At 51, she doesn’t feel in competition with anyone but herself. This was also seen in Sanremo 2023, where he returned twenty-two years after his last participation, finishing sixth with Words he said badly: “I didn’t even want to do it. Amadeus then threw a magic dust. And I thought that it was basically an experience to live, at this stage of my career in which I have rebuilt my style and sound after even thinking about retiring”, confesses Giorgia. On new album Blu1, the Roman singer-songwriter – who will debut as an actress in Rocco Papaleo’s Scordato in April, before performing in opera houses, with a stop at the Rome Opera House on June 12 – enjoy it regardless of expectations, rediscovering it. soul and r&b roots. Patience if it debuted in twelfth place in the Fimi/Gfk ranking of the best sellers in Italy: as they are now, focused on streaming that rewards the youngest, the rankings leave the time they find. And then someone like her, 7 million copies sold in a thirty-year career, plays in another league.
Dry Question: Are you really still in the mood?
“Yes. I understood it on the Ariston stage. The emotion was greater than in 1994 with And after: the flame is intact, after thirty years of questionable characters».
Which one?
“Everyone who didn’t make things easy for me. Starting with managers. I rarely felt protected: they even tried to change me.’
Names?
“What balls (laughs). One even reported me, I don’t remember why, and I had to give him money. I have always paid in my life. She also had a non-VIP boyfriend who took everything from the house to the studio after cheating on him. Freedom comes at a high price, but it’s always worth paying.
Had he really thought about retiring?
“Yes. I felt empty. Confinement was a desert of ideas. Even singing felt like a stretch.”
how did it turn out
“Thanks to Big Fish (real name Massimiliano Dagani, 51-year-old producer considered a pillar of Italian hip hop, ed). He convinced me to make an r&b and soul record, my roots. With Papaleo, who also directed the video for Normale, the single written by Mahmood, I also got involved in another field. It went fine. I face a physiotherapist who initiates conversations about existence: I recognized myself in it».
Did the record labels pressure you?
“I rejected some proposals: duets with younger artists. I avoided.”
Snobbery?
“No: consistency. Pino Daniele told me: “Don’t do things you might regret.” Then, in the meantime, some of my longtime collaborators at Columbia (part of Sony, ed) have moved on to Warner.’
Didn’t you think to follow them?
“It’s that the other record companies consider me a pain in the ass, a fighter. Now all that remains is the president Andrea Rosi, whom I love, from the historic Sony team. I don’t know what will become of me.”
Rule out a move to Warner after thirty years?
“I’m not ruling anything out. We have to see if they let me go and if they want me (laughs)”.
Among the zodiac signs on his body, one is missing from the booklet. the capricorn That of his ex-partner Alex Baroni, whom many have thought of listening to “Parole ditte male”.
“He is always with me. In Tornerai I mention his Onde. He speaks of a faith beyond the physical.”
Is there anyone who reminds you in the way you sing?
“Marco Mengoni, a lot. In 2016, when we recorded Come neve together, I struggled a lot in the studio. It made me shiver.”
Baudo heard him, then?
“Yes. She made me cry, before the Festival. I called her for ten years, overwhelmed by her greatness. We even had an argument once.”
Because?
“In 2003 he wanted me to compete again in Sanremo. But I toured. It was bad. He told me, “You’re exhausted.” He was right: I couldn’t take it anymore. A little later we talked again as if nothing had happened.”
You are often invited to “Friends”: has Maria proposed to you to be a judge in the evening?
“I go there because this is how I see my partner (Emanuel Lo, choreographer, father of Samuel, 13, ed), who is in the cast. Maria proposed to me years ago: it’s not for me. We respect each other, though. What a pain, the disappearance of Maurizio. Do you know that the first one presented on television was on the Costanzo show? It was the year 1994. He invited me to a duet with the saxophonist Steve Grossman».
Since the experience went well in the end, would Sanremo do it again?
“Again? (Laughs). It was tiring. And I’m old.”
Source : IL Messaggero
