I
Mietta

About:

12 November 1969

Mietta was born in Taranto under the name of Daniela Miglietta. As a youngster she and three other friends began a band called Ciak performing popular songs on the streets, in theaters and in local nightclubs. In 1987 she debuted as a radio actress in the radioshow ‘A star is born’. Later on she enters and wins a talentshow organized by TV-Radiocorriere and Fonit Cetra under the name of Mietta (suggested by Claudio Mattone).

She began her career in 1988 at San Remo festival with the song ‘Sogno’, which, however, did not reach the finals. In the same year she was on tour through Italy with Flavia Fortunato. 1989 she wins San Remo with a song by Amedeo Minghi called ‘Canzoni’. The song was her first top ten hit in Italy and started a lasting partnership with Minghi who would write her San Remo-entries in 1990 and 1991 as well. In 1989 she featured on the single ‘Per te Armenia’ which proceeds were for victims of the earthquake in Armenia. In the same year she released her debut album. On her second album 'Volano le pagine' (over 250,000 copies sold), she collaborated with songwriters like Mariella Nava, Mango and Biagio Antonacci

In 1992 Mietta's the third album ‘Lasciamoci respirare’ was released. It was recorded in London and contained contributions by American musicians, including Geoff Westley. The title-track, 'Let us breathe', written by Biagio Antonacci, is sung by Mietta in duet with actor Francesco Nuti. In this work, the singer began writing songs herself like ‘Vivrò vivrai vivremo noi', which opened the album, and 'Donna del sud'. In 1993 she participated again at San Remo this time with a song by Nek, ‘Figli di chi’.

In 1995 she takes a style change into a more urban style with ‘Daniela è felice’ ('Daniela is happy') mixing trip hop with soul and hip-hop. The video of the single ‘Oggi Dani è più felice’ won an award in England, as best foreign video of the year. In 1996 she lends her voice to the character of Esmeralda in the Disney animated film of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. More acting comes along in 1997 when she has a main part in the tv serie 'La piovra 8 - lo scandolo'. This is later followed by a part in ‘L'ispettore Giusti’ (1999), 'Joy - scherzi di gioia' (1999) and ‘Donne di mafia’ (2001).

In 2003 she released ‘Per esempio... per amore’, an album with electro-pop sounds and Arabian elements done in the collaboration with Mango. Hits on the album are ‘Shisa’, ‘Vivo senza te’ and ‘Sentirti’ a reinterpretation the Patty Pravo hit of the seventies. In 2005 participates in the second edition of the reality show on Rai2 called 'Music Farm'. In 2006, after a duet with Renato Zero for his 'Zero Movement Tour', she published the album ‘74100’ (the title represented the ZIP code of her hometown, Taranto). In 2008 she participated for the eighth time at Sanremo with the song 'Baciami adesso' ('Kiss me now') as a prequel to the album ‘Con il sole nelle mani’, presented at May 22 at Piper Club in Rome. At the end of the year she recorded a duet with Nada called ‘Amore disperato’. In 2011 she dedicates her album 'Due soli'to her son Fransesco Ian

On the web:

- Mietta's website on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/miettaofficial

What do we think:

PR: To me, Mietta is some kind of enigma. She has a really great, wonderful singing voice (deep, dark and powerfull), but her song material is not really consistent - to say the least. She collaborates with serious pop artists like Nada, Mango and Minghi, giving the impression she herself is one too, but on the other hand she dresses like - well - look at the pictures and decide for yourself. But fortunately, there is always that voice! I prefer her albums with a lot of electronics and synthesizers (her first two especially), they contrast perfectly with her deep, dark and warm voice, creating a unique sound.

DB: Sympathetic italian singer with a great voice. Such a great voice that Mietta can pull mediocre material across the line and can deliver a good track where others (with lesser vocal capacities) would fail. She is not an artist that experiments a lot and she had lesser period when she was completely into cheap R & B (the R Kelly version that is). In that period we saw her on Rai1 perform in Milan; not very good. But halfway the 00's she refound herself doing what she's good at, delivering a great pop-tune.

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Manto (Greece)

Albums:

♪♪♪♪ - Canzoni - 1990

♪♪♪♪ - Volano le pagine - 1991

♪♪♪ - Lasciamoci respirare - 1992

♪♪ - Cambia pelle - 1994

Daniela è felice - 1995

♪ - La mia anima - 1998

Tutto o niente (best of) - 2000

♪♪♪♪ - Per esempio... per amore - 2003

74100 - 2006

♪♪♪ - Con il sole nelle mani - 2008

♪♪♪ - Due Soli - 2011

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided