Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Remember Nathalie Giannitrapani , who was rumoured and wished by many to represent Italy in the Eurovision 2011 with In punta di pied i, but eventually nothing came out fo it and Raphael Gualazzi went instead finished as the surprise runner up. Anyways, the X Factor winner will release a new album titled Anima di vento on September 17, 2013. The interesting fact is she's joined in it in duet with not one but two Eurovision stars. The first single Sogno d'estate features Raf, and L'essenza Franco Battiato! The third duet partner is Toni Childs in La veritá . (This is not the only collaboration of Battiato this fall, but about that later, stay tuned! ) RAI hasn't yet made know how they will select their eventual represant in Copenhagen 2014 and if it will be once again Sanremo based selection. But Nathalie is a valid option once again....

Italian composer, producer and musician Giancarlo Bigazzi passed away today. His is a household name in Italy and he has co-written with Umberto Tozzi most of his worldwide hits. He also wored a lot with Marco Masini and written songs to singers like Mia Martini, Gigliola Cinquetti, Marcella Bella, Gianni Bella and many others.  He also wrote music to movies, amongst them Oscar winning Mediterraneo directed by Gabriele Salvatores. The songs the readers of this blog recognize easiest include the Sanremo 1987 winner Si può dare di più  by Umberto Tozzi-Enrico Ruggeri-Gianni Morandi and Italian Eurovision entries 1987 Gente di mare and 1992 Rapsodia . And who doesn't know Tozzi's Ti amo , Gloria , Tu and Eva ? Grazie Giancarlo per la musica! La tua musica vive per sempre...

Numeri (Numbers) is the title of the new Raf album, his 16th since 1984 including official compilations and re-releases. Even if his fame and popularity has faded a bit since his megasuccess in the early 1990's this album debuted in the Italian album charts at #6. The first single is Un'emozione inaspettata . Known spokes person for alternative energies he now resides in Rome after his native Puglia region, Florence and Milan. Married with two kids and added 20 kgs since he got married the once skinniest Italian singer is in crossroads with his career. In an interview with TV Sorrisi e canzoni he says he still writes the songs composing the music first with fake English lyrics that then are rewritten in Italian. His first songs were in English back in early 1980's, most famous of course being Self control that Laura Branigan made a worldwide hit. He also says he's pretty much done with singing and will concentrate on producing and songwriting from now on. He says he a...

One lady we have to thank for the Italian well succeeded return to Eurovision is Caterina Caselli, the legendary Italian singer, producer and most of all talent scount. It was record label Sugar (that stands for the surname of the label's founder btw. And is also her married name as she married the son...) behind Raphael Gualazzi's PR and distribution in Germany that is now giving very nice results. This lady knows what she's doing! La Caselli started as singer and had her big success in 1966 when she presented in Sanremo the evergreen Nessuno mi puó giudicare that gained her fame also in Spain and in France. Her success continued with Tutto nero and Perdono . By early 1970's she married the beforementioned Sugar, had children and pretty much retired from the public eye with occasional collaborations here and there. She made her short comeback to Sanremo 1990 with Bisognerebbe non pensare che a te and after that she has been on full blast with discovering new talents...

Laura Branigan passed away six years ago today at the age of 47. Her biggest hit in the US was a cover of Umberto Tozzi's Gloria , but in Europe a cover of Raf's Self control . She further recorded Tozzi's Ti amo, and even participated in Sanremo 1991 with Fiordaliso doing Il mare piú grande che c'é / Don't walk away . Her recording career started in 1979 but the first album came out only in 1982 and the Grammy nominations started right on with Gloria . She also scored the first hit for writers Diane Warren with Solitaire and Michael Bolton with How am I supposed to live without you. The Lucky one followed winning the Tokyo Music Festival and she also scored a hit with Carole King cover Will you still love me tomorrow , a nice change from her uptempo songs. She also did I found someone , later a comeback hit for Cher, on the other hand she covered Jennifer Rush's The power of love and made it a hit again. And she recorded Celine Dion's Unison before it...