Corde della mia chitarra

"Corde della mia chitarra"
Eurovision Song Contest 1957 entry
Country	Italy
Artist(s)	Nunzio Gallo
With	Piero Gozo
Language	Italian
Composer(s)	Mario Ruccione
Lyricist(s)	Giuseppe Fiorelli
Conductor	Armando Trovajoli
Finals performance
Final result	6th
Final points	7
Entry chronology
◄ "Amami se vuoi" (1956)
"Nel blu dipinto di blu" (1958) ►

"Corde della mia chitarra" (Strings of my guitar) was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, performed in Italian by Nunzio Gallo.

With lyrics by Giuseppe Fiorelli and music by Mario Ruccione, including live guitar accompaniment provided by Piero Gozo, the song holds the distinction of being the longest song in the Contest's history. Writer John Kennedy O'Connor describes it as "over five minutes long" in his work on the Contest, and Des Mangan records it as "5 minutes and 9 seconds", as well as suggesting that the listener "would have thought of many better uses for the strings of his guitar". Following this Contest, the rule governing the length of entries was tightened to require them to be no longer than 3.5 minutes initially and later 3 minutes exactly, with both authors agreeing that the change was due to this entry's length. In the 2007 edition of John Kennedy O'Connor's The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, the song is officially listed as the longest entry in the history of the contest, ironically being performed after the officially listed shortest song.

The song itself is a ballad in the chanson style popular in the early years of the Contest. Gallo sings of his mixed feelings at seeing a former lover and realising that she is no longer interested in him. He asks the strings of his guitar to play for him alone, since she has no interest in their music anymore.

The song was performed fourth on the night, following the United Kingdom's Patricia Bredin with "All" and preceding Austria's Bob Martin with "Wohin, kleines Pony?". At the close of voting, it had received 7 points, placing it 6th in a field of 10.

It was succeeded as Italian representative at the 1958 Contest by Domenico Modugno with "Nel blu dipinto di blu".

References

• Diggiloo.net. "1957 Italy". Retrieved 2006-09-15.
• O'Connor, John Kennedy (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. Carlton Books, UK, ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
• Mangan, Des (2004). This Is Sweden Calling.