FERRER TRINDADE

Born: December 9th, 1917, Barreiro (Portugal)

Died: January 13th, 1999, Setúbal (Portugal)

Nationality: Portuguese

Below, a medium-length article detailing the life and works of Ferrer Trindade can be found. Hopefully, in due course, it can be extended to a full-fledged biography

BIOGRAPHY

Ferrer Trindade was born in Barreiro, near Setúbal, in 1917. During his childhood he discovered his penchant and talent for music and it was not long before he joined various amateur ensembles, such as the guitar group Os Timpanos and the band Os Franceses, where he learnt to play the clarinet.

He decided to enter the National Conservatoire of Lisbon as an external student, earning a living with a daytime job, playing in bands during the evenings and studying music at night. He graduated from the conservatoire, having followed courses in acoustics, music history, composition, piano, violin, and wind instruments. Among his teachers was Luís de Freitas Branco (1890-1955), perhaps the most important classical composer Portugal has ever produced. As a student, Trindade played the clarinet in the Portuguese Navy Band and later made his debut as a violinist in the Lisbon Philharmonic Orchestra.

After his graduation, Trindade formed an orchestra of his own, with which, in the 1940s, he performed in various Portuguese casinos, amongst which those in Estoril and Póvoa do Varzim. As such, he accompanied a great number of Portuguese and international artists, who performed in those casinos. He took up arranging as well, writing countless scores for his orchestra.

Trindade regularly tried his hand at composing songs, too, collaborating with various lyricists, such as Francisco Nicholson, Frederico de Brito, and Aníbal Nazaré. The most successful and lasting of Trindade’s compositions is without a shadow of a doubt the fado ‘Solidão’, which was performed by the legendary Portuguese singer Amália Rodrigues in the movie picture ‘Les amants du Tage’ (1955). It became one of Rodrigues’ most popular songs. 

It was not until much later, however, that Trindade’s composition was propelled to world fame. In 1987, another Portuguese singer, Anamar, recorded a new version of the song with different lyrics, released under the title ‘Canção do mar’. Six years later, in 1993, Dulce Pontes recorded her interpretation of this version, this time however with a completely new, grandiose orchestration written by Ramón Galarza, and released it on her album ‘Lágrimas’. This album turned out to be an international best-seller, and ‘Canção do mar’ became the trademark for a remarkable revival of Portuguese folk and fado music around the globe in the 1990s. The Dulce Pontes version was part of the soundtrack of the Hollywood thriller ‘Primal Fear’ (1996). Later, many cover versions were released in several languages by artists such as Hélène Segara and Sarah Brightman. Ferrer Trindade lived long enough to witness the ‘second life’ of his composition.

Amália Rodrigues included several more songs by Trindade in her repertoire, such as ‘Nem as paredes confesso’. Other artists for which Ferrer Trindade composed songs, include Lenita Gentil and Adélia Pedrosa. Still as a composer, he won first prize in the 1968 Festival of Figueira da Foz with his song ‘Olhos de Veludo’, interpreted by Artur Garcia. Another of Trindade’s melodies, ‘Welvichia de ouro’, won the music festival of Luanda in Angola, a Portuguese colony. He won the Grande Marcha Festival in Setúbal on no fewer than four occasions.

In 1956, during the days of the first experimental broadcasts of Portuguese television from the Feira Popular studios in Lisbon, Ferrer Trindade was the first in his country to conduct an orchestra on the TV screen. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was one of the most sought after musical directors for television and radio broadcasts, amongst which the popular radio entertainment programme Os Companheiros da Alegria, which ran from 1951 to 1969.

Trindade remained active as both a composer and conductor even in old age. He founded a new amateur orchestra in Setúbal, the Sociedade Musical Capricho Setubalense Band. He was awarded with various decorations; the Gold Medal of the Portuguese broadcaster for his merits as a composer, the Medal of Artistic Merit of the Setúbal province, and the Honorary Medal of the City of Setúbal in recognition of his career in music and his high artistic level. 

