#Explaining Sanremo Part 2

[beauty-and-passion]

Eurovision and the jury’s problem (but mostly the jury’s problem)

Ah, the Eurovision national juries. I love them so much. My love is so big that, since I started this tradition of writing a post about Eurovision, I’ve always included one paragraph to openly express my love for them and, not surprisingly, my love took the shape of FUCK YOU JURY.

So this year gave me the final push to do more research and finally give them the post they deserve, in which I will finally explain why they do more harm than good and are generally useless.

If that’s what you wanted to know, you can close the post now, thank you for your time. But if you want to know why I think the jury is useless, then allow me to expand more and properly explain myself.

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The jury has always been part of the show!

Yes, but now always with the same power.

Let’s do a bit of history: Eurovision started in the 50s, right after the end of WW2. TV was starting to grow stronger and with the birth of the EBU, they were searching for a TV program that could’ve involved and united all nations.

And so, an Italian journalist said: “Hey, here in Italy we have this sick song competition called Sanremo. We can make something similar, but every European country should send an artist.”. Marcel Bezençon, general manager of the EBU at the time, liked the idea and, after a few meetings, it was decided to make this music competition that will become Eurovision.

So yes, this is how Eurovision started. It’s because of Sanremo. It’s because of Italy. My country might do stupid shit, but we are still able to do something good once in a while.

The first edition counted 7 countries: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Switzerland. Four of them will become the “Big Five”, because they are the ones that put more money into this competition. Other countries will slowly join in.

The jury was first introduced because, well, there was no possible way to call every single person who was watching the show. The TV was still in its infancy, let alone the global communications, so of course there was a jury. IT was the only way.

However, over time the televoting system was born and it started to improve. In 1997 five countries used it for the first time and from the year after all countries could use it. The jury was left in the back and used only under exceptional circumstances when televoting was not possible.

This lasted from 1997 to 2009. Then from 2010 it started the 50/50 system.

So yes, the jury has always been part of the show. But at first it was present because it was the only way to choose a winner, then it was pushed in the back, only to regain more power in the last 10 years.

But hey, you may ask: since Eurovision has been inspired by Sanremo, maybe this is how Sanremo voting system works too, right?

Nope. We are Italians, so we should make the most complicated voting system ever. Sanremo is currently articulated in five evenings and every evening has different juries and different ways to vote. I won’t go into too much detail because it’s bonkers, but I can tell you that:

1) There are multiple juries: the public, a jury made of 150 accredited representatives and the opinion poll jury. This one in particular is a group of people chosen by the national public broadcasting company RAI (which broadcasts Sanremo) out of a sample of habitual music users and selected according to criteria of age/geographical origin.

So no, the system is completely different and yes, this system is evolving too, because the opinion poll jury counted 1000 people last year, this year only 300 and who knows how many there will be in the future.

2) The final result is the sum of all three votes: 33% of the final voting is made of the representative’s jury, 33% of the opinion poll jury and 34% of the televoting. So even if by just one measly point, the televoting is the most important one out of the three.

Is this system perfect? No, it doesn’t work either and it’s fucking complicated. But at least it acknowledges that the public deserves to have more power than the juries. And there is also more than one jury, which at least allows a wider vision of things.

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The jury is here because it brings more variety!

Aww, how adorable.

I specifically searched for every single winning song from 1997 to 2023, thus including both the years without jury (1997-2008) and the ones with jury (2009-2023). I checked which is the musical genre of every winning song.

Do you want to know which genre won the most? Pop.

Do you want to know how many times a pop song won in the years without jury (including europop and latin-pop)? 9 times.

Do you want to know how many times a pop song won in the years with jury (including folk-pop, dance-pop and electro-pop)? 10 times.

Please, tell me more about the variety the jury brings. Can’t wait to hear it.

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The jury is here because it brings variety 2: Englishvision

Europe: a country with a shit ton of languages and we use always the same one for singing.

Do you want to know how many times we had a winning song that wasn’t in English from 1997 to 2023? 7 times and in two of them there were English parts.

The first three winners come from the years without jury (Dana International - "Diva", Ruslana - "Wild Dances", Marija Šerifović - "Molitva"). The others come from the years with jury and my god we had to fight tooth and nail to have them:

Jamala - "1944"

Salvador Sobral - "Amar Pelos Dois"

Måneskin - "Zitti e buoni"

Kalush Orchestra - "Stefania"

Those are people’s winners. Well, except for Jamala who no one wanted as a winner, because the public wanted Russia and the jury Australia. However, let’s leave it in for now: it’s a particular case I want to talk about later.

What I want to let you know is that, in order to have these winners, the public had to do a massive collective effort to give them enough points to overcome the jury - especially the last two. And if you know them, it’s because they are in the top 10 list of the public’s favorites.

But what if I tell you we could’ve had two more songs in their native languages on this list?

In 2015 the public’s favourite was Italy with Il Volo. An Italian song, genre classical music. It lost against Sweden’s pop song.

In 2023 the public’s massive favourite was, as you know, Finland. A Finnish song, genre hyperpop/industrial metal. It lost against Sweden’s pop song.

What a strange coincidence, isn’t it? Both times a song in a native language lost against an English pop song. Both times, the public’s favourite lost because the jury’s favourite won. Both times it was against Sweden.

Please, tell me again about the fairness of this system and how much variety it brings.

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The jury is here because the eastern countries all vote for their neighbors!

Just because the western countries all hate each other’s neighbours, it’s not a valid reason to blame the eastern ones for that.

Also, hey, wasn’t that a music competition? Why should we even care about which country the winning song comes from? Shouldn’t the jury think just about the music? Please tell me more about the impartiality of the jury.

Another thing: maybe it’s just me, but I supposed everyone studied math or had a basic knowledge of how many countries are in Europe. Well, I did both for you and if we divide Europe in half, we will have more o less 21 countries on the west and 26 countries on the east (I am including Australia in the west).

In my world, 26 is a bigger number than 21. So if the east slightly wins more times than the west is, well, understandable. The probability for them to win is higher, because there are more artists from those countries and so they have more chances to bring the winning song. I don’t think it’s so difficult to understand.

Maybe the reason why the western countries win less is not because “the easterns votes for their neighbours”, but because the westerns do not take the competition seriously and send shitty songs. Why Italy rarely gets a bad position? Because we care about music and we want to send something good. Why the UK fails a lot of times? Because they don’t care enough to send a good song. They are both Big Fives and they both put money on this show: the only difference is that one cares a bit more than the other. So instead of blaming the east, maybe it’s time to start bringing more decent songs.

And this “the east wins more” is even more stupider, if you look at the countries with the highest number of victories: Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, Luxembourg and France.

In my world, those countries are all in the west. I know we all hate each other, but knowing when our rivals are on a map would be a good start.

Do you want to know why this stupid theory exists? It’s all because of the years without jury. It’s because in the years 2001-2008 we had this series of winners:

Estonia

Latvia

Turkey

Ukraine

Greece

Finland

Serbia

Russia

Since they are all in the east, they thought these countries were all voting for each other’s. That’s it.

I don’t know how they justified Ireland winning 3 times in a row (1992-1994) in their minds but hey, maybe that’s why I’m not a member of the EBU.

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The jury doesn’t have a favourite!

Very cute.

Do you want to know which are the countries with the most victories in the years 1997-2023? Here is a very funny list:

Israel: 2 times

1998 (no jury year) with Dana International - "Diva" (public’s favourite)

2018 (jury year) with Netta - "Toy" (public’s favourite)

Denmark: 2 times

2000 (no jury year) with Olsen Brothers - "Fly On The Wings Of Love" (public’s favourite)

2013 (jury year) with Emmelie de Forest - "Only Teardrops" (public’s favourite)

Ukraine: 3 times

2004 (no jury year) with Ruslana - "Wild Dances" (public’s favourite)

2016 (jury year) with Jamala - "1944" (not public’s favourite, but highly appreciated by the public)

2022 (jury year) with Kalush Orchestra - "Stefania" (public’s favourite)

Sweden: 4 times

1999 (no jury year) with Charlotte Nilsson - "Take Me To Your Heaven" (public’s favourite)

2012 (jury year) with Loreen - "Euphoria" (public’s favourite)

2015 (jury year) with Måns Zelmerlöw - "Heroes" (jury’s favourite)

2023 (jury year) with Loreen - "Tattoo" (jury’s favourite)

I don’t know you, but I notice two victories that made the public unhappy because both times the jury’s power overcame the public’s power. How weird it happened for the same country that won three times since the 50/50 system has been introduced.

Sure, the first victory was wanted by the public, but the other two were against the public’s will. And please allow me to repeat it again because this is what upsets me the most: both times an English pop song won instead of a song in a native language with a different musical genre.

And what makes these two victories even more undeserved, is that in general the winner has always been the public’s favourite. In 27 years the public’s favourite won 23 times and two times it was a public’s appreciated artist (Jamala, Duncan Lawrence).

The only two times public’s favourite didn’t win, it was a Swedish artist with a massive push from the jury that made it impossible to defeat it.

But hey, maybe this point is a bit unfair. After all, it’s not Sweden’s fault if they learned what the jury likes and keep sending the same kind of song to get their votes. Maybe I am just jealous: I mean, my country basically invented Eurovision and yet we’re not able to exploit this show to win all the times? Gosh, we’re useless :P

The problem is not Sweden’s cleverness. The problem is that the jury always uses the same criteria, so one country has been able to recognize and exploit them. In a democratic world with a fair competition, the organizers of said competition would say: “okay, maybe we should change the criteria all the time, so no one would be able to use them and the jury will remain impartial”. But I suppose this was a too difficult choice for the EBU.

Or maybe they just own Sweden some money, who knows. I really have no idea.

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The jury is here because otherwise people’s votes would be political!

Oh, so hilarious.

This is the list of the winning entries by jury and by the public:

Until the recent years, public and jury agreeded on the winner and when the public chose a winner, it was jury’s second choice. So if the public’s votes were political back then, the jury’s votes were political as well.

Only in the last editions jury and public started to truly diverge and unless I missed something, Israel just had a catchy song, Italy’s victory had nothing political behind, Ukraine’s victory was a massive collective justifiable effort to say “fuck you” to Russia and people just like Finland’s song more. So, again, nothing political behind.

However, there are also two very interesting cases, the only ones in which the winner was a country no one chose as favorite:

2016: public’s favourite: Russia - jury’s favourite: Australia. Winner: Ukraine

2019: public’s favourite: Norway - jury’s favourite: North Macedonia. Winner: the Netherlands

Do you want to know why the jury’s favourite of 2016 is Australia? I don’t know. What I know is that Australia joined Eurovision in 2015 and it was supposed to be just a one time thing, so they were automatically qualified for the finals. But in 2016 they joined like everyone else and had to make through the semifinals and... well, it wouldn’t be nice to send back home a country that just joined. I am not saying these two things are related, but it’s a bit of a weird coincidence, isn’t it?

Do you want to know why the jury’s favourite of 2019 is North Macedonia? I don’t know. What I know is that on June 2018 the country changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. And, you know, it’s nice to hear it more times, just to leave an impression on people’s minds. Again: I am not saying these two things are related, but it’s a bit of a weird coincidence, isn’t it?

