Dio, come ti amo

"Dio, come ti amo" (English translation: "God, How I Love You") was performed first time as duo by Domenico Modugno and Gigliola Cinquetti in San Remo Festival, 1966. Later it was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, performed in Italian by Domenico Modugno.

"Dio, come ti amo"
Eurovision Song Contest 1966 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Conductor
Angelo Giacomazzi
Finals performance
Final result
17th
Final points
0
Entry chronology
◄ "Se piangi, se ridi" (1965)   
"Non andare più lontano" (1967) ►

The song is a ballad, in which Modugno tells his lover how he feels about her. He expresses his amazement at the depth of his own feelings, with the title phrase being used frequently.

At the 1966 Eurovison Song Contest

The song was performed fourteenth on the night (following Monaco's Téréza with Bien plus fort and preceding France's Dominique Walter with Chez nous). At the close of voting, it had received the dreaded nul points (zero), for the first and also the only time in Italian Eurovision history, placing 17th (equal last) in a field of 18.

Due to the song becoming a solo performance, rather than a duet, it had been rearranged since its performance at the Sanremo Music Festival. However, this broke the EBU rules stating that the arrangement should be finalised well in advance. During rehearsals mere hours before the final, Modugno performed the new arrangement with three of his own musicians as opposed to the orchestra, which went over the three minute time limit. Following his rehearsal Modugno was confronted by the show's producers about exceeding the time limit and was asked to use the original arrangement with the orchestra. Modugno was so dissatisfied with the orchestra that he threatened to withdraw from the Contest. Both the producers and EBU scrutineer Clifford Brown felt it was too short notice to fly Gigliola Cinquetti to Luxembourg to represent Italy, so the EBU gave in and allowed Modugno to use his own ensemble instead of the orchestra. Despite websites and the official programme listing Angelo Giacomazzi as the conductor, Giacomazzi actually played the piano for the entry.[1][2]

It was succeeded as Italian representative at the 1967 Contest by Claudio Villa with "Non andare più lontano".

Recordings

Sergio Franchi recorded an English/Italian version of this song [titled "Oh How Much I Love You" (Dio, come ti amo!")] in 1967 on his RCA Victor album From Sergio - With Love.[3]

Shirley Bassey recorded a version of the song titled "Dio, come ti amo (Oh God How Much I Love You)" for her 1991 album Keep the Music Playing.

Spanish performer Vega recorded the song in 2017 accompanied by Elvis Costello. Both sang it in the original Italian.

Charts
Chart (1965) Peak
position
Italy (Musica e dischi)[4] 1

References
  1. Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs For Europe The United Kingdom at The Eurovision Song Contest Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. UK: Telos. p. 410. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  2. Angelo Giacomazzi bio at www.andtheconductoris.eu
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-21. Retrieved 2012-04-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Sergio Franchi
  4. "Singoli - I Numeri Uno (1959-2006) - parte 1: 1959-1970" (in Italian). It-Charts.150m.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.



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