In 1999, Ferrer Trindade passed away following a bronchial infection, aged 81. In his native town of Barreiro, a street was named after him.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Ferrer Trindade was commissioned by RTP to be the musical director of the 1969 Grande Prémio TV da Canção, as the Portuguese Eurovision preliminaries were referred to in those days. For the first time since this competition was held (in 1964), some performers used the right to choose their own conductor, which is the reason why Trindade lead his orchestra for only 8 of the 10 participating songs, the other two maestros being Manuel Diamantino Viegas and José Mesquita. Trindade conducted the entries performed by Tereza Paula Brito, Madalena Iglésias, Duo Ouro Negro, Daniel, Lilly Tchiumba, Artur Garcia, Fernando Tordo, and Simone de Oliveira. However, none of the arrangements of the participating songs were written by him. The orchestration to the winning song ‘Desfolhada’, performed by Simone de Oliveira, was penned by none other than Joaquim Luís Gomes, who had been Portugal’s conductor in the 1968 contest in London.

Trindade joined Simone de Oliveira at the Eurovision Song Contest in Madrid, where she gave an inspired performance of the song that had by then been renamed ‘Desfolhada Portuguesa’. Because in the Spanish orchestra which Trindade conducted, there was no Portuguese guitarist, this instrument was played on stage alongside De Oliveira by a Portuguese soloist. ‘Desfolhada Portuguesa’ came second-last in a field of sixteen participating countries, scoring four points. Officials of RTP, the Portugal’s broadcaster, felt so enraged by the voting procedure, that it was decided upon to withdraw from the 1970 contest in Amsterdam.

Trindade (front left, back to the camera) conducting the orchestra for Simone de Oliveira's performance of 'Desfolhada Portuguesa' in the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest in Madrid

OTHER ARTISTS ABOUT FERRER TRINDADE

Paula Costa was involved with Trindade in the formation of the Sociedade Musical Capricho Setubalense Band, “Ferrer Trindade was a very dynamic person, but very demanding at the same time, and always willing to work with others. Our country has lost a brilliant musician, who, with his great compositions, carried Portuguese music beyond the borders of our country into the world.” (1999)

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1969 Madrid

Country – Portugal

Song title – "Desfolhada Portuguesa"

Rendition – Simone de Oliveira

Lyrics – José Carlos Ary dos Santos

Composition – Nuno Nazareth Fernandes

Studio arrangement – Joaquim Luís Gomes

(studio orchestra conducted by Joaquim Luís Gomes)

Live orchestration – Joaquim Luís Gomes

Conductor – Ferrer Trindade

Score – 15th place (4 votes)

SOURCES & LINKS

• In order to compile Ferrer Trindade's biography, various open sources were consulted
• The best source on Portugal’s involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest, the website Festivais da Canção

ØIVIND BERGH

Born: December 3rd, 1909, Hamar (Norway)

Died: January 25th, 1987, Oslo (Norway)

Nationality: Norwegian

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview

BIOGRAPHY

Øivind Bergh studied violin in Dresden, Germany (1931-33). During the 1930s, Bergh, who was a multi-instrumentalist (e.g. saxophone, double-bass), played in various Oslo entertainment orchestras, amongst others those of Kristian Hauger and Willie Vieth. At the same time, he worked in the recording studios as a musician and, later, as a musical director with those same ensembles and many Norwegian vocalists. From 1939 until 1946, he was conductor of the Bristolorkester, Oslo.

In 1946, Bergh’s orchestra was merged with the band of Norwegian radio to form the Kringkastingsorkester, the new orchestra of national broadcaster NRK. Bergh led this ensemble for exactly thirty years, until he was pensioned in 1976. With the Kringkastingsorkester, Bergh performed in countless radio and television shows, most famously the Schlagerparaden, a popular music show in the 1960s. Occasionally, he hosted radio and TV shows as well, such as Meloditimen and some editions of the Melodi Grand Prix, the Norwegian Eurovision heats, in which his orchestra accompanied all participants. When he left the Kringkastingsorkester in 1976, a tribute show called ‘Øivind het han…’ was broadcast on nationwide television.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Øivind Bergh was the conductor of all Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest entries in the 1960s (including the country’s very first entry in 1960, ‘Voi-voi’), with the exception of the 1964 effort, when he was replaced by Karsten Andersen. The artists Bergh accompanied, were Nora Brockstedt (1960, 1961), Inger Jacobsen (1962), Anita Thallaug (1963), Kirsti Sparboe (1965, 1967, 1969), Åse Kleveland (1966), and Odd Børre (1968). Thus, Bergh came to a total of nine conducted songs, of which ‘Intet er nytt under solen’ (1966) did best; this entry came third.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1960 London