Okay, let’s leave the tinfoil hat theories on the side. Do you really want to know where the “the public’s vote is too political” thing comes from? It comes from Jamala winning in 2016. Because Russia has already started with their bullshit in Crimea and Jamala’s song (despite not specifically talking about that invasion) was a reminder of that situation. And so everyone blamed the public for this victory and said that “the public was influenced by the actual political situation”. All while Jamala was second favorite of both the public AND the jury. So, again, if the public was biased, the jury is biased as well.

Actually, in her case the jury is a lot more biased than the public, because the public’s favorite was Russia! So, well, who is the political one now?

The truth is that the public is made of people and of course people will be influenced by the situation in which they live. But same goes for the jury: the jury is also influenced by the current situations, both Eurovision-related and world-related. So it’s totally unfair to blame the public for having a heart and a mind and for their will to choose a song over the other - especially when they are not influenced by the world situation (like in 2016) or when they are as it happened in 2022.

And, honestly, I’d much rather prefer people choosing a winner because of a fucking war, than a bunch of people choosing their winner for reasons that will benefit them only.

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The jury is made of experts and they give their expert opinion!

Awesome. Now explain to me how can you objectively choose the best song between a pop one, a folk one, a metal one and a rock one. Tell me which universal criteria will you apply.

Voice? But each genre requires a different kind of voice. An opera singer has a powerful voice, but growl music requires a powerful voice as well - heck, it’s even more complicated than opera, so it should be more praised than that! I mean, try growling without sounding like an idiot: it’s immensely hard. How can you decide which is better in an objective way? Do you just focus on which is more difficult to perform? But then it’s unfair to the pop singers, who also have good beautiful voices. How can you objectively choose the best?

Performance? But every genre requires a specific kind of performance. You can’t put an energetic performance on a ballad or slow dancers on a rock song. If two performance are equally beautifully ftting for their music genre, how can you decide which is objectively better?

Lyrics? But not everyone knows the lyrics of all songs and some lyrics might have multiple meanings or refer to particular aspects of the country’s culture, so you might not understand how beautiful they are. How can you choice which one is better, without knowing all these details?

Overall impression of the song? That’s not even an objective criteria, try harder.

The truth is that you CANNOT choose between different songs and different genres in a universally objective way. You will always be influenced by your own preferences and musical tastes.

Do you want to know how these criteria could’ve worked? If everyone brought the same song. Then okay, you can objectively make your choice: after all, we are talking about one genre and one song. In all other cases, this criteria makes zero sense.

And before you say “the jury needs to recognize the good singers”: people have ears. If a singer is bad, people can hear it by themselves. Polish people proved very well that they can recognize a very bad singer from an extremely good one and I doubt the entire country of Poland is made of musical experts or that everyone likes dance-pop/electro-industrial music.

Same goes for all the people around the world who praised Jann and said Blanka is terrible: I doubt they are all music experts or Polish. Maybe they just have ears.

Sure, some people have better taste than others, I don’t deny that. But considering that all humans have ears and a brain, I don’t think they need someone else to tell them that yes, this thing you like is good or no, that thing you don’t like is bad. Maybe they can understand it by themselves.

And if the problem is that the public doesn’t have a taste, then give them the means to acquire said taste. Let experts give more insights about an artist: they could explain why their voices are good or bad, why their performance works or not and why the lyrics are complex or simple. Let the public take a decision, instead of treating them like toddlers who should be spoon-fed.

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The importance of the public

What makes this 2023 victory so empty, is that it has nothing Eurovision stands for. It’s not the victory of an unknown, talented artist. It’s not a victory the majority wanted. It’s not a victory that sends a good message.

It’s the victory of mainstream and safety. It’s a victory that doesn’t look forward and doesn’t try anything new, because it prefers to rely on the same old stuff. It’s a victory of nostalgia, industries and brands.

And if it hurts so much, it’s not just because the public’s will has never been so blatantly clear about who they wanted to win, but also because after two years in which we had native languages and new genres on the top, we were really, really hoping for a switch towards something different.

I don’t blame the past artists for not trying more, the years were different. But we are in the 20s of the year 2000 now. We are more open to different people, genders, sexual orientations. We don’t have to play safe anymore, not in a world that is moving forward. We can have different winners, we can have different cultures and we can have different genres.

I really hope that this year will teach something, not just to us, but to the EBU and to Europe. If things will change, good. And despite my harsh words, I am okay if the jury stays: it has always been present, after all, even when pushed in the back. So if we have to keep it, let’s keep it.

But it’s time to give them less power. It’s time for a 30/70 or a 20/80 system. 50/50 is just not acceptable anymore.

Or, as the 2023 public’s winner said:

Thank you for your time and please, keep support your winners.

(Clips from THIS video)

[graziadiocenterilpostino]

Student Spotlight: Ailyn Saavedra

1. Would you introduce yourself and explain how you first became interested in studying Italian.

Hello everyone! My name is Ailyn Saavedra, and I'm in my last semester at CSULB, majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Italian. My interest in studying Italian began when I had to choose between an art, music, or language class. I had always wanted to learn a new language, and since I'd dreamed of traveling to Italy, I thought, why not learn Italian? After taking the introductory 100A-level Italian course, I fell in love with the language and enrolled in the next course. After two Italian courses, I knew I wanted to continue learning until I could be fluent, and incorporate this into my future.

2. How has your time studying at CSULB been? What is your favorite part of campus?

At first, my time at CSULB was a bit lonely. But that changed when I started taking Italian classes and attending Tavola Italiana. After two semesters of Italian, I studied abroad in Italy, and it deepened my passion for the language and culture. It also introduced me to new friends, who then became the ones I would turn to and hang out with on campus, making my experience at CSULB more enjoyable. After that, I became very involved in Club Italia. My favorite part of campus is the Graziadio Center, located in the Italian Department. It's a cozy area, perfect for studying or relaxing between classes, and it's close to the Italian professors, making it an ideal spot for students studying Italian.

3. You're currently an officer for Club Italia. Can you tell us a bit about the Club and tavola italiana? 

Yes! I'm currently the President of Club Italia. Club Italia is a welcoming space for anyone interested in learning more about Italian culture and language. Our events, known as Tavola Italiana, are centered around all things Italian culture. In the past, we've played Italian card games, explored Italian cinema, watched the famous Sanremo Music Festival, and hosted games to help improve language skills. It's a fun and engaging way for people to immerse themselves in Italian traditions and language.

4. You've participated in the Recanati Summer Study Abroad before. How was your experience? Is there anything specific students should know about the program?

I've had the pleasure of participating in the Recanati Summer Study Abroad program twice. The first time was so beautiful that I decided to participate again. It not only helped me improve my Italian but also gave me the chance to experience Italian culture firsthand. The program allows you to immerse yourself into the Italian lifestyle for four weeks, meet new people, and form lasting friendships. There’s so much greatness about this program that I wish everyone knew. If you're interested in learning more about the program, feel free to reach out to me at ailyn.saavedra@student.csulb.edu. 

5. What are your favorite Italian words and why? Do you have any that you dislike?

Some of my favorite Italian words are farfalle, roba, and amo. My favorite is farfalle because it just flows effortlessly off the tongue. Roba is a recent favorite I learned while studying abroad this summer; the literal definition is "stuff" or "things," but it's also used in various expressions and can be slang. Lastly, amo, which means "I love," is a beautiful word that Italians often use to refer to loved ones and friends. I love how it's a term of affection that feels so warm and personal. There aren't any Italian words that I dislike! :)

[thepercy6andtheradicalsabbatical]

Sanremo to Monterosso

Matt and Becca left Emily in charge and went for a 12 km run this AM to celebrate our 12th anniversary. The bike/running path in San Remo is super nice and at one point we ran 1 km into a tunnel on it before turning around as we still hadn’t reached the end. There were banners all along the tunnel about the big one-day bike race from Milan to San Remo (we think 🤔…Italian is not our strong suit) and so we imagined the final push before town is through that tunnel. We then navigated the MASSIVE (somehow longer than DIA terminal B, despite only having 2 platforms) San Remo station and made the train to Genoa (Genova en Italiano). We then caught another train to Monterosso al mare, the first town on Cinque Terre, where we’d be staying for the next 3 nights. We hopped off the train station and Matt noticed Il Massimo de Focaccia, which Lonely Planet had recommended as the best focaccia in Cinque Terre right next to the train station, but decided to hold off until later on buying. We walked along a beach full of colored rental umbrellas and chaise lounges then through a tunnel to the “older” part of town, then up a small alleyway to find our spot. We only had one flight of stairs to navigate up to the place (a luxury for us on this trip) and the hostess met us and showed us around and explained the very complex trash sorting system where there are 5 separate bins to keep track of and put out on different nights of the week. We dropped bags and hit the beach where the kiddos soon discovered you could rent a pedal boat with a slide coming off the top of it for 20 euros for an hour. Matt asked the rental guy the max capacity and he said 5, and Becca gladly volunteered to watch the bags. The guy then asked if all the kids could swim (despite them all getting lifejackets) and Matt was honest that Oli really couldn’t so Oli got to hang out with Becca on the beach. Matt and the 3 big kids then headed out under 2 person pedal power to explore. We were able to make our way out of the harbor and off to the left, where we got good views of the other towns of Cinque Terre along the coast. Emily was first to try the slide and said it was fun, then dad went, then (semi reluctantly) Henry. Buggy slid down the slide very slowly, then stepped off back onto the boat from the end of the slide rather than going in the water and despite (or because of?) lots of peer pressure from her father and sister she did not end up going off into the water. Our hour passed very quickly and we booked it back to the beach to ensure Matt didn’t lose his driver’s license collateral. We then went to the playground just behind the beach and Becca watched kiddos cavort around while Matt walked back to the focaccia place to pick up a sampler for dinner. Twas delicious as advertised! we then headed back to our place and relaxed a bit before Matt took the kids out for some gelato and ordered take out salads to supplement our prior carbs-only anniversary dinner. We then hit the hay, somewhat wary that the forecast called for 90% chance of rain the next 2 days.

[sophiamcdougall]

EXPLAINING SANREMO

(PART TWO) I am back. I have barely eaten or slept and Tumblr has tried to murder me and this post multiple times, but I have survived. Thank you for your patience.

Part One of my attempt to explain the seismic experience that is 2020 Sanremo Festival of Italian Song is here. 

Ready? I assure you, you are not, but let’s proceed. So Sanremo rages pitilessly on.  Now everyone knows what’s at stake, and everyone, including your humble recapper, is exhausted, but doing the gay/chaotic best they can.

As the final battle to save Amadeus, Rancore, Italy and THE WORLD approaches, Achille Lauro has a last message for the troops. And I’m not deducing this, he literally said it on Twitter. 

...Hold me I’m scared.

Meanwhile (sort of) (go with it) (time isn’t real at Sanremo)  a minor drama  has occurred offstage. Singer Tiziano Ferro made an ill-advised joke about Fiorello’s interminable comedy bits, some idiots on Twitter ran away with it, and poor Fiorello was upset! This is minuscule in Sanremo terms. But consider the flapping of a butterfly’s wings. Consider hurricanes. But who is Tiziano Ferro?

Hold on. We’ll get to it. For now ...

Fiorello is dancing seductively for an absolutely delighted Amadeus while dressed as a rabbit. And wearing a blonde wig. Is there a rational explanation for this? I mean, sort of. But also no.

And then he worries Amadeus might give him herpes, which causes Amadeus to freaking snap.

