Carmen Consoli
Carmen Consoli (; born 4 September 1974 in Catania) is an Italian singer-songwriter. She has released 11 studio albums, one greatest hits, one soundtrack album, two live albums, four video album and 33 singles, selling 2 million copies in Italy, certified by M&D and FIMI with a multiplatinum disc, 11 platinum and two gold certifications. She earned three nominations at the Sanremo Music Festival, one Targa Tenco, one Lunezia Award, seven Italian, Wind & Music Awards, one Telegatto, one David di Donatello, and two Nastri d'argento, and several other awards. In 2012 Consoli has been appointed as a Knight  of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Life and biography. Consoli was born in Catania, and grew up in the small town of San Giovanni la Punta. She started playing guitar at the age of fifteen and she later joined a rock-blues band, the Moon Dog's Party. In 1996 she recorded her first album, "Due Parole", and participated to the Festival of Sanremo with the song "Amore di plastica". Her next album, "Confusa e felice" (1997) sold more than 130,000 copies. In the same year she embarked on her first tour, after some appearances on TV  programs. In autumn 1998 she released her third album, "Mediamente isterica", a particular album representing different kind of female figures. This album did not receive the same success as her previous work, selling around 80,000 copies, but became a favourite amongst her fans. In 2000 she took part in the Festival of Sanremo for the third time with the song "In bianco e nero", when her fourth album "Stato di necessità" was released. The album includes two of Carmen's greatest successes, songs "Parole di burro" and "L'ultimo bacio", the last one becoming the official title track for the soundtrack  of the film of the same name by Gabriele Muccino, starring Stefano Accorsi and Giovanna Mezzogiorno. "Stato di necessità" became her most successful album, selling more than 300,000 copies in a year. In that same year Carmen won two "Italian Music Awards" and the "Nastro D’Argento Award" at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily. In 2001 she released her first live album, called "L'anfiteatro e la bambina impertinente". The album presents all Consoli's greatest hits rearranged with an orchestra of sixty elements with the help of director Paolo Buonvino. A year later she released her fifth studio album, "L'eccezione . The album debuted at number 1 in the Italian album charts, selling more than 200,000 copies. 2003 saw the release of her second live album, Un sorso in più – dal vivo a MTV Supersonic", published with the collaboration of MTV Italy. The album was recorded at MTV's program "Supersonic" the year before, when Carmen presented to the public "L'eccezione". In 2006 "Eva contro Eva", her sixth studio album, was issued. Debuting at number 1, the album showed a new perspective of Carmen's music, this time full of traditional Sicilian sounds and ethnic influences, demonstrating her great diversity. The  album contains collaborations with Goran Bregovic and Angelique Kidjo. After a series of concerts through Europe, Canada and the United States "Eva contro Eva" was published in 2007 in The United States through Universal Latino. In 2008 third album "Mediamente isterica" was celebrated through a "Deluxe Edition" and a new tour. "Mediamente isterica – Deluxe Edition" is the first official "Deluxe Edition" of an Italian artist. The same year she wrote the original soundtrack for the movie "L'uomo che ama", directed by Maria Sole Tognazzi and starring Monica Bellucci, Pierfrancesco Favino and Ksenia Rappoport. "Elettra", her seventh studio album, was released  on 30 October 2009, including first single "Non molto lontano da qui" and debuting at number 2 in the FIMI Italian Album Charts. The album sold in Italy more than 60,000 copies gaining platinum status and won the "Targa Tenco" for the category ""Album of the Year"". During her career she collaborated with many artists: Mario Venuti, Natalie Merchant, Henri Salvador, La Crus, Paola Turci, Marina Rei, Max Gazzè, Franco Battiato, Luca Madonia, Ornella Vanoni, Ron, Marco Di Mauro, Marco Parente, Lucio Dalla, Goran Bregovic and Angelique Kidjo. She has produced albums by La Camera Migliore, Agata Lo Certo and  Lăutari through her label "Due Parole", established in Catania. In November 2010 she released her first "best of" album, called "Per niente stanca". The album was anticipated by the single "Guarda l'alba", a collaboration with Tiziano Ferro. The second new song "AAA Cercasi" was released as a single in January 2011. In July 2011 she published her first video collection, which includes all her videos from 1996 to 2011 plus some extras. In November 2012 Carmen Consoli was officially knighted. She received the highest ranking civilian honour of the Italian Republic and was bestowed the title of "Cavaliere" (Knight) of  the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.