During the preview programmes, Cinquetti sang the song alone in a dark room. The music video was broadcast in black and white as RAI did not move to full color broadcasts until 1977. On the contest night, Cinquetti performed the ballad in a blue dress, accompanied by an orchestra and four teenage female backup singers, dressed in light yellow blouses and autumnal floral skirts. The song is sung in the first person where she reflects and describes her love for a man, and the exhilaration she feels when she finally says "yes" to him, which signifies that they can start the rest of their lives together. Throughout the song, the word "sì" is repeated sixteen times.
Under the scoring system of the time, each country had ten jurors, each of whom allocated one point to the song which they deemed to be the best. "Sì" received 18 votes in this manner, including 5 from the United Kingdom, 4 from Monaco, 2 each from Finland and Spain, and single votes from Israel, Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland.[2] It was Italy's second best result to date, with Cinquetti having won the contest with "Non ho l'età" ten years earlier.[2][3]
Cinquetti later recorded versions in English ("Go (Before You Break My Heart)"), French ("Lui"), German ("Ja") and Spanish ("Sí"), which were released across Europe. A Finnish rendering, "Niin", was recorded by Lea Laven and became a Top Ten hit in Finland.
Censorship of song in 1974edit
The live telecast of the song was banned in her home country by the Italian national broadcaster RAI as the event partially coincided with the campaigning for the 1974 Italian referendum on divorce which was held a month later in May.[2]
RAI censored the song due to concerns the name and lyrics of the song (which constantly repeated the word "SI") could be accused of being a subliminal message and a form of propaganda to influence the Italian voting public to vote "YES" in the referendum. The song remained censored on most Italian state TV and radio stations for over a month. As a consequence, the song failed to enter the Top 40 chart in Italy, and still remains one of the lesser known Eurovision entries in the country. As opposed to "Non ho l'età", "Sì" also failed to make a significant impact on the charts in Continental Europe and Scandinavia – with one notable exception: the English version "Go (Before You Break My Heart)" reached eighth position in the British charts in June 1974 (with the Spanish version on the B-side), making it one of the very few non-winning Eurovision entries to become a commercial success in the UK.[4]
Chartsedit
Chart (1974)
Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] Italian-language version
^"Charts Vlaanderen - Gigliola Cinquetti - Si" (in Dutch). Ultratop.
^ (in German). Charts.de. Media Control. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014.
^ (in German). Charts.de. Media Control. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014.
^"The Official Charts Company - Gigliola Cinquetti - Go". officialcharts.com.
External linksedit
December 12, 2023
gigliola, cinquetti, song, similarly, titled, songs, disambiguation, music, name, italian, entry, eurovision, song, contest, 1974, which, finished, second, behind, sweden, entry, waterloo, sung, abba, eurovision, song, contest, 1974, entrycountryitalyartist, g. For similarly titled songs see Si disambiguation Music Si Yes is the name of the Italian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 which finished second behind the Sweden entry Waterloo sung by ABBA Si Eurovision Song Contest 1974 entryCountryItalyArtist s Gigliola CinquettiLanguageItalianComposer s Mario PanzeriDaniele PaceLorenzo PilatCorrado ContiLyricist s Mario PanzeriDaniele PaceLorenzo PilatCorrado ContiConductorGianfranco MonaldiFinals performanceFinal result2ndFinal points18Entry chronology Chi sara con te 1973 Era 1975 Contents 1 Background 2 Censorship of song in 1974 3 Charts 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksBackground editThe lyrics and musics were written by Mario Panzeri Daniele Pace Lorenzo Pilat and Corrado Conti It was sung in Italian by Gigliola Cinquetti During the preview programmes Cinquetti sang the song alone in a dark room The music video was broadcast in black and white as RAI did not move to full color broadcasts until 1977 On the contest night Cinquetti performed the ballad in a blue dress accompanied by an orchestra and four teenage female backup singers dressed in light yellow blouses and autumnal floral skirts The song is sung in the first person where she reflects and describes her love for a man and the exhilaration she feels when she finally says yes to him which signifies that they can start the rest of their lives together Throughout the song the word si is repeated sixteen times It was the seventeenth and final song of the evening following Portugal s E depois do adeus which would later be used as a signal in Portugal to begin the Carnation Revolution 1 2 Under the scoring system of the time each country had ten jurors each of whom allocated one point to the song which they deemed to be the best Si received 18 votes in this manner including 5 from the United Kingdom 4 from Monaco 2 each from Finland and Spain and single votes from Israel Luxembourg Belgium Ireland 2 It was Italy s second best result to date with Cinquetti having won the contest with Non ho l eta ten years earlier 2 3 Cinquetti later recorded versions in English Go Before You Break My Heart French Lui German Ja and Spanish Si which were released across Europe A Finnish rendering Niin was recorded by Lea Laven and became a Top Ten hit in Finland Censorship of song in 1974 editThe live telecast of the song was banned in her home country by the Italian national broadcaster RAI as the event partially coincided with the campaigning for the 1974 Italian referendum on divorce which was held a month later in May 2 RAI censored the song due to concerns the name and lyrics of the song which constantly repeated the word SI could be accused of being a subliminal message and a form of propaganda to influence the Italian voting public to vote YES in the referendum The song remained censored on most Italian state TV and radio stations for over a month As a consequence the song failed to enter the Top 40 chart in Italy and still remains one of the lesser known Eurovision entries in the country As opposed to Non ho l eta Si also failed to make a significant impact on the charts in Continental Europe and Scandinavia with one notable exception the English version Go Before You Break My Heart reached eighth position in the British charts in June 1974 with the Spanish version on the B side making it one of the very few non winning Eurovision entries to become a commercial success in the UK 4 Charts editChart 1974 PeakpositionBelgium Ultratop 50 Flanders 5 Italian language version 30Germany Media Control AG 6 Italian language version 13Germany Media Control AG 7 German language version 45UK Singles Official Charts Company 8 English language version 8See also editEurovision Song Contest 1974 Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest Eurovision Song ContestReferences edit ESCtoday com Eurovision Song Contest 1974 a b c d O Connor John Kennedy The Eurovision Song Contest The Official History Carlton Books UK 2007 ISBN 978 1 84442 994 3 Eurovision Song Contest Voting by year ESCtoday com song info Si Charts Vlaanderen Gigliola Cinquetti Si in Dutch Ultratop Single Gigliola Cinquetti Si in German Charts de Media Control Archived from the original on November 1 2014 Single Gigliola Cinquetti Ja in German Charts de Media Control Archived from the original on November 1 2014 The Official Charts Company Gigliola Cinquetti Go officialcharts com External links editLyrics Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Si Gigliola Cinquetti song amp oldid 1176830731, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