“No, no!” yells the mercurial Fiorello. Amadeus isn’t worthy of his kisses yet. He ricochets out of Amadeus’s arms and into the audience and “passes on” the kiss to a guy in the front row. 

“Incredible things are going to happen tonight!” yells Amadeus, who has no fucking idea. ”Beautiful things,” corrects Fiorello. 

But just because Fiorello is a mayhem elemental on a mission of love doesn’t mean he hasn’t got feelings. 

Enter Italy’s sweetheart, Tiziano Ferro.

Actually, Tiziano’s been there all along. He’s the specialest of special guests, singing through basically his entire back catalogue every night. Which why it really was unfair of him to pick on Fiorello --   it’s not his fault he’s literally got to stand there and babble nonsense for aeons on end, Tiziano! He’s just serving the hungry chthonic entity that is Sanremo, same as you.  

While the gay mayhem (the gayhem, if you will) surges around him, Tiziano  has been fighting the good gay fight in his own steadfast way, so far untouched. His mere presence is a message of hope in itself, he knows this, and is determined to make it count. Ten years ago he was closeted, convinced coming out would end his career, and suicidal. Now happily married and gloriously successful, he is here to demonstrate that “it gets better”. He radiates such wholesome joy and resilience that everyone loves him.

So anyway, Tiziano didn’t mean to hurt anybody because he would never, and now he wants to make things right. So will Fiorello forgive him?

Ah, what better gesture of reconciliation than to goofily sing a  love song written by Fiorello himself. Of course Fiorello forgives Tiziano, because Fiorello loves everyone, good and bad, (after all he loves Amadeus the most). But he is also a chaos being, and he is working harder than anyone else to channel the divine madness of this deranged Sanremo Festival into anyone who gets close. Tiziano, watch out!

Seems TIziano naively thought he could lean in for a staged, nearly kiss, but  Fiorello’s very soul is antithetical to “nearly” anything.

“My husband’s going to divorce me!”  wails poor Tiziano, but Fiorello has never felt so alive. This is Sanremo, bitches. Rules like “sixty-year-old men can’t be danger twinks, Fiorello,” have ceased to apply. He is an apostle of Achille Lauro, he has accepted the sermon of Benigni into his heart: it is time for PHYSICAL LOVE. While not quite ready (yet) to fuck everyone in the orchestra pit, he is throbbing with readiness, to frolic all over the theatre giving all the guys he can get his hands on THE KISSES OF HIS MOUTH.

Naturally this sparks further firestorms of chaos. “Do it again!” begs grizzled rocker and high-ranking competitor Piero Pelù. Electrified by the touch of Fiorello’s lips, he is later to be found running shirtless through the auditorium where he steals a handbag.

Everyone is kissing everyone, age and orientation be damned. Summoned by the gay sorcery unfolding, 65-year-old queer rock goddess Gianna Nanini manifests and is kissed worshipfully on the lips by 36-year-old duet partner Coez.

There’s also some kind of song competition going on I guess. 

This happens:

That’s Ghali, GUYS, IT’S NOT WORKING, rappers ARE DROPPING LIKE FLIES ALL OVER THIS STAGE, WE’VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING.

(...  it isn’t really Ghali and don’t worry. This is a gag? Which I still don’t really get? And nor does sweet anarchist cherub Fiorello whom we will later discover is currently being physically restrained from rushing onstage to tend to the fallen rapper’s wounds.)

The real Ghali raps in Arabic which among other things is a big old “me ne frego” of his own to Italian Trump-tribute act and failed wannabe prime minister Matteo Salvini. Then he gets close to Fiorello, which can only end one way.

All the boys are crazy for Fiorello’s kisses but Amadeus still can’t have any

It’s already a difficult night for Amadeus.  TV presenter Antonella Clerici enters and far from standing a step beside him, righteously rips the piss out of him, which to be fair he accepts with grace.

And as for Achille Lauro ... ...No.  Patience. The time to bear witness to the last stand of Achille Lauro is not yet come. There are other forces stirring at Sanremo.

Chaos has its dark side.

The gun on stage is cocked and loaded. This is it. ENTER MORGAN.

... and enter Bugo,  who trails in behind Morgan, looking dazed and haunted. But whatever, it’s a million o’clock in the morning, aren’t we all. 

They start to play.  Italian Tumblr dozes fitfully on its sofa, idly crackshipping Amadeus and Fiorello. Utterly unprepared.

So most of us don’t notice what’s happening ...

... until the music just stops.

No one’s paid attention to the Morgan and Bugo in days. As far as I’m concerned Fabrizio Moro has already been avenged and my bloodlust is slaked.  The song - apparently written wholly by Bugo - honestly, isn’t bad, but Morgan’s been tuneless throughout and their duet/cover last night was cringeable. There have been some major reversals in the rankings but at this point there’s almost no way they’re going to be one of them.  And Morgan is not happy.

So Morgan changed the lyrics (and this isn’t even last-minute improv, he fucking printed it) to attack the one person who still had faith in him, blaming Bugo and Bugo alone for their poor performance so far. On live TV. In front of millions. After screaming at Bugo backstage just minutes ago. And he expects Bugo to just stand there and take it.

"Me ne frego to that shit,” thinks Bugo, and becomes the unexpected self-care hero of Sanremo as he vanishes into the night.

And that’s how I learned the Italian word for pandemonium. 

Morgan has the absolute nerve to ask what’s going on. Amadeus breaks out in visible cold sweat. Fiorello is thrown bodily onstage to DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING, OH MY GOD.

It’s long past midnight and a bunch of worried middle-aged men in sparkly jackets are scampering around yelping “Bugo? Bugo! BUGO? BUGO!!!” and that, I am here to tell you, when you are already delirious from exhaustion and shitposting-induced hysteria, is more than enough to tip you right over the edge.

Italian Tumblr resigns itself to never sleeping again.The memes aren’t going to make themselves. 

Translation: ”Is Bugo there?” “What’s happening?” “Where’s Bugo gone?” “I have to go and see where Bugo is.” “Bugo left.” “BUGO!”

Morgan wants vengeance. Fiorello, adorably indifferent to the fact that he was shoved on stage to, you know, entertain the audience, wants to find the missing waif, wrap him in a blanket and feed him soup. So they both rush offstage and Amadeus is left alone in a living anxiety dream.

The audience are booing.  The 70th fucking Sanremo Festival of Italian Song is falling to pieces on his watch. For all he knows murder is going on backstage and he picked known powder-keg and scoundrel Morgan for the Festival. The buck stops with him. And he has no lines, no back-up, no idea what to do about it.

And then Fiorello, angel of misrule, avatar of lawlessness and love, strolls back onstage. He looks confident and relaxed, like a man with all the answers.  Which he is.

“Have you got Bugo?” Amadeus inquires desperately.

NO RULES, NO MASTERS, NO SPONSORSHIP MONEY. ME NE FREGO.

Everything is broken. And somehow everything is OK.

Everyone, Amadeus included, bursts into hysterical, cathartic laughter.

“Is this my fault?” Amadeus asks. “YES!” crows Fiorello, lovingly forcing Amadeus to face his sins and his nightmares in a healing atmosphere of radical acceptance and mass psychosis.

And that’s how Amadeus learned that the real Sanremo was inside us all along.  And what he needs in this glorious maelstrom was never a beautiful woman standing a step behind him. It’s a chaos pixie dream boy at his side.

It’s time to cast out toxic masculinity and become a better man.

So Amadeus wraps up the show as best he can and then out of pure human compassion, he and Fiorello personally wander the streets of Sanremo looking for Bugo until four in the morning.

Bugo and Morgan are automatically disqualified

And now let us witness the final passion of Achille Lauro. Who is this Achlle Lauro kid anyway? How intentional is all this? Is he the Messiah, or a very naughty boy?

SO YEAH. Anyway, everyone’s wondering what the fuck Achille and his producer/guitarist Boss Doms (yes, really) are going to do, and BE, next. Achille’s first three looks were inspired by St Francis of Assisi, David Bowie, and Marchesa Luisa Casati. 

So ... Freddie Mercury, maybe? Elizabeth I? Jesus Christ?  And after the flurry of kissing Fiorello whipped up .. 

Will they ... can they ... dare they...

Do you even need to ask?

I have no idea how the crazy bastards who guessed “Elizabeth I” did it. 

Achille thrusts his hips against Boss’s backside. Drops to his knees before him and lets the shape of the microphone speak for itself. Briefly chokes him. And throughout they are tender, elegant, and utterly, regally dignified.

And then, at last.

A  joyous chorus of maenad-like shrieks rings out across Europe. If you’re in the Greater London area and your ears are still sore, I’m sorry. That was me. 

That’s it. Achille Lauro and Boss Doms ascend into heaven and pass into history. 

Not even they can give more to Sanremo.

The dust settles. 

The dawn breaks.

WE FUCKING DID IT! RANCORE LIVES! WOUNDED (as are we all) BUT SMILING AT A WORLD TRANSFORMED! (Not only that but, after starting at the bottom of the leaderboard he’s been catapulted up into the top ten and wins the special prize for Best Lyrics!)

And Amadeus?

Well, let’s hear from him in his own words.

Because Fiorello asked him to, Amadeus is wearing a blonde wig to look like legendary TV host Maria de Filippi. Amadeus doesn’t normally sing, but because Fiorello asks him to, he joins him in song.“A WORLD OF LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!” they chorus. It’s the hymn of the new day. 

“He can make me do anything!” Amadeus sighs to the audience. So Fiorello asks him to slow-dance.  And they do.

The prophecy has been fulfilled. Amadeus has let love into his heart. He has surrendered to the holy power of gay chaos. He is a man reborn. 

He didn’t find Bugo on that long, gruelling dark night of the soul, because incredibly,  poor Bugo never left the theatre and spent the night literally hiding in a cupboard.

But he found something else. 

As Sanremo finally, mercifully approaches its end, Fiorello grapples him close and, all teasing cast aside, whispers fiercely in his ear:

And somehow it was.

And toxic masculinity?

To find out why don’t we - and I am sorry about this - check in on Matteo Salvini who would normally be rage-tweeting up a Trump-style storm by now. He loves bitching about Sanremo for being “rigged by the left”  or occasionally letting a non-lily-white performer win, and this year he even tried to organise a boycott. Let’s see how that’s going.

This, the gayest-ever Sanremo in history, is the most-watched Sanremo in 18 years, with an incredible 60% audience share.

“Me Ne Frego” flies to the top of the Spotify charts.  (And though the judges are still cowards and traitors who left Achille in 8th place, there is no doubt across the media who the real star of the festival was. ) And Salvini’s “boycott” just meant he effectively banned himself from making a peep about it.

So who won the festival?

ALL OF US.

Oh, you meant literally.

This guy. His name is Diodato and his song is called “Fai Rumore” (Make a Sound.) It’s fine.

And that was Sanremo. It wasn’t a dream, it was a place. And you, and you, and you were there.

[definitelynotdamiano]

Måneskin: Performances (tv, radio, concerts etc.)