Country – Norway

Song title – "Voi-voi"

Rendition – Nora Brockstedt

Lyrics – Georg Elgaaen

Composition – Georg Elgaaen

Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen

Live orchestration – Carsten Klouman

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 4th place (11 votes)

1961 Cannes

Country – Norway

Song title – "Sommer i Palma"

Rendition – Nora Brockstedt

Lyrics – Egil Hagen

Composition – Jan Wølner

Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen

Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 7th place (10 votes)

1962 Luxembourg

Country – Norway

Song title – "Kom sol, kom regn"

Rendition – Inger Jacobsen

Lyrics – Ivar Andersen

Composition – Kjell Karlsen

Studio arrangement – Carsten Klouman

Live orchestration – Carsten Klouman

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 10th place (2 votes)

1963 London

Country – Norway

Song title – "Solhverv"

Rendition – Anita Thallaug

Lyrics – Dag Kristoffersen

Composition – Dag Kristoffersen

Studio arrangement (Jan Høiland version) – Jørg Petter Røed

Live orchestration – Carsten Klouman

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 13th place (0 votes)

1965 Naples

Country – Norway

Song title – "Karusell"

Rendition – Kirsti Sparboe

Lyrics – Jolly Kramer Johansen

Composition – Jolly Kramer Johansen

Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen

(studio orchestra conducted by Øivind Bergh)

Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 13th place (1 vote)

1966 Luxembourg

Country – Norway

Song title – "Intet er nytt under solen"

Rendition – Åse Kleveland

Lyrics – Arne Bendiksen

Composition – Arne Bendiksen

Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen

Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 3rd place (15 votes)

1967 Vienna

Country – Norway

Song title – "Dukkemann"

Rendition – Kirsti Sparboe

Lyrics – Ola Bjørnsønn Johannessen

Composition – Tor Hultin

Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen 

(studio orchestra conducted by Kjell Karlsen)

Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 14th place (2 votes)

1968 London

Country – Norway

Song title – "Stress"

Rendition –  Odd Børre Sørensen

Lyrics – Ola Bjørnsønn Johannessen

Composition – Tor Hultin

Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen

(studio orchestra conducted by Kjell Karlsen)

Live orchestration – Rolf Nord

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 13th place (2 votes)

1969 Madrid

Country – Norway

Song title – "Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli"

Rendition – Kirsti Sparboe

Lyrics – Arne Bendiksen

Composition – Arne Bendiksen

Studio arrangement – Egil Monn-Iversen

(studio orchestra conducted by Kjell Karlsen)

Live orchestration – Egil Monn-Iversen

Conductor – Øivind Bergh

Score – 16th place (1 vote)

HENRY MAYER

Born: November 18th, 1925, Nuremberg (Germany)

Died: September 22nd, 1998 (Germany)

Nationality: German

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview

BIOGRAPHY

Composer/arranger Henry Mayer (pseudonym of Heinz Meier) composed some major hits, including ‘Sind Sie der Graf von Luxemburg?’ by Dorthe Kollo and ‘Memories Of Heidelberg’ by Peggy March. He also penned the theme for TV series ‘The love boat’. His most famous composition is no doubt Frank Sinatra’s 1965 recording ‘The Summer Wind’, a cover of an originally German song with new English lyrics by Johnny Mercer. 

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Henry Mayer composed, arranged, and conducted the Swiss entry in the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, ‘Bonjour, bonjour’, which was sung by Paola del Medico; the lyrics were by Jack Stark. The song came fifth, immediately behind the four winning songs of that year (Netherlands, France, Spain, United Kingdom).

