STAGE TUBE: Controvento (Acoustic/Gospel Male Cover by Flavio Gismondi)

If there's one thing we have in abundance in Italy, it's Talent... with a capital T. Two months ago we put you before the cover of Let It Go by Daniele Carta Mantiglia (here). Today we present a male cover of the song that won the Sanremo Music Festival, the annual celebration of Italian song. We're talking about Controvento, the song that brought Arisa on the top step of the podium.

Voice, arrangement and vocals are by Flavio Gismondi, a young Italian singer and actor who recently starred as Moritz in the Italian production of SPRING AWAKENING.

Enjoy this beautiful acoustic version featuring some inspired gospel nuances, but remember to check out the original here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPrKYs2iDKQ

The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo (in English: Sanremo Italian song festival) is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs. Usually referred to as Festival di Sanremo, or outside Italy as Sanremo Music Festival, it was the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest.

The first edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, held between 29 and 31 January 1951, was broadcast by RAI's radio station Rete Rossa and its only two participants were Nilla Pizzi and Achille Togliani, supported by Duo Fasano. Starting from 1955 all the editions of the Festival have been broadcast live by the Italian TV station Rai 1.

From 1951 to 1976, the Festival took place in the Sanremo Casinò, but starting from 1977, all the following editions were held in the Teatro Ariston, except 1990's one, held at the Nuovo Mercato dei Fiori.

The festival has been used as the way of choosing the Italian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest from 1956 to 1966, in 1972, 1997,2011, 2012 and 2013. It has also launched the careers of many very famous Italian singers, including Andrea Bocelli, Paola e Chiara, Giorgia, Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti, and Gigliola Cinquetti.

(source: Wikipedia)

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