"Marianne" was a song composed, written, and recorded by Italian singer

Sergio Endrigo Sergio Endrigo (; 15 June 1933 – 7 September 2005) was an Italian singer-songwriter. Born in Pola, Istria in Italy (now Pula, Croatia), he has been often compared—for style and nature—to authors of the so-called "Genoa school" like Gino ...

. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 held in London, placing tenth.

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

recorded later a cover version of the song with English lyrics written by Bill Owen.

Background

Conception

"Marianne" was composed, written, and recorded by

. It is a ballad, with the singer expressing his love for the title character. He sings, however, that she never stays with him, and he wonders about what she is doing. Nonetheless, his feelings for her remain unaltered. In addition to the Italian language original version, he also recorded a version with French lyrics by .

Selection

Radiotelevisione italiana (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial ...

(RAI) internally selected "Marianne" performed by Endrigo as for the of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

Eurovision

On 6 April 1968, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London hosted by the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

(BBC), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Endrigo performed "Marianne" eleventh on the evening, following 's " La source" by

Isabelle Aubret Isabelle Aubret (; born Thérèse Coquerelle; 27 July 1938) is a French singer best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 with the song " Un premier amour". Early life Thérèse Coquerelle was born in Lille, France, on 27 Jul ...

and preceding the 's "

Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television * Congratulations (2010 film), an Egyptian film * Congratulations (2023 film), a Gujarati drama film *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme ...

" by

Giancarlo Bigazzi Giancarlo Bigazzi (5 September 1940 – 19 January 2012) was an Italian music producer and composer. He was a former member of comedy music group Squallor. Life and career Born in Florence, he was one of the best known Italian songwriters and ly ...

conducted the event's orchestra in the performance of the Italian entry. At the close of voting, the song had received 7 points, placing it tenth in a field of seventeen. It was succeeded as Italian representative at the by " Due grosse lacrime bianche" by Iva Zanicchi.

Legacy

Cliff Richard version

Following the Contest, it was rewritten in English by Bill Owen for Cliff Richard to record. "Marianne" features an accompaniment by the Mike Leander Orchestra and was released as a single in September with the B-side "Mr. Nice", written by

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born 17 July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo (band), Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many ot ...

. It peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.

Reception

Reviewing for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'', Peter Jones described "Marianne" as "a really lovely ballad, a hymn of praise to a chick, and Richard really shows off his vocal range, to a swelling, swirling orchestral backing laid down lovingly by Mike Leander. As ever, it's a distinctive vocal treatment and perhaps Richard's most ambitious bit of actually singing on record". For ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'', Derek Johnson described the song as "a piquant and emotional ballad" that "certainly doesn't register with an immediate impact. But once you've heard it a few times, you'll find that the haunting melody is firmly implanted in your mind, and you just can't lose it".

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 8476 # "Marianne" – 3:19 # "Mr. Nice" – 2:13 7": Columbia / DSA 834 (South Africa) # "Marianne" – 3:19 # "Close to Kathy" – 2:48

Charts

References

{{authority control 1968 singles Eurovision songs of Italy Eurovision songs of 1968 Cliff Richard songs 1968 songs Songs written by Sergio Endrigo Sergio Endrigo songs Columbia Graphophone Company singles Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor Songs written by Giancarlo Bigazzi