Italian Song Challenge Day 10: Mahmood

https://youtu.be/22lISUXgSUw Egyptian born Alessandro Mahmoud Italian singer became known while competing in the sixth season of The X Factor. In 2018 he was selected to participate in Sanremo Giovani as a newcomer and his song Gioventu bruciata (Burnt Youth) won a special critics award. Mahmood is the first openly Muslim contemporary rapper to hit the…

Italian Song Challenge Day 9: Malika Ayane

https://youtu.be/c9d2GAck6bA Malika Ayane grew up in a multi-ethnic suburb of Milan, with a Moroccan father and Italian mother. She is a classically trained singer and musician. In 1995 she joined the White Voices Choir at the Teatro La Scala where she sang for seven years. She also studied cello at the Giuseppe Verdi music conservatory…

Italian Song challenge Day 8: Achille Lauro

https://youtu.be/uS8Hk8aoLZY Achille Lauro is quite a controversial figure in Italian music, a former drug dealer he burst onto the scene through the 2019 Sanremo song contest with this song Rolls Royce. The song quotes the names of several famous people who have died from drug overdoses like Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, Maralyn Monroe and Jimmy…

Italian Song Challenge Day 7: Cesare Cremonini

https://youtu.be/1pRPXIC4Vtk Cesare Cremonini is an Italian singer-songwriter and actor. He was the lead singer a successful pop band called Lunapop between 1999 and 2002. After the band broke up, he pursued a solo career and hasn’t looked back since. Cremonini is a gifted musician, songwriter and pianist. He has a quirky, conversational style with a…

Italian Song Challenge Day 6: Marco Mengoni

https://youtu.be/DM_h_rx6WtE Marco Megnoni’s mesmerising falsetto voice exploded onto the Italian pop scene in 2009 after he won the third edition of X Factor Italy. Since then he has sold over 2,8 million albums. He has participated twice in the Italian San Remo song contest, winning the competition on his second turn in 2013 with his…

Italian Song Challenge Day 4: Levante

https://youtu.be/XNGL_5N4_ZU Claudia Lagona, better known as Levante, is an Italian singer-songwriter, writer and model. She became famous in the 2010s after recording four albums with successful singles and collaborations with other Italian singers. She wrote and sung with the likes of Gianni Morandi, Irene Grande, Max Gazze, the Kolors, Tiziano Ferro and Carmen Consoli. In…

Italian Song Challenge Day 3: Jovanotti

https://youtu.be/uvngBmhlI1o Italian singer-songwriter and rapper Jovanotti (real name Lorenzo Cherubini) has been a part of the Italian music scene since the late 1980s. His early music was a mixture of hip hop, rap and disco which was immensely popular. After sixteen studio and remix albums, his style has evolved and embodies elements of funk, world…

Italian Song Challenge Day 2: Gianni Morandi

https://youtu.be/O5Q_uHsqIfI Gianni Morandi is an Italian pop culture icon. He began his career as a clean-cut baby faced pop-rock artist in the ’60s and has never stopped performing or collaborating since. Throughout his career, he has sold more than 50 million records. Italian’s love his energetic, down to earth personality and some of his songs…

Italian Song Challenge Day 1: Rino Gaetano

https://youtu.be/XB3TfBXUOKw This song is literally a classic of Italian pop. Whenever it is heard on the radio, it’s the kind of song that will result in an immediate singalong. Everyone knows and loves this anthem to positivity and is beloved tune dedicated to the Italian nature of seeing the positive despite any setbacks in life.…

A little music therapy during lockdown in Sicily

Of all the tools I have used to help me through this challenging lockdown time in Italy apart from friends and family, has been music. Music, with its unique kind of magic and, has been the one thing that has really helped to lift my spirits. After endless restless nights filled with fears, nightmares and…

A walk to the fig tree

In the summer Sicilian’s become like frugivorous animals living off the fruits produced by their gardens. So my husband, son and I are obliged to take a walk to the fig tree to gather up its bounty. The only problem is the tree is hidden deep below a steep precipice behind overgrown bushes and prickly…

Making your own Dolce Vita

The #dolcevitabloggers have chosen to explore the concept of the Dolce Vita in Italy. There is a fine line between loving and visiting the bel paese as a tourist and the reality of living here, in the search for your own personal sweet life. So cheers to Kelly from italianatheart.com, Jasmine from questadolcevita.com and Kristie of mammaprada.com for choosing…

The imagery of Italian language

The Italian language is so visual, it has an ability to take an image or object and use it as a metaphor for a something much greater than itself. In English it would be akin to the literary term metonymy (from the Greek change of name) which is the term for one thing as applied…

Sicilian Mountain Lessons

I’ve always been challenged by the mountainous landscape in Sicily. The boundless slopes disorient me, I have problems finding my bearings and the horizon is blocked out by them. When I go hiking down steep hillsides I am constantly holding on for dear life, grappling white-knuckled onto the flimsiest blade of grass. I’ve lost count…

Shifting family trees: Australia and being a foreigner in Sicily

Suburban Perth Western Australia has always been a dull place, the most isolated capital of the world it exists in a bubble of reclusiveness, its inhabitants toiling away from the rest of the world trying to lead a beautiful and idealistic life filled with sunshine and wealth. My Grandparents migrating from Sicily in the 1950’s…