Elisa (singer)

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Elisa
Elisa at a concert in Florence in January 2007, promoting her new best-of album Soundtrack '96-'06
Elisa at a concert in Florence in January 2007, promoting her new best-of album Soundtrack '96-'06
Background information
Born December 19, 1977 (1977-12-19) (age 30)
Origin Trieste, Italy
Genre(s) Pop, rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s) vocals, piano, guitar
Years active 1996 - present
Label(s) Sugar srl
Website www.elisatoffoli.com

Elisa (born Elisa Toffoli 19 December 1977) is an Italian singer and songwriter. Her music includes a variety of genres: rock, blues, soul and ambient. Her voice is recognisable by her frequent use of her high pitched head voice.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Elisa Toffoli was born in Trieste (north-eastern Italy), Elisa expressed early on a great artistic ability in dancing, painting, reciting and the writing of stories. Her love for art grew with poems of Rudyard Kipling and the lyrics of Jim Morrison of The Doors, but her talent is best expressed in music. Her song-writing dates back to the age of 11. At 15 she appeared in a televised karaoke program.

16 years old she met Caterina Caselli, who one year later signed her to the record company Sugar. At 18 she left for Berkeley, California (U.S.) where she started working on songs for her debut album with Corrado Rustici, producer of artists such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and Zucchero.

[edit] Career

[edit] Pipes & Flowers and Asile's World

In May 1997 her first single "Sleeping in Your Hand" was released, followed by her debut album Pipes & Flowers on September 22. All songs were written or co-written by Elisa. The album soon went triple platinum in Italy.

Four singles from Pipes & Flowers were released: "Sleeping in Your Hand", "Labyrinth", "A Feast for Me" and "Mr. Want". These led to winning both the Targa Tenco (Tenco Plate) and the Premio Italiano della Musica (Italian Musical Award) at the end of 1997. She proved herself an excellent live performer at the Imola Heineken Jammin' Festival and as a special guest on Eros Ramazzotti's European tour. In Ocober she recorded another single, Cure Me produced by Darren Allison, who has worked with Skunk Anansie and Spiritualized. The track appears on the re-release of Pipes & Flowers.

On May 5th 2000 she released the follow-up Asile's World (Asile being Elisa written backwards). The album featured songs produced by Darren Allison, Howie B, Roberto Vernetti, Mauro Malavasi and Leo Z. Singles from this album were: "Gift", "Happiness Is Home" and a remix of the title track "Asile's World".

[edit] The 2001 Sanremo Festival

In September 2000 Elisa recorded her first song in Italian, "Luce (tramonti a nord est)". The song was initially written in English, but was translated in collaboration with Elisa's mother and Zucchero. The song was presented supported by her band and the Solis String Quartet at the 2001 Sanremo Festival, and won her the critics' award and the whole Festival. "Luce" and the original "Come Speak to Me" were later included on the re-release of Asile's World.

On November 26th she was awarded three prizes at the Italian Music Awards: Best female artist, Best single and Best song.

[edit] Third album and international release

November 9, 2001 the release of her third album Then Comes the Sun, again produced by Rustici. Four singles were released: "Heaven Out of Hell" (dedicated to her mother), "Rainbow" (reaching #5 on the Italian charts), a remix of "Time" and "Dancing". The album went triple platinum.

At the closing of the 2002 Salt Lake City, Utah Olympics, Elisa performed a jazzy version of the Italian national hymn after the passing of the Olympic Flag to Italy for the Winter Olympic Games in 2006. The following she performed both at the May 1 celebration in Rome and at the 2002 Pavarotti and Friends concert, singing "Voglio vivere così (col sole in fronte)" with the world famous tenor. She also received two more awards, Premio Italiano della Musica's best female artist and best single (for "Luce").

In August 2002 Sugar released an International album simply entitled Elisa. The album is a collection of the best songs from her three first albums and "Come Speak to Me", the original English version of her hit "Luce", received high rotation on MTV Europe. The single received fair airplay and moderate attention in several European countries, but failed to establish Elisa as an international artist.

In 2003 Elisa recorded her second song in Italian, a cover version of "Almeno tu nell'universo", originally performed by Mia Martini in 1989. The track was featured in the Italian motion picture Ricordati di me by Gabriele Muccino.