2017.12.14 - X Factor Italy (finale) - Medley: Beggin, Take Me Out, Somebody Told Me

2018.01.07 - Che tempo che fa - Chosen

2018.03.25 - Che tempo che fa - Morirò da Re (+ interview)

2018.10.28 - X Factor Italy - Torna a casa

2019.01.20 - Che tempo che fa - Torna a casa and Fear for nobody

2019.10.31 - X Factor Italy - Le parole lontane

2020.03.29 - making of Stato di natura

2020.11.01 - Che tempo che fa - Vent'anni

2020.11.05 - X Factor Italy - Vent'anni (+ interview)

2021.03.02 - 2021.03.06 - Sanremo 2021

2021.03.06 - Zitti e buoni after winning Sanremo

2021.03.07 - Che tempo che fa - intro + Zitti e buoni

2021.03.08 - Soliti Ignoti - Zitti e buoni (+ interview)

2021.03.09 - La lene - Zitti e buoni (+ interview)

2021.03.22 - Le parole lontane

2021.03.22 - Amandoti

2021.04.01 - Radio Italia Live - Le parole lontane

2021.05.20 - Wiwi Jam at Home

2021.08.11 - 1LIVE SESSION - live from Cologne, Germany

2021.08.13 - Rock for People Hope

2021.08.14 - Ronquières festival

2021.08.19 - Open’er Park Festival (Damiano hurt his hand with a mic there)

Damiano explaining what happened to his hand

2021.09.03 - Vecherniy Urgant - I wanna be your slave

2021.09.11 - Nova Rock Festival

2021.09.25 - Global Citizen Live

2021.09.27 - Facebook Live

2021.10.07 - Mammamia listening party

every Mammamia-related post

2021.10.13 - Virgin Radio France

Coraline

2021.10.15 - Swedish Idol

Mammamia

IWBYS

2021.10.18 - Khalid & Sophie - MAMMAMIA

2021.10.26 - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Beggin'

2021.10.26 - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Mammamia

2021.10.27 - New York

2021.11.01 - Los Angeles

2021.11.04 - 106.7 KROQ Private Concert 

part 1

part 2

2021.11.06 - Måneskin opening for The Rolling Stones in Las Vegas

2021.11.08 - The Ellen Show - Beggin'

2021.11.14 - MTV EMA 2021 - Mammamia

2021.11.21 - AMAs - Beggin'

2021.11.29 - NBC’s The Voice - Beggin' and Mammamia medley

2022.01.15 - iHeartRadio ALTer EGO

[thetriangletattoo]

I posted 14.889 times in 2021

888 posts created (6%)

14001 posts reblogged (94%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 15.8 posts.

I added 1.595 tags in 2021

#love on tour - 251 posts

#projectotb - 246 posts

#sanremo 2021 - 230 posts

#fanart - 193 posts

#ask - 187 posts

#fave - 119 posts

#prev tags - 116 posts

#me - 97 posts

#the list - 79 posts

#❤️ - 77 posts

Longest Tag: 72 characters

#😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Hands.

Also here's a Tiktok of my process

769 notes • Posted 2021-08-03 14:09:56 GMT

#4

we're one day closer to lt2

820 notes • Posted 2021-04-20 10:18:57 GMT

#3

WEEK ONE: LIFE

All the lonely shadow dances, from the cradle to the grave, it's a solo song and it's only for the brave.

ProjectOTB blog | Project CARRD | stream links for OTB

Twitter | ProjectOTB Twitter

Here's my process explained on Tiktok

886 notes • Posted 2021-06-03 13:20:51 GMT

#2

One year of Walls

1022 notes • Posted 2021-01-31 00:13:22 GMT

#1

Walls - part 1

part 2 - part 3

1132 notes • Posted 2021-02-08 19:24:42 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[eurosong]

Undo my ESC 2021 - Semi-final 1

Good afternoon, folks! Every year, I take a look at each semi-final and share what feasible change I would make – as small as changing a few lines of the song or an element of staging, or as big as a different song completely winning a national final – to make it even better (just in my own opinion of course!) This year will be harder than usual, but I’ll try to set aside my conviction that every 2020 artist should have been able to return to see how different SF1 might look. Let’s go!

🇱🇹 Lithuania: PiN was in the Roop's hands, and whilst I fell in love with some of the underdog songs they were up again, most notably Home and Never fall for you again I wouldn't take away the chance away from the Roop. There's nothing I'd change about Discoteque, and I love their nod to On fire, but the way that they also took things in a different direction to last time.

🇸🇮 Slovenia: I may be in a small minority, but I absolutely love Amen and I loved Voda too! Ana Soklič has so much presence and stunning vocals with so much texture and depth; she can sell me pretty much everything. My only change would be to insert Slovenian language lyrics!

🇷🇺 Russia: I was initially really disappointed that we wouldn't see the iconic Little Big on the ESC stage - but I commend the way they wanted to share the limelight with other artists. The unexpected Russian mini-NF ended up being a revelation and very diverse for its size. I liked all three songs, but I think that the best hands down won. There is nothing I have to change to Russian woman, one of the most powerful propositions of the season for me. I just hope juries will value it and we won't see a Telemóveis style situation!

🇸🇪 Sweden: After a year of being happy with the result in Sweden - I was always in Dotter's corner, but who can't love the Mamas? - we return to more familiar terrain of an MF result disgruntling me. Tusse has charisma and talent, but his song is lacklustre at best for me. My fav was, once again, Dotter, and I wish that either she'd taken the win or that the Mamas got their shot at ESC as main artists.

🇦🇺 Australia: I really enjoy Technicolour, one of the more out-of-left-field entries from Oz. I am so intrigued as to what the Diane Warren song offered to Montaigne was like, as I'm certain that this isn't it, but I'm glad she trusted her gut and went for something so distinctive. My one change would be to get rid of the unnecessary key change at the end.

🇲🇰 Macedonia: When there was a nationalistic furore with attempts to stop Vasil from representing MK, I was entirely on his side even though his song for me is one of the least appealing of the edition. I'd still want him to get his chance at ESC - but his Sudbina would have been such a more compelling entry for my taste.

🇮🇪 Ireland: Lesley Roy served nostalgic pop wonderment for the second year in a row, and another song that has etched itself already onto my life's soundtrack. I don't know what I'd change, except perhaps translate one of the choruses into Irish Gaelic - it'd make the message of a return to home even more resonant for me.

🇨🇾 Cyprus: Cyprus and I haven't seen eye to eye for several years now, and it's a shame as they were one of my favourite countries of the 90s. I do enjoy El diablo more than their last trio of songs, but I find it leans too heavy on a clear inspiration from Gaga, which takes away from some of the more original elements of the song. So, I'd rework the chorus, and also change some of the lyrics elsewhere because some lines just flat out make me cringe.

🇳🇴 Norway: I seem to have been in the minority of people delighted at MGP's final results! I had bigger favourites - the rambunctious sea shanty that is Vi er Norge, the kickass empowering Witch woods or the pulsating groove of Playing with fire - but I wouldn't take Tix' win away from him given how meaningful it was for him and what the guy has been through. My change? Revert partially or entirely to the Norwegian version, Ut av mørket; for me, it hits my heart harder.

🇭🇷 Croatia: Sincerely, my biggest disappointment of the NF season potentially - I wish Damir had been internally selected, not just because of my wish to see all ESC'20 alumni return, but because his was the best Croatian song for me since Moja štikla. Tick-tock is harmless but if we can't get a Damir return in this hypothesis, then I'd go for Rijeka, which captivated me with its epicness on first listen and has just risen in my estimation since. Though, given Nina's histrionics after coming second, maybe I'd have Albina perform the song instead.

🇧🇪 Belgium: I was prepared to not be on board with Belgium this year despite my long-lived love for the country - I found Release me, whilst orchestrated beautifully, entirely lacking in dynamism; and I really couldn't stand the way the band dumped Luka unceremoniously. And yet... this lush piece of art is one of my favs of the entire season. And there's something different and singular in Geike's voice. So the only thing I'm changing here are the dudes' attitudes to ESC so that they can value it more, especially Alex.

🇮🇱 Israël: As one of the most naturally charismatic performers of 2020, I had high hopes for Eden's return and the original idea of a mega-NF for her seemed really promising. Instead, we ended up with an uninspired strewing of songs, of which the best didn't even get the chance to be recorded by her. Set me free was my favourite of the three that got to the final, but I feel they've really worsened it with the revamp, in between the hail mary pass of the whistle vote and the extra emphasis on "I'mma". I would have Eden perform Shoulders instead - I don't know how it NQd and think it would allow her to showcase her personality a lot more.

🇷🇴 Romania: I really enjoyed Roxen's selection last year - small but quite diverse, and I felt the best song won. My change would be to have seen a similar national final with 3 or 4 other songs of hers this time, because I'm not convinced in Amnesia anywhere near as much as I was of Alcohol you.

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: I wish they had gone with something at least a bit different rather than this cut, smudge and paste from last year that is so on the nose with its "you loved Cleopatra, so you will love this, won't you?" feel that it even namechecks the previous song. Efendi has a lot of talent and could have shown more diversity here.

🇺🇦 Ukraine: I'm getting used to the surprise revamp of Šum by now, but the question still remains for me, why did they do it? They needed to cut about a minute off the duration of the track, but to me, that doesn't explain why they also had to change the melody in large parts of the song. I'd be tempted to revert to a shortened form version of Šum version 1.

🇲🇹 Malta: Another unpopular opinion, but I'm just not that into the Maltese song this year. The lyrics are great and Destiny has poise and presence and PIPES and I'm sure she'll do well, but the style - a glammed up Electro-Velvet, essentially - doesn't heat me up, and I feel like the different parts of the composition are too dissonant from each other, like we have 2 or 3 songs in one here. My change would be for her to have gone with something more soul-ish in its sound, like AOML was.

And the AQs of this semi

🇩🇪 Germany: How did juries decide upon this, especially when there seems to have been many promising artists in the German selection? No shade against Jendrick who seems like a lovely chap, but the song sounds like the cheerful four chords on a ukulele you hear repeated as royalty free background music on Youtube tutorials, merged with a post-chorus breakdown taken from a Stefan Raab b-side. I would have gotten out my phone book and given Lilly among clouds a call - she gives me the vibes of being able to create something totally show-stopping.

🇳🇱 Netherlands: My original slight disappointment at this was more because of how high I have Grow than any fault of its own. It's another gorgeous composition from Jeangu, with probably the best set of lyrics of the year, and this is going to be a moment. I change nothing.

🇮🇹 Italy: I like Måneskin and their performances at Sanremo were brilliant - but they were far from being at the top of my favourites list. I would have given the win to Madame with Voce, or Ermal with Un milione di cose da dirti. Both would have been my #1 of the entire year, both move me deeply. Madame showcases contemporary Italian style with classic songwriting, whilst Ermal almost created a companion piece to Fai rumore - Diodato wanted to hear the sound of his loved one, whilst Ermal struggles to make a noise and say what he feels about his love.

Join me soon as I take a look at SF2 and its songs (and France, Spain and the UK, the auto-qualifiers from that semi!)

[tycwi]

Im gonna watch some recordings of sanremo which parts should i watch (basically which are the most gender)

oooo! :D so. you can find everything on here. it should work even outside of Italy. a little Navigation Tutorial first:

:readmore:

scrolling down, under the videos, you'll find a blue button, "carica altro". that's "load more"

above the videos there should be a grey thing saying "Serata finale" with a downward arrow next to it. you use that to choose which night you're viewing. Prima serata is first night, seconda is second, terza is third, quarta is fourth, and finale is the fifth and final one.

There should also be, above That,

Campioni - Contestants. you can watch the contestants' performances here

Ospiti - Guests. there's some performances by guests not in the contest! no wonder sanremo ended at 2 am every night oof! but they're good.

