Italian singer, songwriter and TV personality Gigliola Cinquetti was born 75 years ago in Verona, region of Veneto, is married and has 2 sons.
As a child, she studied the piano for 4 years as well as took music theory exams. She also had a passion for painting and art.
In 1964, at only 16 years old, she was the winner of the prestigious yearly event of the San Remo Music Festival with the song ‘Non ho l’Eta`’. Following this victory, she represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest and also succeeded in winning this competition and becoming the youngest participant ever in the contest’s history.
The hit gained huge success internationally and sold more than 3 million copies. Two years later, Gigliola had another international hit called ‘Dio, come ti amo’. In 1973, she had the song ‘Alle Porte del Sole’ recorded in the English version.
Once again, she participated in the ESC in 1974, singing ‘Si`, placing second after the winning entry of Swedish group ABBA’s ‘Waterloo’. Her song was also recorded in several other languages.
Gigliola resumed with her studies and graduated from art school and becoming a teacher. Over a decade later, she even became a TV presenter and journalist and hosted a current affairs programme. In 1991, she presented, together with another Italian singer Toto` Cutugno, the ESC.
In all, Gigliola participated 12 times in the SRMF, singing solo as well as in duet with other famous artists like Connie Francis and Domenico Modugno. She also received an award in recognition of her music career and published an autobiography.
During her long career, Cinquetti released 20 studio albums and 42 singles. She also starred in 7 movies and appeared in 17 TV shows.