To date, there have been 1,758 entries in the Eurovision Song Contest’s history. As Eurofans, we may only know these artists from one or two songs, but every artist that has performed at the contest has an extensive backlog. This series, Beyond Eurovision, aims to shine a light on some of the That Eurovision Site team’s favourite Eurovision artists’ discographies. Today, we take a look at Francesca Michielin, who represented Italy with “No Degree of Separation” at Eurovision 2016.
Who is Francesca Michielin?
Best known in Eurovision circles for representing Italy in 2016 with the song ‘No Degree of Separation’, as well as her two second place performances in Sanremo, 29-year-old Francesca is an Italian singer-songwriter and presenter, who first rose to fame when as a teenager she won the 5th season of X Factor Italia – a show she went onto host. She has since released five studio albums, with three gold certifications and has had four number one singles in Italy.
She maintains a very active social media presence on both Twitter and Instagram, and is a big fan of both Taylor Swift and Formula One (Even meeting Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly at the Eras Tour in Milan!)
The early days: X Factor Italia e Riflessi di me
Like many a late 00s to early 10s breakthrough, Francesca’s happened on the small screen, competing in the fifth season of X Factor in late 2011 and early 2012 – aged just 16, she would go onto win the contest, beating Sanremo Giovani 2013 participants I Moderni in the final. Her winning song ‘Distratto’ would go on to be her first single and title of her debut EP, which also featured several covers of songs she sang throughout her X Factor journey, including Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’.
The song would also go onto feature on her debut album Riflessi Di Me – released in 2013. The album, which features few songs written by Michielin, is good as far as debut albums go. I can honestly feel quite a lot of parallels with Alika’s (brilliant) self titled album released late last year, in the way pop ballads are merged with a rockish sound. My personal favourite on the album is ‘Mai Piú’ (Never Again) – written by Matteo Valicelli, which is a great showing of what I alluded to before, balancing elements of a traditional pop voice with hints of a very fine raspier side in there, I think it’s aged brilliantly in the over a decade since as well. Another favourite of mine is ‘Tutto Quello Che ho‘ – Which feels of the late 00s early 10s time, in a very good way. Something we probably won’t hear today, and that’s a big shame.
The last song I’d like to highlight from her debut isn’t my favourite, hell it might be one of my least favourite, but I just think it’s very interesting. ‘Honey Sun‘ is both the only English language song on the album and the only one written solely by Michielin. It’s very twee and sweet, and an enjoyable listen, and shows clear as day that this is a girl who loves (especially early) Taylor Swift, but it does feel a little bit apparent that the song is written by a teenage girl who doesn’t have English as a first language.
She becomes: di20(are) e 2640
2015 saw Michielin release her sophomore album. di20, a play on diventi – meaning “you become” – and referencing her age at the time. To be blunt, this album is quite hit or miss for me, but the hits hit hard. Criticism first, the English language is annoyingly prevelant, perhaps I just hate my mother tongue, but I really don’t think it suits Francesca at all, I’m glad they decrease in frequency from here on out, as I think it’s done her a world of good.
The low points of the album are more than made up for from the high points, however. 25 Febbraio is one of the album’s singles – and it is clear to see why. It’s a deeply emotional autobiographical piano ballad in which Francesca imagines being able to communicate with her younger self, and reassure young Francesca that everything is going to be okay. The lyrics are poignant and they combine with the piano for an utterly beautiful song with a similarly beautiful music video to go with it. 25 Febbraio, by the way, is Francesca’s birthday.
Fighting off very fierce competition from the likes of Tutto Questo Vento and Io e Te my other standout from the album is E’ con te (It’s with you). The song tells the tale of finding someone who gives your life meaning – It’s more upbeat than 25 Febbraio and stands out on the album really well.
di20 would provide the springboard for her to enter the 2016 Sanremo Music Festival, with the song Nessun Grado Di Separazione – which featured on an extended version of the album – di20are (same logic behind the name, she’s 21 now though.)
Michielin’s third album, 2640, is for me when she stopped being a young up and coming popstar and instead became part of the furniture. One English track is a welcome reduction for me, there’s only one song that she didn’t have a hand in composing, and on those where she’s involved her impact is obvious, each song packed to the brim with absolutely brilliant meaningful lyrics.
The title is a reference to the altitude of Bogotá, Colombia’s capital where Michielin intended to visit before postponing the trip to write the album. And oh boy, she wrote an album alright.
The album follows three main themes, as represented by the three triangles on the album art, Red representing the rough volcano, blue for the sea and green for mountains.
I’m going to start with Io non abito al mare (I don’t live by the sea)– written by Michielin alongside frequent collaborator Calcutta, it is sheer magic. Whilst her home town of Bassano del Grappa is firmly landlocked, the sea here is more metaphorical, and represents distance, with the key theme of the song being the difficulties of communicating – specifically “the difference between hearing and listening”.
