Gigliola Cinquetti

Gigliola Cinquetti (; born Giliola Cinquetti, 20 December 1947) is an Italian singer, songwriter and television presenter.

Early and personal life Gigliola Cinquetti was born to wealthy parents Luigi and Sara in Verona, Italy. She has a sister named Rosabianca. From the ages of 9 to 13, she studied and took piano lessons, taking exams in music theory. She loves painting and art, and graduated from the Salerno art school, also obtaining the qualification to teach.

Cinquetti married Luciano Teodori in 1979, and they have two children together – Giovanni and Costantino.

Career

At the age of 16, she debuted at and won the Sanremo Music Festival 1964 singing "Non ho l'età" ("I'm not old enough"), with music composed by Mario Panzeri and lyrics by Nicola Salerno. Her win enabled her to in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the same song, where she claimed her country's first ever victory in the event. Cinquetti became the youngest winner of the contest that far, aged 16 years and 92 days, beaten only by 13-year-old Sandra Kim in 1986.O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official Celebration. Carlton Books, 2015. . Pages 32-33

The song became an international success, even spending 17 weeks in the UK singles chart and ending the year as the 88th best-selling single in the U.K. in 1964, something highly unusual for Italian-language material. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a platinum disc in August 1964. In 1966, she recorded "Dio, come ti amo" ("God, How I Love You"), which became another international hit.

One of her other songs, "Alle porte del sole" (released in 1973), was re-recorded in both English (as "To the Door of the Sun") and Italian by Al Martino, two years after its initial release; "To the Door of the Sun" reached No. 17 on Billboards Hot 100 in the United States. Cinquetti's own English version of the song was released as a single by CBS Records in August 1974, with her original 1973 Italian version on the B-side.

Cinquetti returned to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, held in Brighton, UK, where she again represented Italy. Performing the song "Sì" ("Yes"), the music and lyrics of which were written by Mario Panzeri, Daniele Pace, Lorenzo Pilat and Carrado Conti, she came second with 18 points after "Waterloo", sung by 's ABBA, who won with 24 points. The live telecast of her 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 divorce referendum which was to be held a month later in May.O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 RAI censored the song because of concerns that the name and lyrics of the song (which constantly repeated the word 'Sì') could be accused of being a subliminal message and a form of propaganda 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. Cinquetti later recorded versions of the song in English ("Go (Before You Break My Heart)"), French ("Lui"), German ("Ja") and Spanish ("Sí"). The English-language version reached number 8 in the UK singles chart in June 1974.

In the 1990s, Cinquetti became a professional journalist and TV presenter and among others she hosted the current affairs programme Italia Rai on RAI International. She later co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 with Toto Cutugno, who had brought the event to Italy with his victory in Zagreb the previous year – the country's first win in the contest since her own twenty-six years earlier.

In 2008, Cinquetti received an award as a tribute to her career in Italy and around the world. She published an autobiography in 2014.

Cinquetti returned to the Eurovision stage to perform "Non ho l'età" as an interval act during the final of the in Turin.

Sanremo participations Gigliola Cinquetti competed at the Sanremo Music Festival on twelve occasions, namely: 1964: "Non ho l'età (per amarti)" – with Patricia Carli – 1st 1965: "Ho bisogno di vederti" – with Connie Francis – Finalist 1966: "Dio, come ti amo" – with Domenico Modugno – 1st 1968: "Sera" – with Giuliana Valci – 8th 1969: "La pioggia" – with France Gall – 6th 1970: "Romantico blues" – with Bobby Solo – 6th 1971: "Rose nel buio" – with Ray Conniff – 9th 1972: "Gira l'amore (Caro bebè)" – 9th 1973: "Mistero" – Eliminated 1985: "Chiamalo amore" – 3rd 1989: "Ciao" – 18th 1995: "Giovane vecchio cuore" – 14th

