former actress and former singer, and wife of the singer Adriano Celentano. Biography 1960s She began her career in show business as an actress playing in musi ...

, wife of

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian musician, singer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is dubbed "''il Molleggiato''" (the springy one) because of his dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both commercial and ...

. In 2010, she was also in the fourth edition with three new judges:

Elio Elio is an Italian male given name. Origin A name of dual origin, Elio is primarily a revival of it, Elio, label=none (Helios), the Greek god of the Sun. it, Elio, label=none derives, through the Latin ''Helius'', from the Ancient Greek Ἥ� ...

Enrico Ruggeri Enrico Ruggeri (born 5 June 1957) is an Italian singer-songwriter. Biography A native of Milan, Ruggeri made his debut in the 1970s with the punk band Decibel. In 1981 he began his solo career and established himself as a songwriter: his most ...

and

Anna Tatangelo Anna Tatangelo (born 9 January 1987) is an Italian pop singer and television personality. At the age of 15, she became the youngest person to win the Newcomer's Award at the prestigious Sanremo Music Festival singing contest. Her repertoire con ...

. She also released a dance single called ''Fantastic'' that peaked at #2 in the Italian Singles Chart. She was confirmed for her participation at 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 ...

in 2011. Maionchi did not return for the fifth edition of ''

'' in 2011 and was replaced by

Arisa Rosalba Pippa (born 20 August 1982), better known by her stage name Arisa, is an Italian singer and actress. Early life Arisa was born in Genoa, Italy. A week after her birth, her family moved back to their original hometown, Pignola, a villag ...

. In 2012 she became jury president of ''Videofestival live'', a showcase for new talents whose finality is broadcast every year by

Canale Italia ''Canale Italia S.r.l.'' is a Veneto-based Italian broadcasting company. History After more than 20 years broadcasting in the North-East area of Italy with the name ''Serenissima Tv'', in 2004 it acquired UHF channels from France 2 relay ''Tel ...

. In 2013 she became a leader in the fourth edition of the talent show ''Io canto'', with

Claudio Cecchetto Claudio Cecchetto (born 19 April 1952) is an Italian record producer and talent scout. Life and career Cecchetto was born in Ceggia, (metropolitan city of Venice). He has hosted several Italian music festivals, from Festival di Sanremo to ...

and Flavia Cercato. In 2014 she began acting as a

radio broadcaster Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

in the program ''Benvenuti nella giungla'' on Radio 105, with

Gianluigi Paragone Gianluigi Paragone (born 7 August 1971) is an Italian politician and journalist. Biography Paragone was born in Varese in 1971. After working as a journalist for a local newspaper and a local television network, Paragone became editor of ''La P ...

. In the same year she returned to ''X Factor'' for the eighth edition, not as a judge but as the lead player of the ''Xtra Factor''

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

Sky Uno Sky Uno ( en, Sky One) is an Italian entertainment television channel, based on the defunct reality television channel ''SKY Vivo'', both owned and broadcast by Sky Italia. It broadcasts the Italian version of the shows ''The X Factor'', ''Got T ...

. She also played the same role for ninth and tenth edition of ''X-Factor''. On 19 May 2017, her participation was announced for the 11th edition of the Talent, again in the role of a judge. she became the winning for the first time in season 11 with

Lorenzo Licitra Lorenzo Licitra (born 25 September 1992) is an Italian singer, best known for winning the eleventh season of the Italian talent show '' X Factor'' in 2017. His debut single, "In the Name of Love", was released on 24 November 2017. Discography ...

from the over 25s category and again for the second time in season 12 with

Anastasio Anastasio is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name * Anastasio Alfaro (1865–1951), Costa Rican zoologist, geologist and explorer * Anastasio Aquino (1792–1833), Salvadoran indigenou ...

from the boys category. In 2021 she conducted together with

Fedez Federico Leonardo Lucia (born 15 October 1989), known professionally as Fedez (), is an Italian rapper, singer, songwriter, social media personality and businessman. In 2011, he released the albums ''Penisola che non c'è'' and ''Il mio primo di ...

the Italian program

LOL - Chi ride è fuori ''LOL - Chi ride è fuori'' is an Italian comedy show of 2021 distributed by Amazon Prime Video and hosted by Fedez, Mara Maionchi (Season 1) and Frank Matano (Season 2–3), based on the format of Japanese comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto's ''Document ...

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

XFactor Italia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maionchi, Mara Italian record producers Italian television personalities 1941 births Living people Women record producers Women television personalities Mass media people from Bologna