Claudio Villa (born Claudio Pica; 1 January 1926 – 7 February 1987) was an Italian singer and actor.
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Claudio Villa | |
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Born | Claudio Pica (1926-01-01)1 January 1926 Rome, Italy |
Died | 7 February 1987(1987-02-07) (aged 61) Padua, Italy |
Occupation | Singer, operatic tenor, actor |
Years active | 1932–1987 |
Height | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) |
Spouses | Miranda Bonansea
(m. 1952; div. 1962)Patrizia Baldi (m. 1975) |
Tenor Claudio Villa was born Claudio Pica in the Trastevere quarter of Rome in 1926. He recorded over 3000 songs, sold 45 million records, and appeared in 25 musicals during his career.[1][2]
His parents gave him the name "Claudio" in honor of Claudio Serio. Many songs made famous by Villa, like "'A Tazza 'E Cafe'," were recorded for the Fonit Cetra label.
Villa died in 1987; on his gravestone are the words "Vita sei bella, morte fai schifo" ("Life, you are fine; death, you stink").
Together with Domenico Modugno Villa holds the record for the most wins at the Sanremo Music Festival, where he won the competition in 1955, 1957, 1962 and 1967. In 1963 he won the Festival di Napoli with the song "Jamme ja". He also sang at another Italian music competition, Canzonissima, a television event shown on RAI from 1956 to 1974. He won Canzonissima in 1964 with "O sole mio" and in 1966 with "Granada". He competed in the Eurovision Song Contest: in 1962 he sang "Addio, addio" and came in ninth; in 1967 he sang "Non andare più lontano", finishing eleventh.[2][3]
In 1957, he was subjected to a curious trial by the Sorrisi e Canzoni magazine, after his declaration deemed presumptuous and immodest (the famous phrase of the "pedestal"), in which the public was asked to vote for guilt or acquittal. He will be acquitted. The same procedure will be repeated in 1960, and from the pages of the magazine he will receive a defensive harangue by Pier Paolo Pasolini, who will take sides for the singer's acquittal. He will be acquitted with the vote of 138,225 readers.[4]
His death in 1987 by a heart attack was announced live by host Pippo Baudo during the last night of that year's Sanremo Festival.[2][3] His tomb, surrounded by bas-relief and wall-paintings made in occasion of 20th anniversary of death, is located in San Sebastiano cemetery in Rocca di Papa, near Rome, where he lived for many years with his family.
The singer was largely unknown in North America until the 1996 film Big Night was released, co-directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott. The film won international acclaim. The soundtrack includes three Claudio Villa songs: "Stornelli Amorosi", "La Strada Del Bosco" and "Tic Ti, Tic Ta". According to the liner notes accompanying the CD, "Stanley grew up listening to vocalists such as Carlo Buti and Claudio Villa, huge names in Italy but little known here. Villa is a master of the stornello, a traditional song style that we thought had just the right, delicate feeling for the film's opening. But we and co-director Campbell Scott were further amazed by Villa when in the editing room, we chanced upon his boisterous "Tic Ti, Tic Ta" and his shamelessly romantic "La Strada del Bosco".[5]
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Eurovision Song Contest 1967 | |
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1950s | Nilla Pizzi ("Grazie dei fiori") · Nilla Pizzi ("Vola colomba") · Carla Boni / Flo Sandon's ("Viale d'autunno") · Giorgio Consolini / Gino Latilla ("Tutte le mamme") · Claudio Villa / Tullio Pane ("Buongiorno tristezza") · Franca Raimondi ("Aprite le finestre") · Claudio Villa / Nunzio Gallo ("Corde della mia chitarra") · Domenico Modugno / Johnny Dorelli ("Nel blu, dipinto di blu") · Domenico Modugno / Johnny Dorelli ("Piove (Ciao, ciao bambina)") |
1960s | Tony Dallara / Renato Rascel ("Romantica") · Betty Curtis / Luciano Tajoli ("Al di là") · Domenico Modugno / Claudio Villa ("Addio, addio") · Tony Renis / Emilio Pericoli ("Uno per tutte") · Gigliola Cinquetti / Patricia Carli ("Non ho l'età") · Bobby Solo / The New Christy Minstrels ("Se piangi, se ridi") · Domenico Modugno / Gigliola Cinquetti ("Dio, come ti amo") · Claudio Villa / Iva Zanicchi ("Non pensare a me") · Sergio Endrigo / Roberto Carlos ("Canzone per te") · Bobby Solo / Iva Zanicchi ("Zingara") |
1970s | Adriano Celentano / Claudia Mori ("Chi non lavora non fa l'amore") · Nada / Nicola Di Bari ("Il cuore è uno zingaro") · Nicola Di Bari ("I giorni dell'arcobaleno") · Peppino di Capri ("Un grande amore e niente più") · Iva Zanicchi ("Ciao cara come stai?") · Gilda ("Ragazza del sud") · Peppino di Capri ("Non lo faccio più") · Homo Sapiens ("Bella da morire") · Matia Bazar ("E dirsi ciao") · Mino Vergnaghi ("Amare") |
1980s | Toto Cutugno ("Solo noi") · Alice ("Per Elisa") · Riccardo Fogli ("Storie di tutti i giorni") · Tiziana Rivale ("Sarà quel che sarà") · Al Bano and Romina Power ("Ci sarà") · Ricchi e Poveri ("Se m'innamoro") · Eros Ramazzotti ("Adesso tu") · Gianni Morandi, Umberto Tozzi and Enrico Ruggeri ("Si può dare di più") · Massimo Ranieri ("Perdere l'amore") · Anna Oxa and Fausto Leali ("Ti lascerò") |
1990s | Pooh ("Uomini soli") · Riccardo Cocciante ("Se stiamo insieme") · Luca Barbarossa ("Portami a ballare") · Enrico Ruggeri ("Mistero") · Aleandro Baldi ("Passerà") · Giorgia ("Come saprei") · Ron and Tosca ("Vorrei incontrarti fra cent'anni") · Jalisse ("Fiumi di parole") · Annalisa Minetti ("Senza te o con te") · Anna Oxa ("Senza pietà") |
2000s | Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel ("Sentimento") · Elisa ("Luce (Tramonti a nord est)") · Matia Bazar ("Messaggio d'amore") · Alexia ("Per dire di no") · Marco Masini ("L'uomo volante") · Francesco Renga ("Angelo") · Povia ("Vorrei avere il becco") · Simone Cristicchi ("Ti regalerò una rosa") · Giò Di Tonno and Lola Ponce ("Colpo di fulmine") · Marco Carta ("La forza mia") |
2010s | Valerio Scanu ("Per tutte le volte che...") · Roberto Vecchioni ("Chiamami ancora amore") · Emma Marrone ("Non è l'inferno) · Marco Mengoni ("L'essenziale") · Arisa ("Controvento") · Il Volo ("Grande amore") · Stadio ("Un giorno mi dirai") · Francesco Gabbani ("Occidentali's Karma") · Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro ("Non mi avete fatto niente") · Mahmood ("Soldi") |
2020s |
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