"Sì" ("Yes") 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, Italy. At the age of 16, she debuted at ...

, with music composed and Italian lyrics 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 "" "", "", and "", which won the first edition of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1951. Panzeri was the c ...

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 ...

, Lorenzo Pilat, and Corrado Conti. It in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1974 The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 6 April 1974 in the Brighton Dome, Dome in Brighton, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the BBC, ...

held in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, placing second. In order not to interfere with the campaigning for the

1974 Italian divorce referendum 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 yea ...

, the song was censored in Italy for several months.

Background

Conception

The music of "Sì" was composed, and the Italian lyrics written, by

, Lorenzo Pilat, and Corrado Conti. It was recorded by

. 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.

Eurovision

Radiotelevisione italiana (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial ...

(RAI) internally selected "Sì" as for the of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. In addition to the Italian original version, Cinquetti recorded the song in English –as "Go (Before You Break My Heart)" with lyrics by Norman Newell–, French –as "Lui"–, German –as "Ja" with lyrics by Michael Kunze–, and Spanish –as "Sí"–, which were released and promoted across Europe. RAI filmed a promo video with Cinquetti singing the song alone in a dark room that was distributed to the other participant broadcasters on the ''

Eurovision Song Contest Previews The ''Eurovision Song Contest Previews'' are annually broadcast television shows showcasing the entries into the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. They were inaugurated for the , and have been provided by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ...

''. On 6 April 1974, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at The Dome in

hosted by the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

(BBC), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Cinquetti performed "Sì" seventeenth and final song of the evening, following 's " E depois do adeus" by

Paulo de Carvalho Paulo de Carvalho (born 15 May 1947) is a Portuguese singer. Career Carvalho co-founded the band The Sheiks in 1965. He sang and played the drums. He also played an instrumental role, either as a founder or a guest, of many other important Port ...

. conducted the event's live orchestra in the performances of the Italian entry. Cinquetti performed the ballad in a blue dress, accompanied by four teenage female backing singers, dressed in light yellow blouses and autumnal floral skirts. 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 finished second just behind the entry "

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

" by

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

. It was Italy's second best result until then, with Cinquetti having won the contest with "

Non ho l'età Non, non or NON can refer to: * ''Non'', a negatory word in French, Italian and Latin People * Non (given name) * Non Boonjumnong (born 1982), Thai amateur boxer * Rena Nōnen (born 1993), Japanese actress who uses the stage name "Non" since J ...

" in the .

Censorship

RAI delayed the broadcast of the contest in Italy until 6 June 1974 as the event partially coincided with the campaigning for the

which was held on 12 May. RAI censored its own entrant 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 (; ' literally "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold or limit for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an indiv ...

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 l ...

to influence the Italian voting public to vote "YES" in the referendum. The song remained censored on most Italian state television and radio stations for over a month after the referendum. As a consequence, the song failed to enter the Top 40 chart in Italy, and still remains one of the lesser known Eurovision entries in the country, despite its good placing. The contest was, however, available to watch in parts of

northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

where transmissions of Swiss and Yugoslav Italian-language television were accessible.

Commercial performance

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 original Italian version on the B-side–, making it one of the very few non-winning Eurovision entries to become a commercial success in the United Kingdom.ESCtoday.com, song info "Sì"
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Weekly charts

Legacy

A Finnish rendering, "Niin", was recorded by Lea Laven and became a Top Ten hit in Finland. The song is used in the third episode of the Netflix series Halston.

Notes

References

External links

* {{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