Lo show dell'Ariston - I don't. know. how to explain this category too well, but there's a lot of good gender stuff here

Le serate - you can watch full nights here!

Nuove proposte - there's a segment for smaller artists. I didn't,.,, really care for any of them this year, to be honest

Conferenze stampa - held in the afternoons, I didn't watch these because while I will ruin my sleep schedule for Sanremo I still have to do things in the. afternoon. to make up for that. it's also just a lot of Italian talking mostly

Festival LIS - Everything but in sign language (i think??)

PrimaFestival - a thing that runs for twenty minutes directly before the show starts. it's like Juicy Gossip stuff or whatever. not particularly interesting, unless you like social media statistics, like I do

70 anni di festival - translates to "70 years of [sanremo] festival". no idea what's here.

so! first of all, I have my Faves, and I'm Italian, so I'm gonna be opinionated and tell you to watch everything by my faves JFJDFJF. You can find Maneskin, the rock band who won, under Campioni! They perform the same song every night, as every contestant does, except for the third night, which is when everyone did a cover. all their outfits are very gender, they have amazing stage presence, I love them, and they're somehow all around 20 years old which is so young. then there's Madame, still in Campioni, who I think is bisexual (?), but even if she's not she serves some very Sapphic looking looks at least. another contestant I really liked was La Rappresentante Di Lista, and her outfit on her final night is absolutely stunning, and her cover was a 1979 pop BANGER about loving the way she looks.

a little less gender, but two contestants I love nonetheless, are Max Gazzè and Extraliscio. they just sung such Funky Music and had such Good Vibes that I couldn't not mention them. Extraliscio's vibes especially are Off The Charts Chaotic. they're amazing

under Ospiti i suggest you check out the video titled 'Fiorello, Laura Pausini, Amadeus'. it is So funny and it's where we got the best gif of Amadeus dancing

under Lo show dell'Ariston, the Most important thing is to watch literally everything with 'Achille Lauro' in the title. maximum gender. gender overload. if you don't have time for all of them, my favorite is "Il quadro punk rock di Achille Lauro con Fiorello". revolutionary. if you do have time for all of them, content warning for "c'est la vie": there's some gore. towards the end, Achille Lauro opens his shirt to reveal a rose in his stomach. it's fake, but it looks pretty convincing, and I was kind of nauseated.

other than Achille Lauro, there's a lot of Fiorello and Amadeus here. it's glorious. I missed a lot of the first night so I can't point you with precision to the many homosexual moments they shared there, but I can tell you to check out any of the following in whatever order you'd like:

Fiorello interpreta 'Grazie dei Fiori' (Fiorello in elaborate costume)

Fiorello canta 'Se stasera sono qui'

Fiorello e Amadeus cantano 'Love in Sanremo'

Fiorello e Amadeus aprono la seconda serata del festival di Sanremo (Fiorello in elaborate costume)

Fiorello canta "Un'ora sola ti vorrei"

Fiorello si taglia i baffi sul palco dell'Ariston

"Rosario Salerno" e "Amedeo Squillo" in 'Siamo donne'

that's where I can guarantee some Gay, but, anything with Fiorello, or both Fiorello and Amedeus in the title, probably has some homosexuality. Fiorello in elaborate costumes is very gender.

A lot of Amadello Moments are in Words, which are in Italian, and therefore hard for me to recommend to someone who doesn't speak the language, but they do share some Looks that don't require knowledge of any language.

I think that's all? this year was Very Camp, so every contestant served LOOKS, so I honestly would recommend skimming through the videos just for those, if you're interested.

thank u so much for letting me ramble about my most Italian hyperfixation yet!!! fjjsjfjd I hope u enjoy what I recommended

[blackkudos]

Al Jarreau

Alwin Lopez (Al) Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American jazz singer. He won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more. He is perhaps best known for his 1981 album Breakin' Away, for having sung the theme song of the late-1980s television series Moonlighting, and as a performer in the 1985 charity song "We Are the World".

Background

Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the fifth of six children. His website refers to Reservoir Avenue, the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-day Adventist Church minister and singer, and his mother was a church pianist. He and his family sang together in church concerts and in benefits, and he and his mother performed at PTA meetings.

He was student council president and Badger Boys State delegate for Lincoln High School. At Boys State, he was elected governor. He went on to attend Ripon College, where he also sang with a group called the Indigos. Jarreau graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. He went on to earn a master's degree in vocational rehabilitation from the University of Iowa, worked as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco, and moonlighted with a jazz trio headed by George Duke.

In 1967, he joined forces with acoustic guitarist Julio Martinez. The duo became the star attraction at a small Sausalito night club called Gatsby's. This success contributed to Jarreau's decision to make professional singing his life and full-time career.

Going full-time

In 1968, Jarreau made jazz his primary occupation. In 1969, Jarreau and Martinez headed south, where Jarreau appeared at such Los Angeles hot spots as Dino's, The Troubadour, and Bitter End West. Television exposure came from Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, and David Frost. He expanded his nightclub appearances performing at The Improv between the acts of such rising-star comics as Bette Midler, Jimmie Walker, and John Belushi. During this period, he became involved with the United Church of Religious Science and the Church of Scientology, but he later dissociated from Scientology. Also, roughly at the same time, he began writing his own lyrics, finding that his Christian spirituality began to influence his work.

In 1975, Jarreau was working with pianist Tom Canning when he was spotted by Warner Bros. Records. On Valentine's Day 1976 he sang on the 13th episode of NBC's new Saturday Night Live hosted, that week by Peter Boyle. Soon thereafter he released his critically acclaimed debut album, We Got By, which catapulted him to international fame and garnered him an Echo Award (the German equivalent of the Grammy's in the United States). A second Echo Award would follow with the release of his second album, Glow.

In 1978, Al won his first U.S. Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for his album, Look To The Rainbow.

One of Jarreau's most commercially successful albums is Breakin' Away (1981), which includes the hit song "We're in This Love Together". He won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Breakin' Away. In 1984, his single "After All" reached 69 on the US Hot 100 chart and number 26 on the R&B chart. It was especially popular in the Philippines. His last big hit was the Grammy-nominated theme to the 1980s American television show Moonlighting, for which he wrote the lyrics. Among other things, he was well known for his extensive use of scat singing, and vocal percussion. He was also a featured vocalist on USA for Africa's "We Are the World" in which he sang the line, "...and so we all must lend a helping hand." Another charitable media event, HBO's Comic Relief, featured Al in a duet with Natalie Cole singing the song "Mr. President", written by Joe Sterling, Mike Loveless and Ray Reach.

Jarreau took an extended break from recording in the 1990s. As he explained in an interview with Jazz Review: "I was still touring, in fact, I toured more than I ever had in the past, so I kept in touch with my audience. I got my symphony program under way, which included my music and that of other people too, and I performed on the Broadway production of Grease. I was busier than ever! For the most part, I was doing what I have always done … perform live. I was shopping for a record deal and was letting people know that there is a new album coming. I was just waiting for the right label (Verve), but I toured more than ever."

In 2003, Jarreau and conductor Larry Baird collaborated on symphony shows around the United States, with Baird arranging additional orchestral material for Jarreau's shows.

Jarreau toured and performed with Joe Sample, Chick Corea, Kathleen Battle, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, Rick Braun, and George Benson. He also performed the role of the Teen Angel in a 1996 Broadway production of Grease. On March 6, 2001, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 7083 Hollywood Boulevard on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.

In 2006, Jarreau appeared in a duet with American Idol finalist Paris Bennett during the Season 5 finale and on Celebrity Duets singing with actor Cheech Marin.

In 2010, Jarreau was a guest on the new Eumir Deodato album, with the song "Double Face" written by Nicolosi/Deodato/Al Jarreau. The song was produced by the Italian company Nicolosi Productions.

On February 16, 2012, he was invited to the famous Italian Festival di Sanremo to sing with the Italian group Matia Bazar.

On February 8, 2017, after being hospitalized for exhaustion, Jarreau cancelled his remaining 2017 tour dates and retired from touring.

Personal life

Jarreau was married twice. His first marriage, to Phyllis Hall, lasted from 1964 to 1968. His second wife was model Susan Elaine Player, whom he married in 1977. Jarreau and Player had one son together, Ryan.

It was reported on July 23, 2010, that Jarreau was critically ill at a hospital in France, while in the area to perform a concert at nearby Barcelonnette, and was being treated for respiratory problems and cardiac arrhythmias. He was taken to the intensive-care unit at Gap late on July 22, 2010. Jarreau was conscious, in a stable condition and in the cardiology unit of La Timone hospital in Marseille, the Marseille Hospital Authority said. He was expected to remain there for about a week for tests. In June 2012, Jarreau was diagnosed with pneumonia, which caused him to cancel several concerts in France. Jarreau made a full recovery and continued to tour extensively until February 2017.

In 2009 children's author Carmen Rubin published the story Ashti Meets Birdman Al, inspired by Jarreau's music. He wrote the foreword for the book and read from it across the world. Al and Carmen worked together to promote literacy and the importance of keeping music alive in children.

Death

After having been hospitalized for exhaustion in Los Angeles, Jarreau died on February 12, 2017, at the age of 76.

Discography

Albums

1975: We Got By (Reprise) US# 209

1976: Glow (Reprise) – US# 132, R&B No. 30, Jazz# 9

1978: All Fly Home (Warner Bros.) – US# 78, R&B# 27, Jazz# 2

1980: This Time (Warner Bros.) – US# 27, R&B# 6, Jazz# 1

1981: Breakin' Away (Warner Bros.) – US# 9, R&B# 1, Jazz# 1, UK# 60

1983: Jarreau (Warner Bros.) – US# 13, R&B# 4, Jazz# 1, UK# 39

1984: High Crime (Warner Bros.) – US# 49, R&B# 12, Jazz# 2, UK# 81

1986: L Is for Lover (Warner Bros.) – US# 81, R&B# 30, Jazz# 9, UK# 45

1988: Heart's Horizon (Reprise) – US# 75, R&B# 10, Jazz# 1

1992: Heaven and Earth (Warner Bros.) – US# 105, R&B# 30, Jazz# 2

2000: Tomorrow Today (Verve) – US# 137, R&B# 43, Jazz# 1

2002: All I Got (Verve) – US# 137, R&B# 43, Jazz# 3

2004: Accentuate the Positive (Verve) - Jazz# 6

2006: Givin' It Up (with George Benson) (Concord) – US# 58, R&B# 14, Jazz# 1

2008: Christmas (Rhino) - Jazz# 5

2014: My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke (Concord)

Live albums

1977: Look to the Rainbow (Warner Bros.) – US# 49, R&B# 19, Jazz# 5

1984: In London (Warner Bros.) – US# 125, R&B# 55, Jazz# 10. Sometimes titled Live in London.

1994: Tenderness (Warner Bros.) US# 114, R&B# 25, Jazz# 2. Recorded live in a studio in front of an invited audience.

2012: Al Jarreau and The Metropole Orkest: LIVE (Concord)

2011: Al Jarreau And The George Duke Trio: Live At The Half/Note 1965, Volume 1 (BPM Records) Originally offered exclusively at georgeduke.com.

