Eurovision Performance
The three classically trained mezzosopranos - on the night of the contest in Luxembourg dressed in green, white and red evening gowns, the colours of the Italian flag - stood silent for two minutes and thirty-five seconds until they performed their four bars from The Magic Flute; eight seconds in all (however, the audience saw the wrong order with the red on where green was supposed to be and vice versa).
The studio recording of the song features American opera singer Marilyn Horne performing all three harmonies and also the string section of the La Scala orchestra in Milan. The B-side of the single, the instrumental "Le Biciclette Di Forlì" (translated: "The bicycles from Forlì"), is a reference to Alice's birthplace, the Italian small town Forlì.
The song was performed eighteenth on the night, following Switzerland's Rainy Day with "Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein?" and preceding Portugal's Maria Guinot with "Silêncio E Tanta Gente". Before the Contest, it was ranked by bookmakers Ladbrokes as the second favorite entry to win, behind Ireland's "Terminal 3", performed by Linda Martin. Despite receiving the coveted "twelve points" from countries as diverse as Spain and Finland, at the close of voting it had only totalled 70 points, placing it shared 5th in a field of 19.
Read more about this topic: I Treni Di Tozeur
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