20 December – And in my dreams, there were wide prairies

La Befana

Occasionally, a legendary performer comes along, for whom Eurovision is very kind. They win with their first attempt, destroying the opposition in the process. Then they are persuaded to come back some years later, and almost destroy the opposition again. At least they would if it wasn’t for the biggest thing ever to come from our favourite TV show (OK, and they were Swedish).

I’m talking about today’s birthday girl Gigliola Cinquetti. In 1964, she achieved a score almost three times as big as the runner-up. That will never be surpassed. In 1974 she came second to a certain foursome from Sweden that wasn’t the Family Four. And if she wasn’t legendary enough already, she had to present a contest with Toto Cutugno. That deserved a medal if anything does. As there are issues with the 1964 contest, here she is in Brighton.

Gigliola is 70 today.

Buon compleanno, Gigliola!

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