# Lorella Cuccarini

Lorella Cuccarini Persili (born August 10, 1965) is an Italian dancer, television presenter, singer, and actress.

## Life and career

Born in Rome, at nine years old Cuccarini started to attend the dance school of Enzo Paolo Turchi (choreographer and husband of Carmen Russo).
After some experiences as a chorus girl, Cuccarini made her television debut at twenty years old alongside Pippo Baudo in the sixth edition of Fantastico, then she worked for RAI and Mediaset in many successful variety shows, including Festivalbar, seven editions of Paperissima and of Trenta ore per la vita, three editions of Buona Domenica.
Cuccarini is also a singer, with several top-ten charting singles and albums; in 1995 she entered the Sanremo Music Festival 1995 (she had hosted two years earlier), ranking tenth with the song "Un altro amore no".

### Beyoncé

Following her performance at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, American pop star Beyoncé initially received widespread praise from fans and critics. Critics, however, voiced concerns about similarities to Cuccarini's in February 2010 performance at the 60th Sanremo Music Festival. Billy Johnson, Jr of Yahoo! Music wrote: "Kenzo Digital, who spent a month creating Beyoncé's interactive video, told Yahoo! News that Lorella concert footage is only part of the inspiration for Beyoncé's show: "[The Cuccarini artists] are awesome and do incredible work as well, but there are a lot of different inspirations for where our piece came from." Beyoncé responded two days later through an interview with AOL Music, saying she was inspired after finding Cuccarini's performance online:"My makeup artist showed me the performance of Lorella Cuccarini a year ago, and it inspired me so much. I then met with the talented people who worked on it. The technology and concept were so genius. She was inspired after discovering Cuccarini's performance online. Thank God for YouTube or I would have never been exposed to something so inspiring. I never worked so hard on anything in my life as that performance for the Billboard Awards."

### Personal life and family

Cuccarini married the composer Silvio Testi in 1991. They have four children.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of albums, with release date and certifications :
| Title | Album details | Certifications |
| Lorel | Released: 1986 Label: Polydor Records Format: CD, LP | |
| Voci | Released: 1993 Label: RTI Music Format: CD, LP, cassette | FIMI: Platinum |
| Voglia di fare | Released: 1995 Label: RTI Music Format: CD, LP, cassette | |

### Compilation albums

List of compilation albums, with release date and certifications :
| Title | Album details | Certifications |
| Heather e Lorella (with Heather Parisi) | Released: 1988 Label: Polydor Records Format: CD, LP, cassette | |
| Nemicamatissima | Released: March 31, 2017 Label: Warner Music Italy Format: CD, LP, digital download cassette | |

### Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | ITA | Certifications | Album |
| "Sugar Sugar/ La rete d'oro" | 1985 | 5 | | Lorel |
| "Tutto matto/ Sandy" | 1986 | 6 | FIMI: Gold | Lorel |
| "Kangarù/ Accedimi il cuore" | 1986 | — | | Lorel |
| "L'amore è/ Chi è di scena" (featuring Alessandra Martines) | 1986 | 12 | | Lorel |
| "Io ballerò/ Se ti va di cantare" | 1987 | 3 | FIMI: Gold | Non-album single |
| "La notte vola" | 1989 | 7 | FIMI: Platinum | Non-album single |
| "Lullabye Mix" | 1989 | — | | Non-album single |
| "Magic (Mix Version)" | 1989 | — | | Non-album single |
| "Per te Armenia/ Sono caduti" (featuring Vittorio Gassman) | 1989 | — | | Non-album single |
| "Ascolta il cuore" | 1991 | — | | Non-album single |
| "Oh signorina/ Tarzan" (featuring Francesco Salvi and Marco Columbro) | 1991 | 17 | | Se lo sapevo |
| "Liberi liberi" | 1992 | — | | Voci |
| "Un altro amore no" | 1995 | — | | Voglia di fare |
| "Uno di noi" (featuring Gianni Morandi) | 2002 | 31 | | Non-album single |
| "Un'onda d'amore" | 2008 | — | | Non-album single |
| "Il mio viaggio" | 2010 | — | | Non-album single |
| "Tanto tempo ancora" (featuring Heather Parisi) | 2016 | — | | Nemicamatissima |
| "Un pacco per te" (with Il Pagante) | 2021 | — | | Non-album single |
| "La notte vola RMX" (with Olly) | 2023 | — | FIMI: Gold | Gira, il mondo gira |

