Nessun grado di separazione

"Nessun grado di separazione" (Italian pronunciation: [nesˌsuŋ ˈɡraːdo di separatˈtsjoːne]; English: No degree of separation) is a song recorded by Italian singer Francesca Michielin. Written by Michielin herself along with Cheope, Federica Abbate and Fabio Gargiulo; the song was produced by Michele Canova. Placed second in the Sanremo Music Festival 2016, the song released as a single from the reissued version of Michielin's second studio album, di20are.^[1][2] A bilingual English and Italian version of the song called "No Degree of Separation" represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden.^[3]

"Nessun grado di separazione"
Single by Francesca Michielin
from the album di20are
Released	11 February 2016
Recorded	2015
Genre	Pop
Length	3:39
Label	Sony Music Italy
Songwriter(s)	Cheope Fabio Gargiulo Federica Abbate Francesca Michielin
Producer(s)	Michele Canova
Francesca Michielin singles chronology
"Lontano" (2015) "Nessun grado di separazione" (2016) "Un cuore in due" (2016)
Cover of the Eurovision version
Music video
"Nessun grado di separazione" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 entry
Country	Italy
Artist(s)	Francesca Michielin
Languages	Italian, English
Composer(s)	Cheope Fabio Gargiulo Federica Abbate
Lyricist(s)	Federica Abbate Francesca Michielin Norma Jean Martine
Finals performance
Final result	16th
Final points	124
Entry chronology
◄ "Grande amore" (2015)
"Occidentali's Karma" (2017) ►

Composition and recording

Michielin explained the lyrical content of "Nessun grado di separazione" in several interviews, claiming that the song is inspired by the six degrees of separation theory and contains the message that, "despite all of the cultural differences, there shouldn't be distances between people". Particularly, the composition's verses, biographical and introspective, tell the story of "a girl who lives in a drawer [...] together with all her crumpled dreams, and who, at a certain point, finds the courage to come out from that shelter to face the true life", with the will to open herself to the outside world, overcoming fears and preconceptions.^[4][5]

Michielin also added that she recorded background vocals for the track on the same day of the November 2015 Paris attacks, therefore she was furthermore inspired to reflect on the song's lyrics and on "all the barriers that exist between people, while the truth is that we are all human beings with dreams and hopes".^[6]

Sanremo Music Festival and Eurovision Song Contest

On 13 December 2015, during Massimo Giletti's TV show L'arena, Carlo Conti announced the list of performers and songs selected to compete in the 66th Sanremo Music Festival, which included Francesca Michielin's "Nessun grado di separazione".^[7] Michielin performed the song for the first time at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo during the second evening of the show, on 10 February 2016.^[8] The song placed second in the competition, behind Stadio's "Un giorno mi dirai".^[9] The band was then eligible to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, but they declined, stating they would be on a previously planned tour in May 2016. Their decision led RAI to select Michielin as the Italian entry for the 61st edition of the European competition.^[10][11] On 14 March 2016, a bilingual version of "Nessun grado di separazione", titled "No Degree of Separation", was announced as Michielin's entry for the contest. This version is entirely in Italian, except for the last chorus, which was adapted in English by American songwriter Norma Jean Martine;^[12] the track also has a different arrangement. Michielin performed this version for the first time on 22 March 2016, during the Web show Webnotte, streamed live by la Repubblica's website.^[13][14] Since Italy is part of the "Big 5", Michielin automatically qualified to compete in the final on 14 May 2016, where she placed 16th with 124 points.

Media appearances

In 2020, the song was featured on the soundtrack of the miniseries We Are Who We Are, directed by Luca Guadagnino.^[15]

Track listing

Digital download

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Nessun grado di separazione"	3:39

Eurovision version

No.	Title	Length
1.	"No Degree of Separation"	3:08

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Italy (FIMI)^[16]	1
San Marino (RTV)^[17]	4
Sweden Heatseekers (Sverigetopplistan)^[18]	6

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)^[19]	2× Platinum	100,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref
Italy	11 February 2016	Digital download	RCA (Sony Music Italy)	^[1]
		Mainstream radio		^[20]

References

1. . Sony Music Italy (in Italian). 11 February 2016. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
2. Maffioletti, Chiara (14 February 2016). (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
3. "Eurovision 2016: Nessun grado di separazione sarà in italiano e inglese" (in Italian). 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
4. Raffaella Oliva (7 January 2016). . Io Donna (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
5. Fabrizio Finamore (25 February 2016). . Il Tempo (in Italian). Archived from the original on 26 February 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
6. Massimo Longoni (15 February 2016). "Francesca Michielin: Sono uscita dalla scatola e adesso mi apro al mondo". TGCOM (in Italian). Mediaset. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
7. . TV Sorrisi e Canzoni (in Italian). 13 December 2015. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
8. "Festival di Sanremo 2016, scaletta seconda serata: cantanti e ospiti (Eros Ramazzotti, Ellie Goulding e Nicole Kidman)". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 10 February 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
9. Alessandra Vitale (14 February 2016). "Sanremo, trionfo Stadio, seconda Michielin, terzi Caccamo&Iurato". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 14 February 2016.
10. "Francesca Michielin to represent Italy!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
11. (in Italian). Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana. 15 February 2016. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
12. Christian Scarpone (14 March 2016). "Francesca Michielin: all'Eurovision con "No Degree of Separation" (in Italian). AllMusicItalia.it. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
13. "Eurovision 2016: Francesca Michielin, ecco No Degree Of Separation" (in Italian). MTV News. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
14. Matteo Quinzi (22 March 2016). "L'APPUNTAMENTO Canzoni per la pace a Webnotte. E i live di Porter e Michielin". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 24 March 2016.
15. Josh St. Clair (6 October 2020). "The Complete Soundtrack to HBO's We Are Who We Are". Men's Health.
16. Rosa D'Ettore (19 February 2016). . International Business Times (in Italian). Archived from the original on 19 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
17. San Marino Airplay Chart 2017-03-13 at the Wayback Machine April 16, 2016
18. Retrieved 13 May 2016
19. "Italian single certifications – Francesca Michielin – Nessun grado di separazione" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 10 April 2017. Select "2016" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Nessun grado di separazione" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
20. Eleonora Romanò (11 February 2016). "Francesca Michielin – Nessun grado di separazione". EarOne.it. Retrieved 23 March 2016.