Discography Studio albums Gigliola Cinquetti (1964) La rosa nera (1967) Gigliola per i più piccini (1967) L'orage (1969) Il treno dell'amore (1969) Cantando con gli amici (1971) ... E io le canto così (1972) Fidèlement votre... (1972) Su e giù per le montagne (1972) Stasera ballo liscio (1973) Bonjour Paris (1974) Auf der Strasse der Sonne (1974) Go (Before You Break My Heart) (1974) Gigliola e la banda (1975) Pensieri di donna (1978) Il portoballo (1982) Tuttintorno (1991) Giovane vecchio cuore (1995) I successi (1999) 20.12 (2016)

Charting singles YearSinglePeak chart positionsITSpinetoli, John Joseph. Artisti in Classifica: I Singoli: 1960–1999. Milano: Musica e dischi, 2000BE (FLA)BE (WA)FRAGERIREJAPNLNORQUESASPAUK1964"Non ho l'età"111134—23—4—17"No tengo edad para amarte" (Spain-only release)———————————1—"Il primo bacio che darò"111627——————————"El primer beso" (Spain-only release)———————————4—"Oh warum" (Germany-only release)————31————————1965"Ho bisogno di vederti"7————————————1966"Dio come ti amo"5——————————5—1967"La rosa nera"5————————————1968"Sera"9————————————"Giuseppe in Pennsylvania"17————————————"Quelli erano giorni"6————————————1969"La pioggia"2—75——6——————"L'orage"——74—————————"Il treno dell'amore"25————————————"Hello Nadine"—————————————"La pioggia" (Japanese version; Japan-only release)——————61——————"La lluvia" (Spain-only release)———————————24—"Come una foglia" (Japan-only release)——————94——————1970"Romantico blues"14————————————"Volano le rondini"——————14——————1971"La domenica andando alla messa"25————————————"Le bateau-mouche" (Canada and France-only release)——4878—————————"Rose nel buio"9—————32——————"Amarti e poi morire"18————————————"Qui comando io"13————————————1972"Gira l'amore"10—————90——————"Un coin de terre, un olivier" (France-only release)———37—————————1973"El domingo yendo a misa" (Spain-only release)———————————19—"Tango delle capinere"15————————————"La spagnola"20————————————1974"Alle porte del sole"1—49——————————"Dernière histoire, premier amour" (France and Belgium-only release)——49——————————"Si"17306—13————————"Lui" (France and Belgium-only release)——6——————————"A las puerto del cielo" (Spain-only release)———————————15—"Go (Before You Break My Heart)"—————6——————8"Ja" (Germany-only release)————45————————"The Door of the Sun"——————————6——1976"La primavera" (France and Portugal-only release)——1760—————————"Comment fait-elle, dis-moi?" b/w "La Joconde" (Canada-only release)—————————108———1985"Chiamalo amore"14————————————1986"Una donna distante"48————————————"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Filmography Films YearTitleRoleNotes1964Canzoni, bulli e pupeHerselfCameo appearance1965008: Operazione ritmoGigliolaQuesti pazzi, pazzi italiani1966BlockheadAngelinaDio, come ti amo!Gigliola de Francesco1968Il professor Matusa e i suoi hippiesHerselfCameo appearance2001The Knights of the QuestSuperior Mother

Television YearTitleRoleNotes1965Ciao ItaliaSingerTelevision film1966Io, GigliolaHerself/performerSpecial1968Le mie prigioniZanzeMiniseries (4 episodes)Addio giovinezza!DorinaTelevision film1972Il bivioLallaMiniseries (2 episodes)1977L'amico della notteHerself/presenterMusical program1981–1982Linea verdeHerself/co-hostTourism program (season 1)1981, 1986Castrocaro Music FestivalHerself/presenterAnnual music festival1987UnomattinaHerself/reporterTalk show (season 2)1988–1989Via Telauda 66Herself/regular guestVariety show1991Eurovision Song ContestHerself/presenterAnnual music festival1991–1992Festa di compleannoVariety show1995Napoli prima e dopoSpecial1999–2002CommesseClara MassimiMain role (12 episodes)2011Attenti a quei due – La sfidaHerself/judgeVariety show (season 2)2012Tale e quale showHerself/contestantTalent show (season 2)2022Eurovision Song ContestHerself/singer (performing her winning song from )Annual music festival2025Ora o mai piùHerself/coachTalent show (season 3)

Gigliola Cinquetti

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