1977 Italy: Mia Martini - Libera (13th place at Eurovision Song Contest in London)

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ESC 1977 - Italy
Performed by: Mia Martini
Music by: Salvatore Fabrizio
Lyrics by: Luigi Albertelli
Conductor: Maurizio Fabrizio
Language: Italian
Placing: 13th (33 points)
Other versions: English, French, Spanish

"Libera" ("Free [f.]") was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, performed in Italian by Mia Martini, at the time arguably Italy's most successful and celebrated female artist, having had a number of hits like "Padre davvero...", "Gesù è mio fratello", "Credo", "Piccolo uomo", "Donna sola", "Minuetto", "Il guerriero", "Inno", "Al mondo", "Donna con te", "L'amore è il mio orizzonte", "Che vuoi che sia... se t'ho aspettato tanto" on the Italian Hit Parade between the years 1971 and 1976, as well as taking part in the Sanremo Music Festival and Festivalbar on several occasions.

Martini recorded five versions of the song; the original ballad version, the disco version, the Spanish "Libre", the French "Libre comme une femme" and the English "Freedom Is Today", the latter three all with the up-tempo arrangement. While released on the RCA Records label in Italy and other parts of Europe.

The song was performed fifteenth on the night, following Spain's Micky with "Enséñame a cantar" and preceding Finland's Monica Aspelund with "Lapponia". At the close of voting, it had received 33 points, placing it 13th in a field of 18.

The single was also only a moderate commercial success for Martini in Italy itself; while the song was featured on certain international editions of her studio album Che vuoi che sia... se t'ho aspettato tanto, such as in Canada where the album was retitled Mia Martini and included both the Italian and English language versions, it was left as a non-album track in her homeland and not included on either Che vuoi che sia... or the following Per amarti, released later in 1977.

Since Martini's death in 1995 the main part of her substantial back-catalogue has been re-issued to CD in continental Europe and Japan, including four versions of "Libera", the original ballad version has however yet to be commercially released.

Mia Martini would return to the contest fifteen years later, singing "Rapsodia".

Mia Martini is considered, by many experts, one of the most important and expressive female voices of Italian music ever, characterised by her interpretative intensity and her soulful performance.

Her debut album, Oltre la collina with the song "Padre davvero" is regarded as one of the best Italian albums made by a female artist. Hit songs like "Piccolo uomo", "Donna sola", "Minuetto", "Inno", "Al mondo", "Che vuoi che sia se t'ho aspettato tanto", "Per amarti" and "La costruzione di un amore" made her one of the most popular artists of Italian music in the 1970s.

In 1983, she was forced to leave the music industry and quit her career, by the music sector and by her colleagues, who considered her a person bringing bad luck and barred her to participate at any music and TV events, radio shows and concerts. This slander kept her away from the music scene for seven years and only in 1989, she was able to reprise her career, when she returned to perform at Sanremo Music Festival, singing "Almeno tu nell'universo", which brought her a new success.

She died on 12 May 1995 at her apartment in Cardano al Campo at the age of 47.

Lyrics:

Libera di parlare, libera di cercare
Di fare e di disfare, di esser soltanto me

Libera di capire, libera di sentire
Realizzare un fine e di sbagliare da me

So bene quel che voglio, quello che non voglio
Ho il mio orgoglio, cosa c'entri tu

Scoprirmi innamorata, ma non a te legata
Donna abituata a camminar da sé

(Libera di pensare, libera di mostrare)
Di pensare... libera di mostrare
(Di dare e di non dare)
Quello che piace a te

Libera di provare, libera di esser madre
Peccare o non peccare e di pagare da me

Libera come il sole, libera come il mare
Noi, come due persone, libera, io e te

(Libera come il sole, libera come il mare)
Come il sole...
(Noi, come due persone, libera, io e te)
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na...

(Libera come il sole, libera come il mare)
Come il mare...
(Noi, come due persone)
Libera, io e te

(Libera come il sole, libera come il mare)
Come il mare...
(Noi, come due persone)
Libera, io e te

(Libera come il sole, libera come il mare)
Na na na na na na na... na na na... come il mare...
(Noi, come due persone, libera, io e te)
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na...

Libera, io e te

English:

Free to talk, free to seak
To do and to undo, just to be myself

Free to understand, free to feel
To reach a goal, and to make a mistake myself

I know well what I want, what I don't want
I have my pride, you don't even come into it

Find myself in love, but not bound to you
A woman who is used to walk on her own

(Free to think, free to show)
To think... free to show
(To give and not to give)
What you like

Free to try, free to be mother
To sin or not to sin and to pay for it myself