Non ho l'età

Gigliola Cinquetti - Non Ho L'Età - Eurovision Song Contest Winner 1964 (original performance)

This is the complete radio broadcast of the actual performance in Copenhagen with added video and stills from the reprise to enhance it. The original video recordings were lost or destroyed so I used the short reprise video (more than once) to give a better feel for the original performance than the radio broadcast can give. I have also corrected the short section where lipsync on the original reprise clip (as used by Eurovision) is out. I will add more video when I can. I am doing this enhancement and reconstruction work for historical reasons, to give a unique and better insight into what it actually looked and sounded like as Gigliola sang, all those years ago.

Then only 16 years old, Gigliola had what is still the highest ever percentage of "1st place" scores in the contest... 8 out of 15 possible, or 53.3%. Points scored were 'only' 49 but changes to the scoring system mean that points scores are not directly comparable from year to year. Just listen to the thunderous applause she received at the end!

It seems that the broadcaster's video of the contest was destroyed, either deliberately because it was not thought to be worth keeping, or accidentally in a fire at the DR (Denmark) Studios in the 1970's. No other broadcaster kept a recording of the 1964 show and the longest video clip of the winning song is of the reprise at the end, and is only about one minute long. I have extended this to match the complete sound recording by re-using parts of the video where suitable, and by inserting stills.

Gigliola Cinquetti has been a well known singer in Italy, parts of Europe, South America and Japan, ever since her Eurovision win... including subsequent appearances in the same contest as singer ("Si", or "Go" in English, came 2nd to Abba's Waterloo in 1974 and was a UK top ten hit) and in 1991 as a host. She remains a well known singer in Italy and from time to time, a TV presenter too. She has released many hit albums there.

Her record of this song (sung in Italian) entered the UK singles charts in 1964, reaching no. 17 and remaining in the chart (full chart not just top 20) for a remarkable 17 weeks, something that only three other Eurovision songs have achieved in the UK, though others have sold many more copies. Before winning Eurovision, Gigliola also won the San Remo Song Contest with the same song - there are complete video recordings of that on the Internet and you can tell the difference because at San Remo, she wore a light coloured dress but at Eurovision a dark one.

LYRICS:

Non ho l'età, non ho l'età per amarti
Non ho l'età per uscire sola con te
E non avrei, non avrei nulla da dirti
Perchè tu sai molte più cose di me

Lascia ch'io viva un amore romantico
Nell'attesa che venga quel giorno, ma ora no

Non ho l'età, non ho l'età per amarti
Non ho l'età per uscire sola con te
Se tu vorrai, se tu vorrai aspettarmi
Quel giorno avrai tutto il mio amore per te

Lascia ch'io viva un amore romantico
Nell'attesa che venga quel giorno, ma ora no

Non ho l'età, non ho l'età per amarti
Non ho l'età per uscire sola con te
Se tu vorrai, se tu vorrai aspettarmi
Quel giorno avrai tutto il mio amore... per te.



IN ENGLISH

The lyrics are about someone not yet old enough to be romantically involved with the older, more experienced person they love... too young for them even to go out alone together. But if they are willing to wait, one day, the romance will be complete.

That's more or less the story, awww! The words were a bit controversial though at the time, and the original lyrics never to my knowledge had an official English translation using the same storyline. I think that's a pity as it was not advocating young love, it was advising young people to be patient and wait!