Compilations

1996: Best Of Al Jarreau (Warner Bros.) – Jazz No. 8

2008: Love Songs (Rhino)

2009: An Excellent Adventure: The Very Best Of Al Jarreau (Rhino) (This compilation holds one previously unreleased track: "Excellent Adventure")

Early material recorded before 1974

After Jarreau's breakthrough in 1975 an almost uncountable number of compilations of earlier recordings from 1965 to 1973 have emerged, including some or all of the following songs:

Songs by various composers

"My Favorite Things" (5:02, Hammerstein, Rodgers)

"Stockholm Sweetnin'" (5:50, Jones)

"A Sleepin' Bee" (5:52, Arlen, Capote)

"The Masquerade Is Over" (6:34, Magidson, Wrubel)

"Sophisticated Lady" (4:14, Ellington, Mills, Parish)

"Joey, Joey, Joey" (3:42, Loesser)

Singles

1976: "Rainbow in Your Eyes" – R&B No. 92

1977: "Take Five" – R&B No. 91

1978: "Thinkin' About It Too" – R&B No. 55

1980: "Distracted" – R&B No. 61

1980: "Gimme What You Got" – R&B No. 63

1980: "Never Givin' Up" – R&B No. 26

1981: "We're in This Love Together" – US No. 15, R&B No. 6, UK No. 55

1982: "Breakin' Away" – US No. 43, R&B No. 25

1982: "Teach Me Tonight" – US No. 70, R&B No. 51

1982: "Your Precious Love", duet with Randy Crawford – R&B No. 16

1982: "Roof Garden" - NL No. 2

1983: "Boogie Down" – US No. 77, R&B No. 9, UK No. 63, NL No. 14

1983: "Mornin'" – US No. 21, R&B No. 6, UK No. 28, NL No. 16

1983: "Trouble in Paradise" – US No. 63, R&B No. 66, UK No. 36

1984: "After All" – US No. 69, R&B No. 26

1985: "Raging Waters" – R&B No. 42

1986: "L Is for Lover" – R&B No. 42

1986: "Tell Me What I Gotta Do" – R&B No. 37

1986: "The Music of Goodbye" (from Out Of Africa), duet with Melissa Manchester – AC No. 16

1987: "Moonlighting (theme)" (from Moonlighting) – US No. 23, R&B No. 32, UK No. 8, AC#1

1988: "So Good" R&B No. 2

1989: "All of My Love" – R&B No. 69

1989: "All or Nothing at All" – R&B No. 59

1992: "Blue Angel" – R&B No. 74

1992: "It's Not Hard to Love You" – R&B No. 36

2001: "In My Music" (with Phife Dawg)

Soundtrack inclusions

1982: "Girls Know How", in the film Night Shift (Warner Bros)

1984: "Moonlighting (theme)" and "Since I Fell for You", in the television show Moonlighting (Universal)

1984: "Boogie Down", in the film Breakin' (Warner Bros)

1986: "The Music of Goodbye", duet with Melissa Manchester, in the film Out of Africa (MCA Records)

1989: "Never Explain Love", in the film Do the Right Thing (Motown)

1992: "Blue Skies", in the film Glengarry Glen Ross (New Line Cinema)

1984: "Million Dollar Baby", in the film City Heat (Warner Bros)

Guest appearances

1978: "Hot News Blues" from Secret Agent/Chick Corea (Polydor)

1979: "Little Sunflower" from The Love Connection/Freddie Hubbard (Columbia)

1983: "Bet Cha Say That to All the Girls" from Bet Cha Say That to All the Girls/Sister Sledge (Cotillion)

1985: "We Are the World" from We Are the World/USA for Africa (Columbia) US No. 1, R&B No. 1 UK No. 1

1986: "Since I Fell for You" from Double Vision/Bob James & David Sanborn (Warner Bros.)

1987: "Day by Day" from City Rhythms/Shakatak

1997: "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" from Doky Brothers 2/Chris Minh Doky/Niels Lan Doky (Blue Note Records)

1997: "Girl from Ipanema" and "Waters of March" from A Twist of Jobim/Lee Ritenour (GRP)

2010: "Whisper Not" from New Time, New Tet/Benny Golson (Concord Jazz)

1974: "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" from Body Heat/Quincy Jones (A&M) (Jarreau provides background scat and vocal percussion.)

Wikipedia

[definitelynotdamiano]

Masterlist of my Måneskin posts, I will update it when necessary. Dates are in the YMD format, the newest additions are purple. Red are things you might want to look at.

This list was getting too long, so I decided that if there are 4 or more vids/pics from a certain event, there will be the date, name/place of the event and a link to all the posts I've made about it.

Sometimes some links don't work - in that case you can search for the date or go through the tag "mine".

Tags I frequently use.

Photos (including screenshots, press scans etc.)

2018.01.15 - Milan Fashion Week

2021.01 - TV Sorrisi e Canzoni

2021.01 - TV Sorrisi e Canzoni part II

2021.01 - RaiPlay

2021.08 - Teraz Rock cover

2021.08.19 - Måneskin in Poland - Poland smashed everything (including Damiano's hand)

2021.08.19 - Måneskin in Poland - more of Damiano's injured hand

Videos (lives, MVs, interviews etc.)

2017.12.14 - X Factor Italy (finale) - Medley: Beggin, Take Me Out, Somebody Told Me

2018.01.07 - Che tempo che fa - Chosen

2018.03.25 - Che tempo che fa - Morirò da Re + interview

2018.10.28 - X Factor Italy - Torna a casa

2019.01.20 - Che tempo che fa - Torna a casa and Fear for nobody

2019.10.31 - X Factor Italy - Le parole lontane

2020.03.29 - making of Stato di natura

2020.11.01 - Che tempo che fa - Vent'anni (part 1)

2020.11.01 - Che tempo che fa - interview (part 2)

2020.11.01 - Che tempo che fa - backstage

2020.11.05 - X Factor Italy - Vent'anni (and talking)

2020.12.17 - Sanremo Giovani finale

2021.01 - RaiPlay

2021.01 - TV Sorrisi e Canzoni

2021.03.02 - 2021.03.06 - Sanremo 2021

2021.03.06 - Zitti e buoni after winning Sanremo

2021.03.07 - Che tempo che fa - intro + Zitti e buoni

2021.03.07 - Che tempo che fa - interview, Orietta Berti

2021.03.08 - Soliti Ignoti - Zitti e buoni (and they talk here for about 30 sec)

2021.03.22 - Le parole lontane

2021.05 - Måneskin for Crudelia (Cruella) 2021

2021.06.18 - Humberto (Dutch show)

2021.06.25 - newonce.radio - interview with Måneskin

2021.07.15 - BlickTV - Måneskin playing the Never have I Ever game

2021.08.06 - I Wanna Be Your Slave with Iggy Pop

2021.08.11 (published) - 1LIVE SESSION - live from Cologne, Germany

2021.08.15 - Damiano and Legolas

2021.08.15 - Interview in Belgium

2021.08.15 - Golden record for Zitti e buoni in Belgium

2021.08.19 - Lividi sui gomiti Thomas remix

2021.09.10 - Gucci Aria Advertising Campaign

2021.09.23 - Genius Verified: I wanna be your slave lyrics & meaning

Damiano singing IWBYS a cappella

Concerts, tours (photos, videos etc.)

2021.08.13 - Rock for People Hope (Czech Republic)

2021.08.14 - Ronquière Festival (Belgium)

2021.08.19 - Open'er Park (Poland)

2021.08.19 - Open'er Park (Poland) - Damiano explaining what happened to his hand

2021.08.19 - Open'er Park (Poland) - Damiano and Ethan with fans, Damiano showing what happened to his hand

2021.08.30 - Russia

2021.09.01 - Radio Europa Plus

2021.09.11 - Austria

2021.09.25 - France, Global Citizen Live

2021.10.06 - Germany

2021.10.28 - NME: Måneskin on their first ever gig, first tattoos & their first jobs

2021.10.29 - Ed Sheeran talking about Måneskin

2021.10 - Mammamia promo tour (Italy, France, Sweden, Netherlands, UK...)

2021.10-? - Mammamia promo tour in the US

2021.10.26 - The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

2021.10.27 - New York show (not every post is tagged, check the main tag for the US trip, search for "new york" or "27.10.2021")

Halloween 2021

2021.11.01 - Z100 New York interview

2021.11.01 - DC101, Mike Jones interview

2021.11.01 - LA show (not every post is tagged, check the main tag for the US trip)

2021.11.02 - Gucci Love Parade

2021.11.04 - 106.7 KROQ Private Concert

2022.02.06-2022.03.24 - Loud kids on tour

Text (translations, how-tos etc.)

putting Amandoti (and any other song) on your Spotify playlist

2021.06.25 - naTemat - translated interview with Måneskin

Other

2021.09/2021.10 - Mammamia promo

[sophiamcdougall]

EXPLAINING SANREMO

(PART 1) Last week I was swept away, helpless, by the avalanche that is the Sanremo Song Festival and I am still recovering. For your safety, I’ve tried to keep the insanity contained on my Italian side blog. But I want to try to offer you a rough summary of what I’ve learned. Sanremo inspired the Eurovision Song Contest. Over five nights, 24 acts, each with a brand new song, compete at the Ariston theatre in Sanremo for a tacky little golden lion, and the glory of being the year’s Song for Italy. 2020 marked the 70th Sanremo, so depending on who you ask, it’s a venerable national treasure or it’s stale and embarrassing (Many Italians are sick of it. Or say they are, but see below.) It is also an EPIC STRUGGLE between THE FORCES OF GOOD AND EVIL FOR THE SOUL OF HUMANITY Let’s meet some of the protagonists: 

AKA: host Amadeus, entertainer and comedian Rosario Fiorello, il Bel Paese, and competitor Achille Lauro.

Amadeus got things off to a bad start before the show even began by praising his various female co-hosts - all seasoned TV professionals - for their beauty and their ability to stay “a step behind a man.” Outrage ensues, Amadeus claims he did not mean it like that, but keep this in mind for later. Also competing are Morgan (below, left) and Bugo (below, right.), who are performing a duet.

Going in, the one thing I know about Morgan is that on more than one occasion, he trashtalked my beloved and blameless Fabrizio Moro. So I hate him and want him to suffer. And apparently he has quite the reputation for throwing tantrums, picking on fellow-artists and sabotaging events he’s part of. But hey. He’s supposedly talented and Bugo clearly thinks he deserves another chance.  And we’re off!

Irene Grandi kicks things off with  “Finalmente Io” (“Finally Me”). But I’m starting with her not so much because she’s the first to sing as because I don’t think the song’s  got enough attention -- either for the fact that it bangs or for what it represents in the drama that’s about to unfold.

Finalmente Io is what, in the business, we call foreshadowing.

There’s a magical thing that happens to women with when they turn 40. The  develop Not-Giving-A-Fuck superpowers. The song is basically about that. It’s about freedom, and self-acceptance, and being 100% done with male bullshit. (It's also a bit of an ADHD anthem but let’s leave that aside for now.)  “I’ve lost all my patience, and all my fragility,” she sings. 

And, “If you want sex, let’s do it now. Heeeeeeere.”

Irene is the portent everyone misses, a harbinger of what is to come. 

