Information AboutElisa |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ELISA | |
| 1977 births | |
| italian singers | |
| english-language singers | |
| italian-language singers | |
| living people | |
| people from friuli-venezia giulia | |
| people from the province of gorizia | |
Elisa (born Elisa Toffoli on 19 December , 1977 ) is an Italian singer and solo artist, writing and performing within several genres, notably Rock , Blues , Soul and ambient. Her voice is considered one of the best of the Italian music scene, particularly recognisable by her frequent use of her high pitched Head Voice . She is also the only major Italian singer to write and record songs in English . EARLY LIFE Born in Monfalcone , in the Province Of Gorizia (north-eastern Italy ), Elisa expressed early on a great artistic ability in dancing, painting, reciting and the writing of stories. Her love for art grew with poems of Rudyard Kipling and the lyrics of Jim Morrison of The Doors , but her talent is best expressed in music. Her song-writing dates back to the age of 11. At 15 she appeared in a televised karaoke program. 16 years old she met Caterina Caselli, who one year later signed her to the record company Sugar . At 18 she left for Berkeley , California ( USA ) where she started working on songs for her debut album with Corrado Rustici, producer of artists such as Whitney Houston , Aretha Franklin and Zucchero . CAREER ''Pipes & Flowers'' and ''Asile's World'' In May 1997 her first single "Sleeping in Your Hand" was released, followed by her debut album ''Pipes & Flowers'' on September 22 . All songs were written or co-written by Elisa. The album soon went triple platinum in Italy. Three singles from ''Pipes & Flowers'' were released: ''Sleeping in Your Hand'', ''Labyrinth'' and ''A Feast for Me''. These led to winning both the Targa Tenco (Tenco Plate) and the Premio Italiano della Musica (Italian Musical Award) at the end of 1997. She proved herself an excellent live performer at the '' Imola Heineken Jammin' Festival '' and as a special guest on Eros Ramazzotti 's European tour. In Ocober she recorded another single, ''Cure Me'' produced by Darren Allison , who has worked with Skunk Anansie and Spiritualized . The track appears on the re-release of ''Pipes & Flowers''. On May 5th 2000 she released the follow-up ''Asile's World'' (''Asile'' being ''Elisa'' written backwards). The album featured songs produced by Darren Allison , Howie B , Roberto Vernetti , Mauro Malavasi and Leo Z . Three singles were released from this album: ''Gift'', ''Happiness Is Home'' and a remix of the title track ''Asile's World''. The 2001 Sanremo Festival In september 2000 Elisa recorded her first song in Italian, ''Luce (tramonti a nord est)''. The song was initially written in English, but was translated in collaboration with Elisa's mother and Zucchero . The song was presented supported by her band and the ''Solis String Quartet'' at the 2001 Sanremo Festival , and won her the critics' award and the whole Festival. ''Luce'' and the original ''Come Speak to Me'' was later included on the re-release of ''Asile's World''. On November 26th she was awarded three prizes at the Italian Music Awards: ''Best female artist'', ''Best single'' and ''Best song''. Third album and international release November 9th 2001 saw the release of her third album ''Then Comes the Sun'', again produced by Rustici. Four singles were released: ''Heaven Out of Hell'' (dedicated to her mother), ''Rainbow'' (reaching #5 on the Italian charts), a remix of ''Time'' and ''Dancing''. The album went double platinum. At the closing of the 2002 Salt Lake City , Utah Olympics, Elisa performed a jazzy version of the Italian national hymn after the passing of the Olympic Flag to Italy for the Winter Olympic Games in 2006. The following she performed both at the May 1 st celebration in Rome and at the 2002 '' Pavarotti And Friends '' concert, singing ''Voglio vivere così (col sole in fronte)'' with the world famous Tenor . She also received two more awards, Premio Italiano della Musica's ''best female artist'' and ''best single'' (for ''Luce''). In August 2002 Sugar released an International album simply entitled ''Elisa''. The album is a collection of the best songs from her three first albums and ''Come Speak to Me'', the original English version of her hit ''Luce'', received high rotation on MTV Europe . The single received fair airplay and moderate attention in several European countries, but failed to establish Elisa as an international artist. In 2003 Elisa recorded her second song in Italian, a cover version of ''Almeno tu nell'universo'', originally performed by Mia Martini in 1989. The track was featured in the Italian motion picture ''Ricordati di me'' by Gabriele Muccino . Acoustic album and ''Pearl Days'' Later the same year Elisa released the album ''Lotus'', an acoustic album featuring new, stripped-down versions of some of her best songs as well as a handful of new ones. She also did a cover version of Leonard Cohen 's '' Hallelujah ''. The singer did not see ''Lotus'' as an ordinary album, but regarded it as "a photograph, a captured moment in which I felt lost, like a bottle at sea". Two original singles were released: ''Broken'' and ''Electricity''. On September 14th 2004, after an extensive acoustic tour supporting ''Lotus'', Elisa released ''Together'', her first single from the album ''Pearl Days'' released one month later on October 15th. All tracks were produced by Glen Ballard , known for producing Alanis Morissette 's Jagged Little Pill and tracks for artists such as Anastacia , Michael Jackson , Shakira , Christina Aguilera and The Corrs . The album was more rock-influenced and sported more electric guitars than her earlier records. Two more singles were released: ''The Waves'' and ''Una poesia anche per te'', the latter being a translation of the track ''Life Goes On''. The Italian version was not originally included on the album, but was included on a re-release. Though ''Una poesia anche per te'' only reached #2 on the Italian sales charts, it was still the 4th most selling single in 2005. In the summer of 2005, Elisa appeared at the Live 8 concert in Rome , alongside Zucchero , Luciano Ligabue and other major Italian artists. Later the same year she is awarded prizes for best lyrics and best video for ''Una poesia anche per te''. New singles and best-of compilation After a massive ''Pearl Days''-tour, Elisa returned with a new single in 2005. ''Swan'' was written the for the film ''Melissa P'', based on a book by Italian writer Melissa Panarello . In early 2006 she released a self-penned duet with Tina Turner entitled "Teach Me Again", recorded for the film All The Invisible Children . The single was published not only in Italy, but also in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Greece , Luxembourg and Spain . At the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Torino, Elisa performed her song ''Luce''. Other artists performing include Andrea Bocelli , Avril Lavigne and Ricky Martin . On November 17 2006 ''Soundtrack '96-'06'' was released, a collection of hits through her first ten years as a recording artist. The album also contains four new songs, three of them in Italian (''Gli ostacoli del cuore'', ''Eppure sentire (un senso di te)'' and ''Qualcosa che non c'è'') and one in English ('' Stay ''). The first single, ''Gli ostacoli del cuore'' is written by Luciano Ligabue who also appears on the recording. ''Eppure sentire'' and '' Stay '' have also been released as singles. The album has gone diamond in Italy, selling more than 650.000. In 2007, there has been a resurgance in interest in the singer, especially in the US, where the single "Dancing" was featured in the hit TV show So You Think You Can Dance on the June 13th episode. The song broke in the ITunes Top 100 Chart for the first time ever right after the show. DISCOGRAPHY Albums Singles EXTERNAL LINKS
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