Luca Barbarossa is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 who has released 12 albums since 1981, and is known for his participation in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

.

Early career

In 1980, Barbarossa won the Castrocaro Song Festival, where he was spotted by a producer for the Fonit-Cetra record company, who signed him to a recording contract. As the Castrocaro winner, he was eligible to compete in the 1981 San Remo Festival, where he finished fourth with the self-penned song "Roma spogliata". His first self-titled album was released in the same year, and he toured as support act to Riccardo Cocciante

Riccardo Cocciante

Riccardo Cocciante, also known in French-speaking countries as Richard Cocciante , is an Italian singer-songwriter and actor. His oeuvre includes recordings in Italian, French, and Spanish; he has recorded some of his songs in all three languages.He was born in Saigon, French Indochina, now Ho Chi...

. The album, and the singles released from it, were not notably successful and relations soured with Fonit-Cetra, leading to Barbarossa's departure from the label. He signed with the Italian division of the CBS

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 label, where the decision was taken to try to establish him as a singles artist before releasing an album. In 1986, he again participated in the San Remo Festival with "Via Margutta", but only managed 18th place. Another San Remo entry in 1987 resulted in ninth place for "Come dentro un film", which was also the title of the first album he released for CBS in the same year. He achieved his best San Remo placement to date in 1988 with "L'amore rubato" finishing third.

Eurovision Song Contest

In 1988, Barbarossa was chosen by broadcaster RAI

RAI

RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...

 as the Italian Eurovision representative with the song "Vivo (Ti scrivo)

Vivo (Ti Scrivo)

"Vivo " was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, performed in Italian by Luca Barbarossa....

" ("Alive (I Write to You)"). He went forward to the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1988

The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 30 April 1988 in Dublin. The presenters were Pat Kenny and Michelle Rocca...

, held on 30 April in Dublin, where "Vivo (Ti scrivo)" finished in 12th place of 21 entries.

Later career

Barbarossa won the 1992 San Remo Festival at his fifth attempt with "Portami a ballare", a song dedicated to his mother. In the 1990s he released four studio albums and a live album. In 1996 another San Remo entry with "Il ragazzo con la chitarra" placed 12th. A compilation album of his most popular songs, with two previously unreleased tracks, was issued in 2001.

Barbarossa's final San Remo participation to date came in 2003, with "Fortuna" finishing 10th. He released an album of the same name that year, before putting his recording career on hold for four years. He returned with a single, "Aspettavamo il 2000" in 2007, before releasing Via delle storie infinite, his first album for five years, in 2008.

San Remo Music Festival entries

• 1981: "Roma spogliata" - 4th
• 1986: "Via Margutta" - 18th
• 1987: "Come dentro un film" - 9th
• 1988: "L'amore rubato" - 3rd
• 1992: "Portami a ballare" - 1st
• 1996: "Il ragazzo con la chitarra" - 12th
• 2003: "Fortuna" - 10th
• 2011: "Fino in fondo" - 8th

Albums discography

• 1981: Luca Barbarossa
• 1987: Come dentro un film
• 1988: Non tutti gli uomini
• 1989: Al di là del muro'
• 1992: Cuore d'acciaio
• 1993: Vivo
• 1994: Le cose da salvare
• 1996: Sotto lo stesso cielo
• 1999: Musica e parole
• 2001: Viaggio di ritorno
• 2003: Fortuna
• 2008: Via delle storie infinite
• 2011: Barbarossa Social Club

External links

• Official website (Italian)
• Myspace page