Think of her as John the Baptist.  Onwards. So the first thing one discovers about the Sanremo Festival is that just because we have to get through 24 “big” acts AND 6 (?) new/junior artists, and they all have to perform multiple times, that doesn’t mean there’s any RUSH. Guest singers wander on and perform a song or ten. There’s comedy. We can stop everything to talk about football.  A lady comes on and talks for a million years about how her granny taught her that True Beauty is Found Within. There are also speeches about important subjects like violence against women. In fact, we are going to talk about that a lot, but also a bunch of competent and experienced female TV personalities are stuck taking turns at playing Amadeus’s Glamorous Assistant of the evening and he can’t shut up about how beautiful they all are while they cringe and lean subtly away from him. So it’s ... slow, and awkward, but within its own cheesy terms, things are normal. Too normal. Enter Achille Lauro. 

Softly, almost whispering, he begins to sing a song called  “Me ne frego”  (”I don’t care” - but with an edge of “fuck you”). This is both an everyday Italian expression and a fascist motto. Well, it was till now. 

A nation is convulsed. Right-wing Italian boomers are screaming because YOU! CAN’T! DO! THAT! AT! SANREMO! THERE! ARE! CHILDREN! WATCHING! Italian Tumblr, which like the rest of Tumblr is feral, thirsty and gay, is screaming for different reasons entirely. 

Achille, you scandalous creature, what have you done? What have you got to say for yourself?

Something strange and magical  has released and it cannot be contained. On with the songs. Good songs, bad songs, blah songs. I like “Tikibombom” by Levante - a love letter to weirdos and rebels, “Rosso di Rabbia” (Rage Red) by Anastasio about being, well, angry but scared you can’t do anything useful with it, and “Eden” by  Rancore, about... the nature of sin?? touching on everything from September 11 to the mafia to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.   However, this contest is being judged (mostly - it’s complicated) by an industry jury of FOOLS, COWARDS, and TRAITORS who KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO, so virtually all of the above artists are so far languishing towards the bottom of the provisional rankings. Achille ends up in 17th place and  Rancore at 22.

Truly, the light hath shone in the darkness and the darkness knoweth it not.

LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO RANCORE. 

Rapper down, repeat RAPPER DOWN. SEND HELP.

However, for people who went in implacably biased against Morgan, it’s not all bad news. "Sincero” (Sincere) by Morgan and Bugo is in last place. Whether this is anything to do with the song or because Morgan is a nightmare of a person who has systematically alienated everyone in the Italian music industry except the trusting Bugo ... we can but ponder.  Sanremo grinds on. Days blur into each other and I’m not even going to try to cover events in exact order. Sanremo knows no order. Sanremo is like the universe, linear time is a construct that doesn’t really exist, and chaos happens very, very slowly.  But meanwhile, somewhere on the astral plane:

At least that is what I deduce must have happened.

The competitors and guests look deep within themselves. Do they have what it takes? Are they ready to answer the call? 

Let’s see! It’s Covers Night! Which is also Duets Night!

That’s Elettra Lamborghini (yes, that Lamborghini) and Myss Keta.

 Are they in tune? No. Does it matter? ALSO NO.

Meanwhile ... something strange is brewing between Amadeus and Fiorello...

 But wait, PLOT TWIST.

Enter Roberto Benigni.

The beloved actor and director is the latest avatar of the Dionysian frenzy that has chosen Sanremo 2020 for the place of its birth. He is the One who will unite the electric queer mayhem and the impossible grinding tedium  of Sanremo. In him, the two strains will fuse and become unstoppable. He is going to talk about sex for twenty-six minutes

He reads from the Song of Songs, which ... I knew it was sexy, and all, but is it really like that? Do you ever think about NAKED BODIES? Roberto does. Do you believe in PHYSICAL LOVE? Roberto wishes you would. Anyway, just think of all the sex we could all be having, literally right now, right heeeeere, whether we are  “a woman, and her man. Or a man and his man. Or a woman, and her woman!” He is awful. He is magnificent. He is excruciating. He is spellbinding. We are hanging on his every word and we are considering chewing our own arms off to escape. He proposes an orgy in the orchestra pit. 

Hand on heart, all of that happened. Italian Tumblr, bear witness.

And what of Achille Lauro? He unleashed this madness upon us all,  is he just going to sit back and let everyone else do all the work? Of course not. Achille Lauro came to bring not peace, but a sword, to the world of toxic masculinity and gender in general and his work is not yet done.

”I too was once a little girl,” Achille sings.

Dressed as Bowie-as-Ziggy, Achille duets with Annalisa on “Gli Uomini Non Cambiano” - “Men Don’t Change”. It’s a heartbreaking song by Mia Martini from 1992 about male abuse of women, and not a single word, or a single pronoun has been changed.

However, although he’s the one in the competition, and the one dressed to dazzle, he leaves Annalisa the spotlight. It’s like she’s the tortured protagonist of the song and he’s a voice in her head, a sympathetic spirit who can’t swoop in to rescue her but can quietly affirm that she deserves better than the the hellish treatment she’s singing about. in fact, he pointedly stays a step behind her at all times. And she’s majestic. 

Of course, he’s not fucking DONE

He’s still got to sing “Me Ne Frego” again. Can he top the cape-drop? You be the judge.

So Italian Tumblr,  is now writhing on the carpet,  making a sound only bats can hear, and shitposting itself into delirium, but has it all been ENOUGH?

NO.

Poor Rancore has died again. Toxic masculinity still exists. Amadeus is still pretty gross. Everyone is going to have to GAY HARDER. CAN THEY DO IT? This post is, like Sanremo itself, getting insanely long, so ... STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO, in which Fiorello’s true nature as a chaos being is revealed, Amadeus faces his Calvary, and the gun on the stage goes off.  ----- UPDATE: Part 2 is here

[blackkudos]

Al Jarreau

Alwin Lopez "Al" Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American jazz singer. He won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more. He is perhaps best known for his 1981 album Breakin' Away, for having sung the theme song of the late-1980s television series Moonlighting, and as a performer in the 1985 charity song "We Are the World".

Background

Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the fifth of six children. His website refers to Reservoir Avenue, the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-day Adventist Church minister and singer, and his mother was a church pianist. He and his family sang together in church concerts and in benefits, and he and his mother performed at PTA meetings.

He was student council president and Badger Boys State delegate for Lincoln High School. At Boys State, he was elected governor. He went on to attend Ripon College, where he also sang with a group called the Indigos. Jarreau graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. He went on to earn a master's degree in vocational rehabilitation from the University of Iowa, worked as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco, and moonlighted with a jazz trio headed by George Duke.

In 1967, he joined forces with acoustic guitarist Julio Martinez. The duo became the star attraction at a small Sausalito night club called Gatsby's. This success contributed to Jarreau's decision to make professional singing his life and full-time career.

Going full-time

In 1968, Jarreau made jazz his primary occupation. In 1969, Jarreau and Martinez headed south, where Jarreau appeared at such Los Angeles hot spots as Dino's, The Troubadour, and Bitter End West. Television exposure came from Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, and David Frost. He expanded his nightclub appearances performing at The Improv between the acts of such rising-star comics as Bette Midler, Jimmie Walker, and John Belushi. During this period, he became involved with the United Church of Religious Science and the Church of Scientology, but he later dissociated from Scientology. Also, roughly at the same time, he began writing his own lyrics, finding that his Christian spirituality began to influence his work.

In 1975, Jarreau was working with pianist Tom Canning when he was spotted by Warner Bros. Records. On Valentine's Day 1976 he sang on the 13th episode of NBC's new Saturday Night Live hosted, that week by Peter Boyle. Soon thereafter he released his critically acclaimed debut album, We Got By, which catapulted him to international fame and garnered him an Echo Award (the German equivalent of the Grammy's in the United States). A second Echo Award would follow with the release of his second album, Glow.

In 1978, Al won his first U.S. Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for his album, Look To The Rainbow.

One of Jarreau's most commercially successful albums is Breakin' Away (1981), which includes the hit song "We're in This Love Together". He won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Breakin' Away. In 1984, his single "After All" reached 69 on the US Hot 100 chart and number 26 on the R&B chart. It was especially popular in the Philippines. His last big hit was the Grammy-nominated theme to the 1980s American television show Moonlighting, for which he wrote the lyrics. Among other things, he was well known for his extensive use of scat singing, and vocal percussion. He was also a featured vocalist on USA for Africa's "We Are the World" in which he sang the line, "...and so we all must lend a helping hand." Another charitable media event, HBO's Comic Relief, featured Al in a duet with Natalie Cole singing the song "Mr. President", written by Joe Sterling, Mike Loveless and Ray Reach.

Jarreau took an extended break from recording in the 1990s. As he explained in an interview with Jazz Review: "I was still touring, in fact, I toured more than I ever had in the past, so I kept in touch with my audience. I got my symphony program under way, which included my music and that of other people too, and I performed on the Broadway production of Grease. I was busier than ever! For the most part, I was doing what I have always done … perform live. I was shopping for a record deal and was letting people know that there is a new album coming. I was just waiting for the right label (Verve), but I toured more than ever."

In 2003, Jarreau and conductor Larry Baird collaborated on symphony shows around the United States, with Baird arranging additional orchestral material for Jarreau's shows.

Jarreau toured and performed with Joe Sample, Chick Corea, Kathleen Battle, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, Rick Braun, and George Benson. He also performed the role of the Teen Angel in a 1996 Broadway production of Grease. On March 6, 2001, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 7083 Hollywood Boulevard on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.

In 2006, Jarreau appeared in a duet with American Idol finalist Paris Bennett during the Season 5 finale and on Celebrity Duets singing with actor Cheech Marin.

In 2010, Jarreau was a guest on the new Eumir Deodato album, with the song "Double Face" written by Nicolosi/Deodato/Al Jarreau. The song was produced by the Italian company Nicolosi Productions.

On February 16, 2012, he was invited to the famous Italian Festival di Sanremo to sing with the Italian group Matia Bazar.

On February 8, 2017, after being hospitalized for exhaustion, Jarreau cancelled his remaining 2017 tour dates and retired from touring.

Personal life

Jarreau was married twice. His first marriage, to Phyllis Hall, lasted from 1964 to 1968. His second wife was model Susan Elaine Player, whom he married in 1977. Jarreau and Player had one son together, Ryan.

It was reported on July 23, 2010, that Jarreau was critically ill at a hospital in France, while in the area to perform a concert at nearby Barcelonnette, and was being treated for respiratory problems and cardiac arrhythmias. He was taken to the intensive-care unit at Gap late on July 22, 2010. Jarreau was conscious, in a stable condition and in the cardiology unit of La Timone hospital in Marseille, the Marseille Hospital Authority said. He was expected to remain there for about a week for tests. In June 2012, Jarreau was diagnosed with pneumonia, which caused him to cancel several concerts in France. Jarreau made a full recovery and continued to tour extensively until February 2017.

In 2009 children's author Carmen Rubin published the story Ashti Meets Birdman Al, inspired by Jarreau's music. He wrote the foreword for the book and read from it across the world. Al and Carmen worked together to promote literacy and the importance of keeping music alive in children.

Death

After having been hospitalized for exhaustion in Los Angeles, Jarreau died on February 12, 2017, at the age of 76.