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1969 Madrid

Country – Switzerland

Song title – "Bonjour, bonjour"

Rendition – Paola Del Medico

Lyrics – Jack Stark

Composition – Henry Mayer

Studio arrangement – Henry Mayer

(studio orchestra conducted by Henry Mayer)

Live orchestration – Henry Mayer

Conductor – Henry Mayer

Score – 5th place (13 votes)

FRANS DE KOK

The following article is an overview of the career of Dutch multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and conductor Frans de Kok. The main source of information is an interview with Mr De Kok, conducted by Bas Tukker in 2006. The article below is subdivided into two main parts; a general career overview (part 3) and a part dedicated to Frans de Kok's Eurovision involvement (part 4).

All material below: © Bas Tukker / 2006 & 2010

Contents

1. Passport
2. Short Eurovision record
3. Biography
4. Eurovision Song Contest
5. Other artists about Frans de Kok
6. Eurovision involvement year by year
7. Sources & links

PASSPORT

Born: January 18th, 1924, Tilburg (Netherlands)

Died: May 4th, 2011, Mol (Belgium)

Nationality: Dutch

SHORT EUROVISION RECORD

Frans de Kok took part once in the contest, for the Netherlands in 1969, when the regular Dutch conductor of those days, Dolf van der Linden, declined going to Madrid. The song conducted by De Kok, ‘De troubadour’, won the contest – although it had to tie for first place with the entries from Spain, France and the United Kingdom.

BIOGRAPHY

Frans de Kok was born into a merchant family. He quit secondary education at sixteen and turned to a merchant training-school. In 1943, he was forced into hard labour in Germany, but managed to escape Cologne when it was bombed by the Allies. The remainder of the war, he spent in hiding. During those days, he taught himself to play the accordion. Later, he mastered the guitar and the double-bass as well. 

After World War II, he found employment in the jazz orchestra of Joe Andy, in which he played the double-bass and was the principal arranger. The orchestra toured the continent, mostly playing for American troops stationed in Europe.

In the late 1950s, he earned himself a contract as an arranger for De Zaaiers, the orchestra of one of the Dutch broadcasters, AVRO. In 1962, although without any conducting experience, he was promoted to the post of conductor of this ensemble. 

Second from left, playing double-bass in Jo Andy's dance orchestra on a tour in Switzerland (late 1940s)

Soon after, however, he got the opportunity to work with one of the rising stars of Dutch TV, Rudi Carrell, who, at that time, was show presenter at VARA, another broadcaster. For VARA, De Kok worked on a host of different television shows with his own orchestra. With Rudi Carrell, he won the Silver Rose of Montreux for the ‘Robinson Crusoe Show’, which, apart from Carrell, also featured Esther Ofarim (another former participant in the contest, for Switzerland in 1963) as a mermaid. In 1965, he conducted the Grand Gala du Disque, a very prestigious award show which was broadcasted live on Dutch national TV. Frans de Kok’s friendly character earned him the epithet ‘Father of crying singers’.

Because of his close involvement in Dutch television, De Kok did not work in the recording studio very often. Occasionally, he arranged and/or conducted studio orchestras for Dutch artists, amongst which, in 1965, the widely acclaimed and highly successful first album of Boudewijn de Groot, one of the Netherlands most acclaimed singer-songwriters. 

In 1967, he made a striking career move, opening a record store in his native Tilburg. Slowly but steadily, he withdrew from working for Dutch TV. Conducting the Dutch preliminaries for Eurovision in 1969 and accompanying Lenny Kuhr in Madrid was one of his last TV commissions.

In a short amount of time, Frans de Kok succeeded in building up a chain of highly profitable record stores in the south of the Netherlands. In 1980, he sold all his stores and set up a computer software company. It was only in 1998 that he retired. Until his passing in 2011, he lived in Balen-Wezel, Belgium.

Conducting a TV orchestra, mid-1960s

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 

In 1969, De Kok was asked by producer Warry van Kampen to substitute Dolf van der Linden, conductor of the Metropole Orchestra and regular at Eurovision in those days, who, for reasons that remain unclear, declined to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest that year. Some suggest Van der Linden, because of his experiences during World War II, had such contempt for the Franco regime in Spain that he refused to travel to Madrid. Frans de Kok compiled an orchestra with which he accompanied the Dutch national final in Scheveningen, from which ‘De troubadour’, sung by young singer-songwriter Lenny Kuhr, emerged as the winner. He travelled to Madrid with Kuhr and guitarist Piet Souer, himself a future Eurovision arranger and conductor.

