We are back to bella Italia as Massimo Ranieri’s “L’amore è un attimo” is number 72 on our Eurovision Top 100 list.
Italian is a beautiful language, which is why it’s no surprise we here on The Euro Yard love being sung to in it. Even though in modern times, the “native language rule” is long gone, Italy tends to send songs in its own language. Back in 1971, there was no option to sing in another tongue. Maybe that helped Ranieri crank out a great song.
Vital Information: “L’amore è un attimo”
| Song | L’amore è un attimo |
| English Translation | Love is a moment |
| Performed By | Massimo Ranieri |
| Written By | Enrico Polito, Giancarlo Bigazzi, & Gaetano Savio |
| Country | Italy |
| Year | 1971 |
| Language(s) Performed In | Italian |
| How It Fared | 5th Place (91 Points) |
| Was It Fair? | Wanted a little better |
What I Liked
This was not a good vocal performance: It was a great one. Ranieri’s vocals are very crisp in this 1971 contest. He sings with so much power and the composition sets him up nicely to belt it out the whole time. This piece seemed to be a good match for his skill set. The ending to this song was amazing and probably the best that whole contest.
When you read the lyrics, published over at Eurovision World, you see that in spite of its beauty, it’s quite the sad song. Lines such as “My only friend is the train that brings me home” and “Who knows if there will be а flower for you under the ѕnow” are preceded by the very first line, “Hello, forgive me my love, tonight I’m writing the last letter to you.” Nice to see songs that have some meaning, isn’t it? This piece was beautifully written, composed, and performed.
Other Facts
- The three songwriters for Ranieri – Polito, Bigazzi, and Savio – all also wrote his second entry, Chi sarà con te, in 1973. Bigazzi was also involved in 1992’s Rapsodia, a song which appears later on this list.
- Ranieri performed in the middle of the pack, 11th in the running order.
- The scoring system used in this era was nonsensical at best, but Italy received no 10 point maximum scores from any country. However, Monaco and France each gave it nine.
- In spite of going to Eurovision twice, Ranieri only won the Sanremo Music Festival once – far in the future in 1988. However, he was not sent to the contest that year.
- As of 2024, Ranieri was still actively performing.
Listen to “L’amore è un attimo” Pronto
You won’t want to skip this one, so get over to the YouTube link to see the performance.