Discography

Albums

1975: We Got By (Reprise) US# 209

1976: Glow (Reprise) – US# 132, R&B No. 30, Jazz# 9

1978: All Fly Home (Warner Bros.) – US# 78, R&B# 27, Jazz# 2

1980: This Time (Warner Bros.) – US# 27, R&B# 6, Jazz# 1

1981: Breakin' Away (Warner Bros.) – US# 9, R&B# 1, Jazz# 1, UK# 60

1983: Jarreau (Warner Bros.) – US# 13, R&B# 4, Jazz# 1, UK# 39

1984: High Crime (Warner Bros.) – US# 49, R&B# 12, Jazz# 2, UK# 81

1986: L Is for Lover (Warner Bros.) – US# 81, R&B# 30, Jazz# 9, UK# 45

1988: Heart's Horizon (Reprise) – US# 75, R&B# 10, Jazz# 1

1992: Heaven and Earth (Warner Bros.) – US# 105, R&B# 30, Jazz# 2

2000: Tomorrow Today (Verve) – US# 137, R&B# 43, Jazz# 1

2002: All I Got (Verve) – US# 137, R&B# 43, Jazz# 3

2004: Accentuate the Positive (Verve) - Jazz# 6

2006: Givin' It Up (with George Benson) (Concord) – US# 58, R&B# 14, Jazz# 1

2008: Christmas (Rhino) - Jazz# 5

2014: My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke (Concord)

Live albums

1977: Look to the Rainbow (Warner Bros.) – US# 49, R&B# 19, Jazz# 5

1984: In London (Warner Bros.) – US# 125, R&B# 55, Jazz# 10. Sometimes titled Live in London.

1994: Tenderness (Warner Bros.) US# 114, R&B# 25, Jazz# 2. Recorded live in a studio in front of an invited audience.

2012: Al Jarreau and The Metropole Orkest: LIVE (Concord)

2011: Al Jarreau And The George Duke Trio: Live At The Half/Note 1965, Volume 1 (BPM Records) Originally offered exclusively at georgeduke.com.

Compilations

1996: Best Of Al Jarreau (Warner Bros.) – Jazz No. 8

2008: Love Songs (Rhino)

2009: An Excellent Adventure: The Very Best Of Al Jarreau (Rhino) (This compilation holds one previously unreleased track: "Excellent Adventure")

Early material recorded before 1974

After Jarreau's breakthrough in 1975 an almost uncountable number of compilations of earlier recordings from 1965 to 1973 have emerged, including some or all of the following songs:

Songs by various composers

"My Favorite Things" (5:02, Hammerstein, Rodgers)

"Stockholm Sweetnin'" (5:50, Jones)

"A Sleepin' Bee" (5:52, Arlen, Capote)

"The Masquerade Is Over" (6:34, Magidson, Wrubel)

"Sophisticated Lady" (4:14, Ellington, Mills, Parish)

"Joey, Joey, Joey" (3:42, Loesser)

Singles

1976: "Rainbow in Your Eyes" – R&B No. 92

1977: "Take Five" – R&B No. 91

1978: "Thinkin' About It Too" – R&B No. 55

1980: "Distracted" – R&B No. 61

1980: "Gimme What You Got" – R&B No. 63

1980: "Never Givin' Up" – R&B No. 26

1981: "We're in This Love Together" – US No. 15, R&B No. 6, UK No. 55

1982: "Breakin' Away" – US No. 43, R&B No. 25

1982: "Teach Me Tonight" – US No. 70, R&B No. 51

1982: "Your Precious Love", duet with Randy Crawford – R&B No. 16

1982: "Roof Garden" - NL No. 2

1983: "Boogie Down" – US No. 77, R&B No. 9, UK No. 63, NL No. 14

1983: "Mornin'" – US No. 21, R&B No. 6, UK No. 28, NL No. 16

1983: "Trouble in Paradise" – US No. 63, R&B No. 66, UK No. 36

1984: "After All" – US No. 69, R&B No. 26

1985: "Raging Waters" – R&B No. 42

1986: "L Is for Lover" – R&B No. 42

1986: "Tell Me What I Gotta Do" – R&B No. 37

1986: "The Music of Goodbye" (from Out Of Africa), duet with Melissa Manchester – AC No. 16

1987: "Moonlighting (theme)" (from Moonlighting) – US No. 23, R&B No. 32, UK No. 8, AC#1

1988: "So Good" R&B No. 2

1989: "All of My Love" – R&B No. 69

1989: "All or Nothing at All" – R&B No. 59

1992: "Blue Angel" – R&B No. 74

1992: "It's Not Hard to Love You" – R&B No. 36

2001: "In My Music" (with Phife Dawg)

Soundtrack inclusions

1982: "Girls Know How", in the film Night Shift (Warner Bros)

1984: "Moonlighting (theme)" and "Since I Fell for You", in the television show Moonlighting (Universal)

1984: "Boogie Down", in the film Breakin' (Warner Bros)

1986: "The Music of Goodbye", duet with Melissa Manchester, in the film Out of Africa (MCA Records)

1989: "Never Explain Love", in the film Do the Right Thing (Motown)

1992: "Blue Skies", in the film Glengarry Glen Ross (New Line Cinema)

1984: "Million Dollar Baby", in the film City Heat (Warner Bros)

Guest appearances

1978: "Hot News Blues" from Secret Agent/Chick Corea (Polydor)

1979: "Little Sunflower" from The Love Connection/Freddie Hubbard (Columbia)

1983: "Bet Cha Say That to All the Girls" from Bet Cha Say That to All the Girls/Sister Sledge (Cotillion)

1985: "We Are the World" from We Are the World/USA for Africa (Columbia) US No. 1, R&B No. 1 UK No. 1

1986: "Since I Fell for You" from Double Vision/Bob James & David Sanborn (Warner Bros.)

1987: "Day by Day" from City Rhythms/Shakatak

1997: "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" from Doky Brothers 2/Chris Minh Doky/Niels Lan Doky (Blue Note Records)

1997: "Girl from Ipanema" and "Waters of March" from A Twist of Jobim/Lee Ritenour (GRP)

2010: "Whisper Not" from New Time, New Tet/Benny Golson (Concord Jazz)

1974: "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" from Body Heat/Quincy Jones (A&M) (Jarreau provides background scat and vocal percussion.)

Wikipedia

[pyro-jujufire]

PART TWO IS FINALLY HERE

EXPLAINING SANREMO

(PART TWO) I am back. I have barely eaten or slept and Tumblr has tried to murder me and this post multiple times, but I have survived. Thank you for your patience.

Part One of my attempt to explain the seismic experience that is 2020 Sanremo Festival of Italian Song is here. 

Ready? I assure you, you are not, but let’s proceed. So Sanremo rages pitilessly on.  Now everyone knows what’s at stake, and everyone, including your humble recapper, is exhausted, but doing the gay/chaotic best they can.

As the final battle to save Amadeus, Rancore, Italy and THE WORLD approaches, Achille Lauro has a last message for the troops. And I’m not deducing this, he literally said it on Twitter. 

…Hold me I’m scared.

Meanwhile (sort of) (go with it) (time isn’t real at Sanremo)  a minor drama  has occurred offstage. Singer Tiziano Ferro made an ill-advised joke about Fiorello’s interminable comedy bits, some idiots on Twitter ran away with it, and poor Fiorello was upset! This is minuscule in Sanremo terms. But consider the flapping of a butterfly’s wings. Consider hurricanes. But who is Tiziano Ferro?

Hold on. We’ll get to it. For now …

Fiorello is dancing seductively for an absolutely delighted Amadeus while dressed as a rabbit. And wearing a blonde wig. Is there a rational explanation for this? I mean, sort of. But also no.

And then he worries Amadeus might give him herpes, which causes Amadeus to freaking snap.

“No, no!” yells the mercurial Fiorello. Amadeus isn’t worthy of his kisses yet. He ricochets out of Amadeus’s arms and into the audience and “passes on” the kiss to a guy in the front row. 

“Incredible things are going to happen tonight!” yells Amadeus, who has no fucking idea. ”Beautiful things,” corrects Fiorello. 

But just because Fiorello is a mayhem elemental on a mission of love doesn’t mean he hasn’t got feelings. 

Enter Italy’s sweetheart, Tiziano Ferro.

Actually, Tiziano’s been there all along. He’s the specialest of special guests, singing through basically his entire back catalogue every night. Which why it really was unfair of him to pick on Fiorello –   it’s not his fault he’s literally got to stand there and babble nonsense for aeons on end, Tiziano! He’s just serving the hungry chthonic entity that is Sanremo, same as you.  

While the gay mayhem (the gayhem, if you will) surges around him, Tiziano  has been fighting the good gay fight in his own steadfast way, so far untouched. His mere presence is a message of hope in itself, he knows this, and is determined to make it count. Ten years ago he was closeted, convinced coming out would end his career, and suicidal. Now happily married and gloriously successful, he is here to demonstrate that “it gets better”. He radiates such wholesome joy and resilience that everyone loves him.

So anyway, Tiziano didn’t mean to hurt anybody because he would never, and now he wants to make things right. So will Fiorello forgive him?

Ah, what better gesture of reconciliation than to goofily sing a  love song written by Fiorello himself. Of course Fiorello forgives Tiziano, because Fiorello loves everyone, good and bad, (after all he loves Amadeus the most). But he is also a chaos being, and he is working harder than anyone else to channel the divine madness of this deranged Sanremo Festival into anyone who gets close. Tiziano, watch out!

Seems TIziano naively thought he could lean in for a staged, nearly kiss, but  Fiorello’s very soul is antithetical to “nearly” anything.

“My husband’s going to divorce me!”  wails poor Tiziano, but Fiorello has never felt so alive. This is Sanremo, bitches. Rules like “sixty-year-old men can’t be danger twinks, Fiorello,” have ceased to apply. He is an apostle of Achille Lauro, he has accepted the sermon of Benigni into his heart: it is time for PHYSICAL LOVE. While not quite ready (yet) to fuck everyone in the orchestra pit, he is throbbing with readiness, to frolic all over the theatre giving all the guys he can get his hands on THE KISSES OF HIS MOUTH.

Naturally this sparks further firestorms of chaos. “Do it again!” begs grizzled rocker and high-ranking competitor Piero Pelù. Electrified by the touch of Fiorello’s lips, he is later to be found running shirtless through the auditorium where he steals a handbag.

Everyone is kissing everyone, age and orientation be damned. Summoned by the gay sorcery unfolding, 65-year-old queer rock goddess Gianna Nanini manifests and is kissed worshipfully on the lips by 36-year-old duet partner Coez.

There’s also some kind of song competition going on I guess. 

This happens:

That’s Ghali, GUYS, IT’S NOT WORKING, rappers ARE DROPPING LIKE FLIES ALL OVER THIS STAGE, WE’VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING.

(…  it isn’t really Ghali and don’t worry. This is a gag? Which I still don’t really get? And nor does sweet anarchist cherub Fiorello whom we will later discover is currently being physically restrained from rushing onstage to tend to the fallen rapper’s wounds.)

The real Ghali raps in Arabic which among other things is a big old “me ne frego” of his own to Italian Trump-tribute act and failed wannabe prime minister Matteo Salvini. Then he gets close to Fiorello, which can only end one way.

All the boys are crazy for Fiorello’s kisses but Amadeus still can’t have any

It’s already a difficult night for Amadeus.  TV presenter Antonella Clerici enters and far from standing a step beside him, righteously rips the piss out of him, which to be fair he accepts with grace.

And as for Achille Lauro … …No.  Patience. The time to bear witness to the last stand of Achille Lauro is not yet come. There are other forces stirring at Sanremo.

Chaos has its dark side.

The gun on stage is cocked and loaded. This is it. ENTER MORGAN.

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