The arrangement to the Dutch entry ‘De troubadour’ was penned by Bert Paige, a Flemish trumpet-player and a much sought-after arranger in the 1960s, who wrote the orchestration to no less than eleven Netherlands Eurovision songs; Frans de Kok made some minor changes to it, the most important one being that he left out the accordion that featured in the record version and substituted it for an organ. During the first rehearsal, it came about that the orchestration which had been sent to Madrid from the Netherlands had not arrived yet. It took until two days before the actual broadcast, when Frans de Kok was on the verge of starting to work on a new arrangement himself, that the original score was found in a drawer of a Spanish custom-house.

Frans de Kok turned his Eurovision participation into a personal success as well. He widely advertised in local newspapers for his record store with slogans such as, “From Madrid too, we provide the music. Watch the Eurovision Song Contest tonight!” He claims his participation in the contest gave a considerable boost to his business.

Rehearsing with Lenny Kuhr and Piet Souer in Madrid

OTHER ARTISTS ABOUT FRANS DE KOK

Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer-songwriter, “My producer Tony Vos asked Frans to be the conductor for my first album. Unlike most of the arrangers and conductors that worked in the recording business at that time, Frans’ style was really ‘swinging’. I wish I had had the opportunity to work with Frans more often.” (2006)

Milly Scott (who performed in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands) worked with De Kok on several jazz music programmes on Dutch TV, “I held him in high esteem – and I was not the only one. He was a gentleman-conductor. My conductor for Eurovision was Dolf van der Linden, who was a great professional, yet slightly distant and not very accessible. Frans, however, was someone whom you could talk to without any trouble: you simply made an appointment at his place to talk through all kinds of things. He was not a man prone on furthering his career.” (2006)

Piet Souer, guitarist backing up Lenny Kuhr's performance of 'De troubadour' in Madrid, “During the Eurovision week in Madrid, he invited Lenny and myself twice to his hotel room, because he wanted to check the score and acquaint himself thoroughly with it. I remember his always being well-dressed. When I myself started working as an arranger, Frans gave me advice during a performance in Tilburg for which I had written a string arrangement; Frans checked it for me.” (2006)

Lenny Kuhr, composer and performer of 'De troubadour', “Frans was not just my conductor for the contest; he also inspired me a great deal. When the first rehearsal in Madrid was about to commence and it turned out that there were no arrangements, Frans remained perfectly calm. On the third day he said, "When the score will not have arrived by tomorrow, I will write an arrangement myself." I remember the three of us sitting together working on the piano part of the new score. All that time he kept on smiling, which made me understand that things would turn out well. His smile became even more expressive when the arrangements turned up the following day. It was with that same quiet, friendly smile that he looked up at me at that big moment when we played the first tones of ‘De troubadour’ during the live broadcast of the contest.” (2006)

With Lenny Kuhr and Piet Souer - Madrid, Eurovision 1969

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1969 Madrid

Country – Netherlands

Song title – “De troubadour”

Rendition – Lenny Kuhr (feat. Piet Souer, guitarist)

Lyrics – David Hartsema

Composition – Lenny Kuhr

Studio arrangement – Bert Paige

Live orchestration – Bert Paige / Frans de Kok

Conductor – Frans de Kok

Score – 1st place (18 votes)

SOURCES & LINKS

• Bas Tukker did an interview with Frans de Kok, previously published in EA-Nieuws (2006-2007, no. 3/4)
• Photos courtesy of Frans de Kok Snr. & Jnr.
• Thanks to Boudewijn de Groot, Milly Scott, Piet Souer and Lenny Kuhr for sharing with us their memories of working with Frans de Kok

JOHNNY HARRIS

Born: November 7th, 1932, Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)

Died: March 21st, 2020, Palm Springs Ca. (United States)

