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Non ho l'età

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"Non ho l'età"
Single by Gigliola Cinquetti
from the album Gigliola Cinquetti
LanguageItalian
B-side"Sei un bravo ragazzo"
Released28 January 1964
GenreBallad
Length3:10
LabelCGD Records
Composer(s)Mario Panzeri
Lyricist(s)Nicola Salerno
Producer(s)Mario Panzeri
Gigliola Cinquetti singles chronology
"Non ho l'età"
(1964)
"Dio, come ti amo"
(1966)
Eurovision Song Contest 1964 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Conductor
Gianfranco Monaldi
Finals performance
Final result
1st
Final points
49
Entry chronology
◄ "Uno per tutte" (1963)
"Se piangi, se ridi" (1965) ►

"Non ho l'età (per amarti)" (Italian for "I'm not old enough (to love you)"), usually given as just "Non ho l'età" (pronounced [non ˈɔ lleˈta]) is a song recorded by Italian singer Gigliola Cinquetti, with music composed by Mario Panzeri and lyrics by Nicola Salerno. It represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, held in Copenhagen, winning the contest, having previously won that year's Sanremo Music Festival.

Background

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Conception

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"Non ho l'età" was written by composer Mario Panzeri and lyricist Nicola Salerno.[1]

Sanremo

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Between 30 January and 1 February 1964, "Non ho l'età" performed by both Gigliola Cinquetti –in Italian– and Patricia Carli –in French– competed in the 14th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, winning the competition. As the festival was used by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) to select their song and performer for the 9th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, the song became the Italian entry, and Cinquetti the performer, for Eurovision.[2]

Cinquetti recorded the song in Italian, English –as "This is my prayer"–, Spanish –"No tengo edad"–, French –"Je suis à toi"–, German –"Luna nel blu"–, and Japanese –"Yumemiru omoi", 夢みる想い–.[1]

Eurovision

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On 21 March 1964, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Tivolis Koncertsal in Copenhagen hosted by Danmarks Radio (DR), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Cinquetti performed "Non ho l'età" twelfth on the night, following Portugal's "Oração" by António Calvário and preceding Yugoslavia's "Život je sklopio krug" by Sabahudin Kurt. Gianfranco Monaldi conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the Italian entry.[3] No video recording of her performance is known to have survived, only footage of part of her winning reprise exists in addition to the audio of the full radio broadcast.[4]

At the close of voting, the song had received 49 points, placing it first in a field of sixteen, winning the contest.[5] Cinquetti was sixteen years old, making her the youngest Eurovision winner until the 1986 contest when Belgium's Sandra Kim won the contest with "J'aime la vie" –initially claiming to be fifteen, it was later revealed that Kim was only thirteen–.[6] The song was followed as contest winner in 1965 by "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" by France Gall for Luxembourg. It was followed as Italian representative that year by "Se piangi, se ridi" by Bobby Solo.

Aftermath

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"Non ho l'età" became a considerable commercial success for Cinquetti, in Italy, the rest of Europe, Scandinavia, and other countries worldwide.

Cinquetti later returned to compete in Eurovision at the 1974 contest, when she finished second with "", behind "Waterloo" by ABBA.[7] On 4 May 1991, she co-hosted the 1991 contest held in Rome alongside Toto Cutugno, where they performed their Eurovision winning songs, "Non ho l'età" and "Insieme: 1992" respectively, as the opening act.[8] On 14 May 2022, in the 2022 contest held in Turin, she performed "Non ho l'età" as an interval act at the grand final.[9]

Cinquetti was proved not to be a UK 'one-hit-wonder' when an English recording of her 1974 Eurovision entry –titled "Go"– reached #8 in the UK chart.

Chart history

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Weekly charts

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Chart (1964–65) Peak
position
Argentina (CAPIF)[10] 5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[12] 1
Finland[10] 5
France (InfoDisc)[13] 1
Germany (Media Control AG)[14] 3
Hong Kong[10] 2
Italy (Musica e dischi)[15][circular reference] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 2
Norway (VG-lista)[17] 3
UK Singles (OCC)[18] 17

Legacy

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Linda Scott's version

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"This Is My Prayer"
Single by Linda Scott
from the album Hey, Look at Me Now!
A-side"That Old Feeling"
Released1964
Length2:54
LabelKapp Records
Songwriter(s)Kaye-Springer-Nisa
Producer(s)Mike Berniker

Linda Scott's recording of the song's English version, "This Is My Prayer", was released as the B-side of the single "That Old Feeling" in late 1964. In the Philippines, it topped the national chart for twelve straight weeks beginning on 12 December 1964.[19][20]

Other covers

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"Non ho l'età" has been recorded by a wide range of artists in other languages, for example, in Icelandic –as "Heyr mína bæn"– by Ellý Vilhjálms.[21][22] Lili Ivanova, a famous Bulgarian singer, and Hong Kong singer Rebecca Pan, covered the song in 1964. Polish-Belarusian singer Wiesława Drojecka [pl] covered the song in Polish –"Nie wolno mi"–. Anneli Sari [fi] made a Finnish cover –"Liian nuori rakkauteen"–. Sandra Reemer recorded the song in Dutch –"Als jij maar wacht"–.

References

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  1. ^ a b ""Non ho l'età" Detailed info and lyrics". The Diggiloo Thrush.
  2. ^ Eddy Anselmi (2009). Festival di Sanremo: almanacco illustrato della canzone italiana. Panini Comics. ISBN 8863462291.
  3. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1964". Eurovision Song Contest. 21 March 1964. DR / EBU.
  4. ^ "Rare broadcast footage of Eurovision 1964 uncovered by Reddit user". ESCXTRA.com. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  5. ^ "Official Eurovision Song Contest 1964 scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest.
  6. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
  7. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". Eurovision Song Contest. 6 April 1974. BBC / EBU.
  8. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1991". Eurovision Song Contest. 4 May 1991. RAI / EBU.
  9. ^ "Non ho l'età" - Eurovision Song Contest 2022 on YouTube
  10. ^ a b c "Hits of the world - Argentina" (PDF). Billboard. 29 August 1964. p. 26. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Gigliola Cinquetti – Non ho l'età" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  12. ^ "Gigliola Cinquetti – Non ho l'età" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  13. ^ "Tout les Titres par Artiste - C" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2012. Select Gigliola CINQUETTI from the menu, then press OK.
  14. ^ "Single - Gigliola Cinquetti, Non ho l'età" (in German). Charts.de. Media Control. Retrieved 10 June 2012.[dead link]
  15. ^ "List of number-one hits of 1964 (Italy)".
  16. ^ "Gigliola Cinquetti – Non ho l'età" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  17. ^ "Gigliola Cinquetti – Non ho l'età". VG-lista.
  18. ^ "Gigliola Cinquetti: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  19. ^ "Philippines". Billboard. The Billboard Publishing Company. 12 December 1964. p. 19. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  20. ^ "Philippines". Billboard. The Billboard Publishing Company. 27 February 1965. p. 22. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  21. ^ Thorsson, Leif. Melodifestivalen Genom Tiderna. Premium Publishing, Sweden. 1999 ISBN 91-89136-00-4
  22. ^ Rateyourmusic.com, Gigliola Cinquetti, discography entry
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Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest winners
1964
Succeeded by