Iva Zanicchi

Vocation

Italian pop singer and politician. Iva Zanicchi has a powerful, soulful, mezzo-soprano voice that evokes comparisons to early American rhythm-and-blues music pioneers and her style reflects her uncompromising approach to both her music and career. She won the Sanremo song festival in 1967 with "Non pensare a me," in 1969 with "Zingara" and again in 1974 with "Ciao cara, come stai?" Zanicchi remains the only woman singer to have won that festival's prize three times. In 1969, she represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest in Madrid with "Due Grosse Lacrime Bianche," where she finished 13th. In total, Iva released 14 albums during the Seventies, including a Christmas-themed, Neapolitan and Spanish language recordings. From 1987 to 2000 Iva hosted the very popular game show Ok, il prezzo è giusto!, the Italian version of The Price Is Right as the only female host in the history of the game show worldwide. In 2004 she was one of Forza Italia's candidates at the European Parliament elections, polling nearly 35,000 but not enough to be elected. However, as the highest-polling among the candidates failing to be elected, Iva took up her seat in Strasburg in May 2008, representing Forza Italia, when EuroMP Mario Mantovani left to become a PdL senator. She was confirmed in her post at the European elections of June 2009. Link to Wikipedia biography