The song has an enduring popularity, topping Michielin’s Spotify at time of writing, and has amassed over 27,000,000 streams on the platform.
Other personal highlights for me include La Serie B – another Francesca & Calcutta masterclass. It’s a heartbreaking ballad about disappointment in love that Michielin compares to her family’s beloved football team, Vicenza, being relegated down a league, to Serie B – but also holds out hope that they can rebuild in Serie B. Firstly, as a Carlisle United fan I can heavily relate after our last season. Secondly, the song is absolutely beautiful. The lyricism amongst her best and her voice is sorrowful and absolutely perfectly fit to the song.
I’d genuinely be here all day If i had to speak about every song on the album I loved, so do check out the full thing.
Mighty Feats: Stato i natura e Fuori dagli spazi
Michielin’s next album was a rather unique feat. As in it was called feat. Specifically, FEAT (Stato di Natura) – named after the first single on the album. There’s so much to love on this album that rather than selecting a best one, because honestly, all good, all stand out, My recommendation is putting the France into Francesca, as she teamed up with Belgium based Italian singer Max Gazzè on La Vie Ensemble. Following her second Sanremo second placing in 2021, alongside long time friend and collaborator Fedez, an extended version of the album, with four more tracks to bring the total to 15. Other collaborations on the album include Eurovision winners Måneskin, and Italian icons Elisa and Dardust.
Freedom & Maturity: Cani Sciolti
Michielin’s latest album, Cani Sciolti (Loose Dogs) – named as such because of its theme of freedom – is the true peak of her maturity as an artist. Not only was her first in which she’d self penned all of the tracks, and the songwriting is brilliant and poignant, tackling big issues such as racism and homosexuality. Speaking to Vanity Fair Italia on release, she said: “The loose cannons are those who don’t fit into a predefined scheme, those who don’t fit into a current. They are free to express themselves.
I wanted to take the luxury of this freedom and be myself one hundred percent by writing songs that were even more courageous than usual”
Let’s talk about some of these songs then.
I’ll start with what is probably my favourite Francesca Michielin track, one of the album’s singles, Fulmini Addosso (Lightning Strikes). It has a fierce upbeat summer pop vibe, and was first released as part of the Amazon Prime original movie L’estate più calda (The Hottest Summer.)
according to resident TES film bro, Angus, the film itself is awful, but gets one star for Al Paschino the alpaca, and another half for Francesca’s song, but said “you’ve made me watch something that has landed among the 20 worst films I have ever seen.” For contrast, the best is Paddington 2, so he has taste.
Whilst the film might not be Paddington 2 levels, the song might be up there. check it out.
The rest of the album is a really carefully crafted mix of faster and slower songs, so as someone with a penchant for something slower, the next track is a whole heap of me.
Padova può ucciderti più di milano is about the perceived hypocrisy of the largely religious, right wing population of her home region of Veneto. With lyrics such as “Perché dici in giro che siamo tutti uguali se poi voti i razzisti ai consigli comunali?” (Why do you say we are all born equals, then elect racists to city council?) and “E chiami animale quello stesso Dio che poi preghi dall’altare” (You call God an animal but pray at the altar) amidst other strong criticisms of the hometown that she finds it difficult to love.
The song is defiant thought that someone who seems like they may not belong in such a place should, no matter who they love or how they act, be able to live there. In fact Michielin returned to her home of Bassano del Grappa to write the album.
In an interview with SkyItalia, she said “I used Padova because I grew up there in Veneto and there is no city as big as Milan (the city she moved to upon becoming an artist). Padova is a crazy city but it is as if the differences are not listened to. Many leave because they cannot find their space. It is a song written by a believer, it is for those who preach well and practice badly.”
This is one of the most heartfelt songs I’ve heard, and if I were to individually list all the lines that made me go “woah” then this would turn into an article by itself, but everything here is so incredibly raw and straight from, the heart.
Other Tidbits & Why you should check her out!
If you like what you hear from Francesca, you’ll be delighted to find out you’ll probably find her popping up in quite a few more places. She regularly collaborates with other Italian artists. I already touched on Fedez, but her most recent collaboration was with Levante, on a 10th anniversary rerelease of her album, Manuale Distruzione, in which she invited artists such as Sanremo faves La rappresentate di lista and Santi Francesci, as well as Francesca to feature on remastered versions of the songs. Huh, an album with guests on (nearly) every song, wonder where she got that idea.
Outside of music, she released the coming-of-age novel Il cuore è un organo, and has hosted the likes of X Factor Italia and the Italian Diversity Media Awards.
So why should you check her out? Because she’s not only a fantastic artist, which I hope I’ve more than proved, she’s a good egg and all, being a consistent voice for social justice, especially the queer community, and recently playing at a benefit concert for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
What do you think of Francesca Michielin’ discography? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for all your Eurovision news!
Photo Credit: Francesca Michielin
Euan T