1974 Italy: Gigliola Cinquetti - Si (2nd at Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton) with SUBTITLES

Performed by: Gigliola Cinquetti Music by: Mario Panzeri, Daniele Pace, Lorenzo Pilat, Corrado Conti Lyrics by: Mario Panzeri, Daniele Pace, Lorenzo Pilat, Corrado Conti Conductor: Gianfranco Monaldi Language: Italian Placing: 2nd (18 points) Other versions: English, French, German, Spanish If you want to read the original lyrics please click the SUBTITLES button. And if you wish to understand them, select the language of your choice in the settings. The full show of the 1974 ESC is here: “Sì“ (English: “Yes“) is the name of the Italian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, which finished second behind the Swedish entry “Waterloo“ sung by ABBA. The lyrics and musics were written by Mario Panzeri, Daniele Pace, Lorenzo Pilat and Corrado Conti. It was sung in Italian by Gigliola Cinquetti. During the preview programmes, Cinquetti sang the song alone in a dark room. The music video was broadcast in black and white as RAI did not move to full color broadcasts until 1977. On the Contest night, Cinquetti performed the ballad in a blue dress, accompanied by an orchestra and four teenage female backup singers, dressed in light yellow blouses and autumnal floral skirts. 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. 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 five from the United Kingdom, four from Monaco, two each from Finland and Spain, and single votes from Israel, Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland and Portugal, and went pointless from the other six participating songs [2] It was Italy’s second best result to date, with Cinquetti having won the contest with “Non Ho L’Età“ ten years earlier. Cinquetti later recorded versions in English (“Go (Before You Break My Heart)“), French (“Lui“), German (“Ja“) and Spanish (“Si“), which were released across Europe. A Finnish rendering: “Niin“, was recorded by Lea Laven and became a Top Ten hit in Finland. The live telecast of the 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 referendum on divorce which was held a month later in May. RAI censored the song due to concerns the name and lyrics of the song (which constantly repeated the word “SI“) 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, as a consequence the song failed to enter to Top 40 chart in Italy, and still remains one of the lesser known Eurovision entries in the country. 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, making it one of the very few non-winning Eurovision entries to become a commercial success in the UK. Cinquetti was born in Verona. At the age of 16 she won the Sanremo Music Festival in 1964 singing “Non ho l’età“ (“I’m Not Old Enough“), with music composed by Nicola Salerno and lyrics by Mario Panzeri. Her win enabled her to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 in Copenhagen with the same song, where she claimed her country’s first ever victory in the event. Cinquetti became the youngest winner of the contest to date, aged 16 years and 92 days. Only one younger artist has triumphed since; Sandra Kim in 1986. The song became an international success, even spending 17 weeks in the UK Singles Charts and ending the year as the 88th best-selling single in the U.K. in 1964, something highly unusual for Italian-language material. Lyrics: Sì Camminai un po’, dietro i passi suoi E chissà perché non ridevo più L’erba si appoggiò sul vestito mio Era come se io dicessi addio Non leggevo più nei pensieri miei Ma poi si fece chiara l’atmosfera E dovevo dirgli sì Sì, la mia mente disse sì Per paura o per amore Non me lo chiesi mai Sì, dolcemente dissi sì Per provare un’emozione Che non ho avuto mai E quando nel suo viso Tutto il cielo si scoprì Sì, sì Quel che accadde poi non ricordo più Forse mi svegliai o mi addormentai E nei sogni miei grandi praterie E le mani tue strette nelle mie Correvamo e poi, correvamo e poi E poi si fece chiara l’atmosfera E tornai a dirti sì Sì Sì, dolcemente dissi sì Per provare un’emozione Che non ho avuto mai E quando nel suo viso Tutto il cielo si scoprì Sì (All’amore ho detto sì) (E ogni notte come allora ancora ti direi sì) Sì, sì