Nationality: British

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview

BIOGRAPHY

Scottish-born Johnny Harris studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London. He became a much sought-after composer, arranger, producer, and conductor in the 1960s. In 1965, he was contracted by PYE records, for which he arranged six albums of Shirley Bassey and her hit songs ‘Something’ and ‘Never, Never, Never’. Harris worked extensively as a musical director for BBC Television, accompanying the likes of Georgie Fame and Petula Clark. In 1968-69, he conducted the music for a BBC show series, Happening for Lulu. He composed movie scores, amongst which Fragment Of Fear (1970) and I Want What I Want (1972). Harris moved to the United States in 1972 and lived on the West Coast until his passing in 2020.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

In 1969, Lulu was given the opportunity to sing for the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest. Johnny Harris was the musical director of the selection show in Britain in which she presented the songs, from which the audience could choose a winner. Subsequently, he travelled to the contest in Madrid with Lulu to conduct the Spanish orchestra during her rendition of ‘Boom-Bang-A-Bang’. This song became one of four winners that year, tying for first place with the entries from the Netherlands, Spain, and France.

Two years previously, Johnny Harris was commissioned to record the arrangement of France's Eurovision entry 'Il doit faire beau là-bas' with Noëlle Cordier.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1967 Vienna

Country – France

Song title – "Il doit faire beau là-bas"

Rendition – Noëlle Cordier

Lyrics – Pierre Delanoë

Composition – Hubert Giraud

Studio arrangement – Johnny Harris

(studio orchestra conducted by Johnny Harris)

Live orchestration – Johnny Harris

Conductor – Franck Pourcel

Score – 3rd place (20 votes)

1969 Madrid

Country – United Kingdom

Song title – "Boom Bang-A-Bang"

Rendition – Lulu 

Lyrics – Peter Warne

Composition – Alan Moorhouse

Studio arrangement – Johnny Harris

Live orchestration – Johnny Harris

Conductor – Johnny Harris

Score – 1st place (18 votes)

EZIO LEONI

Born: July 17th, 1927, Milan (Italy)

Died: February 22nd, 2015, Capriate San Gervasio (Italy)

Nationality: Italian

In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview

BIOGRAPHY

Ezio Leoni studied chemistry, until he found his new passion in music and formed the group Menestrelli del Jazz, in which he played the accordion; other members of this jazz ensemble were Gianfranco Intra (piano) and Fausto Papetti (saxophone). The group earned itself a record deal with a Swiss company, the Walter Guertler-led Music. As a result of the recordings he experienced in the Swiss studios, Leoni became interested in composing and conducting; it was not long before he was engaged as an arranger and conductor – often working under the pseudonym Len Mercer – for several record labels in Switzerland. As such, he worked with the young and coming rock-and-roll artist Adriano Celentano, for whom he composed ‘Blue Jeans Rock’, ‘Si è spento il sole’, and several other songs. 

In the 1960s, Ezio Leoni became the producer of Iva Zanicchi; he conducted most of her San Remo Festival entries, amongst which the winners ‘Non pensare a me’ (1967) and ‘Zingara’ (1969). Other artists who worked with Ezio Leoni, include Fausto Leali, Chet Baker, and Luigi Tenco. In 1977, Leoni returned to the San Remo Festival for a last time, conducting the orchestra for the winning group Homo Sapiens during their rendition of ‘Bella da morire’. Having ended his career as a musician, Leoni became board member of SIAE, which protects the rights of Italian musicians, composers, and music editors.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

After Iva Zanicchi’s victory in the San Remo Festival of 1969, she was invited by RAI to be the Italian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest of that same year, held in Madrid. There, she performed the song ‘Due grosse lacrime bianche’, penned by Piero Soffici and Carlo Daiano. Leoni wrote the orchestration and conducted the Spanish orchestra. The song scored a meagre five points and landed a 13th spot.

EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR

1969 Madrid

Country – Italy

Song title – "Due grosse lacrime bianche"

Rendition – Iva Zanicchi

Lyrics – Carlo Daiano

Composition – Piero Soffici

Studio arrangement – Ezio Leoni

Live orchestration – Ezio Leoni

Conductor – Ezio Leoni

Score – 13th place (5 votes)