NINA ZILLI HITS THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO BAKU

Italian Eurofestival NEWS had a chance to talk to Nina Zilli who kicks of her L'amore è femmina tour tomorrow from Crema with a special pre-tour concert. Then from April 10 to May 5 she will be touring all over Italy and after that... Baku!

She tells she got to know about RAI's plans to send her to Baku for them just an hour before the Sanremo 2012 final night was to go on air. "I was surprised but very happy as Eurovision is a big thing that was born after the Sanremo model. I have to say honestly I didn't know quite well how it is as Italy had been missing for so many years but I had seen something from the year before, Raphael Gualazzi's performance and so on. But later I got a better picture, thanks to a DVD given to me by the fans of the contest! I watched it all and understood what a huge thing it is! That enormous stage usually seen only with artists like Madonna and U2, over 40 countries competing. I have to confess it scares me a bit, just like Sanremo but once you get to the stage it passes..."

Eurovision is all about those famous three minutes. That's all you got. "I have performed live a lot, even to crowds of 40.000-50.000 people in France" she says "but it is different. I was there just the opening act while in Eurovision we all are main stars. And it is a competition, that really builds up your adrenaline level. Usually I'm very calm before going live on stage but I have no idea what will happen in Baku. Anyway, I will go and do my song. It will go as it is meant to go!"

Choosing the song wasn't simple either. "I was working on a bilingual version of both Per sempre and L'amore è femmina and I have to say the Sanremo song also sounded great in English but then I might be a bit partial as I write and arrange the songs so they all are like my kids. At some point then we decided with my staff and the people I listen to usually that L'amore è femmina would be better for this European event, not only because it's the title track of the album but also in musical genre. For me both were good enough. The song is also already international. It was sent to me in English by my a friend of mine, a producer who thought it would suit me. It is written by Swedish and American writers. I rewrote the lyrics in Italian and fixed the melody, too. And now I have rewritten it again in English!" Then she tells how she writes her songs first in English anyway and then translates them into Italian. "Sometimes translation doesn't work, and that's why I have left L'amore è femmina (out of love)'s refrain in Italian. The translation just doesn't work in English but as it is the main point of the song it stays in Italian."

Now that Nina has finished her adventures on TV-show series she is all focused on the tour. She has seven musicians who will not follow her to Baku. Instead she will have three backing singers, one male and two female. "How could I choose who to leave home?" she says about the band "The song has strong choruses so I need a good backing singers as the vocals have to be live. Shame we have to use a backing track but then it's the same for everyone. With 42 countries it would be just too difficult with the orchestra."

Eurovision will be nice adventure for Nina who dreams of releasing an international version of her album but it all depends how things go in Baku. She knows Anggun will there competing against her and find the Russian grannies adorable but she hasn't and won't listen all the others before Baku. "I will just go and do my song. I'm sure people will like it!" she concludes while hoping the Europe will like her and she can bring her music all over the continent in the future.

L'amore è femmina tour:

April 10 - Florence

April 11 - Rome

April 13 - Naples

April 14 - Bari

April 20 - Pescara

April 21 - Rimini

April 26 - Milan

April 27 - Padua

April 28 - Bologna

May 5 - Turin

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