### Other appearances

List of non-singles guest appearances, with release year and other artists :
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
| "This Is the Time" (cover) | 1990 | None | Sentieri d'amore |
| "Voci" | 1992 | None | Buona Domenica |
| "Tu come me/ Tu como yo" | 1993 | None | Micaela |
| "Parola a chi" | 1995 | None | La stangata |
| "Portami via" | 1995 | Luca Jurman | Non-album song |
| "Mi mancherai" | 1995 | None | Il disprezzo |
| "X Te" | 1996 | None | Buona Domenica |
| "Ran can can" | 1999 | None | Campioni di ballo |
| "Guarda la realtà" | 2017 | None | My Little Pony: The Movie |
| "Magica Doremì" | 2022 | Cristina D'Avena | 40 - Il sogno continua |

## Filmography
### As an actress

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Guiding Light | Herself | Soap opera, cameo |
| 1992 | Piazza di Spagna | Annabella Morganti | Miniseries |
| 1998 | Star Trek: Insurrection | Starfleet Crewman | Uncredited |
| 2004 | Amiche | Giovanna Marchi | Miniseries |
| 2006 | Lo zio d'America | Francesca | Main role (season 2) |
| 2007 | Lissi und der wilde Kaiser | Lissi (voice) | Italian dub |
| 2012 | L'amore è sordo | Director Lorella | Television film |
| 2017 | My Little Pony: The Movie | Tempest Shadow (voice) | Italian dub |
| 2018 | L'isola di Pietro | Isabella Sulci | Recurring role |
| 2024 | No Activity | Committee Chair | Episode: "Notte numero 17" |

### Other appearances

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1984 | Te lo do io il Brasile | Herself/ Background dancer | Variety show |
| 1985 | Il tastomatto | Herself/ Background dancer | Variety show |
| 1985–1987 | Fantastico | Herself/ Various | Variety show (seasons 6–7) |
| 1987–1988 | Festival | Herself/co-host | Variety show |
| 1988–1989 | Odiens | Herself/co-host | Sketch comedy show |
| 1989, 1995, 2000 | Vota la voce | Herself/co-host | Competition show (seasons 17, 23, 28) |
| 1990–2004 | Paperissima | Herself/co-host | Variety show (seasons 1–2, 4–7) |
| 1991 | Bellezze sulla neve | Herself/co-host | Game show (season 1) |
| 1991–1996 | Buona domenica | Herself/host | Variety show (seasons 4–5, 8) |
| 1993 | Sanremo Music Festival 1993 | Herself/co-host | Annual music festival |
| 1995 | Sanremo Music Festival 1995 | Herself/ contestant | Annual music festival |
| 1995 | La stangata: Chi la fa l'aspetti | Herself/host | Prank variety show |
| 1996; 1999 | Campioni di ballo | Herself/host | Competition dance show (seasons 1 and 4) |
| 1998 | A tutta festa | Herself/co-host | Variety show |
| 2001 | La notte vola | Herself/host | Musical show |
| 2001 | Stelle a quattro zampe | Herself/host | Animal competition show |
| 2002–2003 | Uno di noi | Herself/co-host | Variety show |
| 2008 | La sai l'ultima? | Herself/host | Variety show (season 10) |
| 2010–2011 | Domenica in | Herself/co-host | Talk show (season 35) |
| 2011 | Un amico è così | Herself/host | Reality competition show |
| 2011 | Star Academy | Herself/ Judge | Competition dance show |
| 2012 | Miss Italia 2012 | Herself/ Judge | Annual beauty contest |
| 2014 | La pista | Herself/ Judge | Competition dance show |
| 2015 | Ti lascio una canzone | Herself/ Judge | Musical talent show |
| 2016 | Nemicamatissima | Herself/co-host | Variety show |
| 2019–2020 | La vita in diretta | Herself/co-host | Talk show (season 30) |
| 2020–present | Amici di Maria De Filippi | Herself/dance teacher | Talent show (season 20) |
| 2020–present | Amici di Maria De Filippi | Herself/singing teacher | Talent show (season 21–present) |
| 2022 | Striscia la notizia | Herself/guest host | Variety show (season 34) |
| 2023 | Sanremo Music Festival 2023 | Herself/guest | Guest performer for the 4th night |
| 2024 | Sanremo Music Festival 2024 | Herself/co-host | Co-host for the 4th night |
| 2024 | This Is Me | Herself/regular guest | Amici di Maria de Filippi spin-off |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1997–1999 | Grease | Sandy Dobrowski |
| 2005–2007 | Sweet Charity | Charity |
| 2014–2016; 2022 | Rapunzel: The Musical | Mother Gothel |