[edit] Acoustic album and Pearl Days

Later the same year Elisa released the album Lotus, an acoustic album featuring new, stripped-down versions of some of her best songs as well as a handful of new ones. She also did a cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". The singer did not see Lotus as an ordinary album, but regarded it as "a photograph, a captured moment in which I felt lost, like a bottle at sea". Two original singles were released: "Broken" and "Electricity".

On September 14, 2004, after an extensive acoustic tour supporting Lotus, Elisa released "Together", her first single from the album Pearl Days released one month later on October 15. All tracks were produced by Glen Ballard, known for producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill and tracks for artists such as Anastacia, Michael Jackson, Shakira, Christina Aguilera and The Corrs. The album was more rock-influenced and sported more electric guitars than her earlier records. Two more singles were released: "The Waves" and "Una poesia anche per te", the latter being a translation of the track "Life Goes On". The Italian version was not originally included on the album, but was included on a re-release. "Una poesia anche per te" reached #1 on the Italian sales charts and it was the most selling single in 2005 by a female artist.

In the summer of 2005, Elisa appeared at the Live 8 concert in Rome, alongside Zucchero, Luciano Ligabue and other major Italian artists. Later the same year she is awarded prizes for best lyrics and best video for "Una poesia anche per te".

[edit] New singles and best-of compilation

After a massive Pearl Days-tour, Elisa returned with a new single in 2005. Swan was written the for the film Melissa P, based on a book by Italian writer Melissa Panarello.

In early 2006 she released a self-penned duet with Tina Turner entitled "Teach Me Again", recorded for the film All the Invisible Children. The single was published not only in Italy, but also in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Luxembourg and Spain.

At the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Torino, Elisa performed her song "Luce". Other artists performing include Andrea Bocelli, Avril Lavigne and Ricky Martin.

On November 17, 2006 Soundtrack '96-'06 was released, a collection of hits through her first ten years as a recording artist. The album also contains four new songs, three of them in Italian ("Gli ostacoli del cuore", "Eppure sentire (un senso di te)" and "Qualcosa che non c'è") and one in English (" Stay"). The first single, "Gli ostacoli del cuore" is written and composed by Luciano Ligabue, who also appears on the recording. The other three new songs of the record have also been released as singles. The album has gone diamond in Italy, selling more than 650,000.

The first single from Soundtrack '96-'06 was "Gli ostacoli del cuore". The song peaked in Italy at number one staying 14 weeks in that position. Also the album reached number 1 beginning the third most selling album of 2006 in Italy.

The second single was "Eppure sentire (un senso di te)". This song is the soundtrack of the film "Manuale d'amore 2-capitoli sucessivi" and there also the English version : "One step away" and Spanish version : "Sentir sin embargo", sold on iTunes.

The third single was "Stay", and the fourth "Qualcosa che non c'è".

In 2007, there has been a resurgance in interest in the singer, especially in the US, where the single "Dancing" was featured in the hit TV show So You Think You Can Dance on the June 13 episode. The song broke in the iTunes Top 100 Chart for the first time ever right after the show.

The first Elisa live cd+dvd was released in Italy on November 23, 2007. The record includes 15 live songs, while the DVD features the entire sold out concert recorded in April 2007 at Datchforum in Assago (Milan) during the first part of the Soundtrack live '96-'06 tour.

Elisa's debut appearance in the United States was scheduled for February 26th, 2008, but was cancelled due to complications with the singer's Visa. The premiere was further postponed to April 8, 2008 at Joe's Pub in New York City. As well as another appearance in New York, she will be performing in Los Angeles as well. Her future appearances in America are a project to further expose herself to popularity within the United States.

[edit] Discography

Main article: Elisa discography

[edit] Albums

Year Album ITA chart Sales
1997 Pipes & Flowers 9 350,000
2000 Asile's World 5 230,000
2001 Then Comes the Sun 10 220,000
2002 Elisa (international album) - -
2003 Lotus 2 280,000
2004 Pearl Days 2 150,000
2006 Soundtrack '96-'06 1 700,000
2007 Caterpillar (international album) 34 -
2007 Soundtrack live '96-'06 - (cd + dvd) 11 70.000
2008 Dancing (only U.S & Canada) - -

[edit] References

[edit] External links