Angelina Mango is one of Italy’s youngest stars as of late, following her Sanremo 2024 win. And now, she will ride the wave of excitement to Malmö, representing Italy in Eurovision 2024. Here is all you need to know about her ahead of the contest.
Who is Angelina Mango?
Angelina Mango was born in Maratea, Basilicata in the south of Italy, on the 10th April 2001. The singer-songwriter is the daughter of the acclaimed late singer-songwriter Mango, and Laura Valente, formerly of the music group Matia Bazar. Growing up in Lagonegro, Basilicata, both she and her older brother Filippo shared a passion for music. Throughout her childhood she was influenced by the Rolling Stones, Nirvana, and Aretha Franklin, and wrote her first song ‘Mi sono innamorata di me’ at the age of five. She also learned dance for a decade, which she gave up to focus solely on music. At age 12, she joined her brother’s cover band Black Lake as a singer, performing around the town of Lagonegro together. Being involved in music so young, she also supplied backing vocals on her father’s album ‘La terra degli aquiloni’, and collaborated with him on the track ‘Get Back’ (originally by the Beatles) on his last album ‘L’amore è invisibili’.
Unfortunately, in 2014 tragedy struck, and her father died of a heart attack following a performance at a charity event. Following the death, she suspended her studies. In 2016, she moved with her mother and brother to Milan, Lombardy, continuing her studies in a high school centred around the arts, enrolling in the humanities faculty. She also worked as a babysitter, and performed on the side in a band, again with her brother.
Her career so far
In November 2020 she released her first single ‘Va tutto bene’, before her EP ‘Monolocale’. In 2021, she opened Giovanni Caccamo and Michele Placido’s Parola Tour, and in the same year, she submitted the song ‘La tua buona colazione’to Sanremo Giovani, but was not shortlisted. In 2022 she participated in the Primo Maggio music show, and in the Musica da bere contest, where she won the Live prize. She also participated as a guest in the Rai 3 programme Via dei Matti nº0.
In 2023, she competed in the talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi and finished 2nd in the final. She released ‘Voglia di vivere’ and ‘Mani vuote’ during the show, and following that, she opened Elisa’s concert in Rome, and performed in Capodanno in musica. In May she released the greatly successful single ‘Ci pensiamo domani’ just before the EP ‘Voglia di vive’, which debuted at 2nd on the album charts, and was certified gold. The song became a summer hit, and placed among the top 10 singles, as well as being certified four times platinum. It also won the Lunezia prize for musical literary value. Over the summer, she performed in such festivals as Battiti Live and TIM Summer Hits. In October, she premiered the song ‘Che t’o dico a fa’’ during Amici di Maria De Filippi, which reached 3rd in the singles chart, and went double platinum. She began her ‘Voglia di Vivere Tour’ in October in Naples, Campania, which sold out in the main clubs of the peninsula. There she presented the song ‘Fila indiana’, which is part of the soundtrack of the series Noi siamo leggenda. Overall, her pop laced with different genres has earned about four million monthly listeners.
Following Eurovision, she will be releasing her debut album ‘Poké melodrama’ on the 31st May.
Sanremo 2024
During Sanremo 2024, Angelina was consistently one of the top scorers. She secured 2nd place on night one thanks to the press jury, and topped the ranking on night three as voted for by the radio jury and the televote. On covers night, she performed her father’s song ‘La rondine’ alongside Quartetto D’Archi Orchestra Di Roma (the string quartet of the Orchestra of Rome), controversially only placing second after leaving a nation in tears. However, the following night, she won the contest overall with ‘La noia’, becoming the first solo woman to win since Arisa in 2014. ‘La noia’ also won the Lucio Dalla press award, and the Giancarlo Bigazzi orchestra award, for the best musical composition. Overall, in the final, she placed 1st with both the radio and press juries, but 2nd with the televote. However, her high scores with the former groups carried her to a victory.
Eurovision 2024
‘La noia’ (The boredom) is a pop-cumbia song, written by herself, Dardust, and Madame. The cumbia genre is also referenced in the lyrics; “è la cumbia della noia” (it’s the cumbia of the boredom).
“It is [about] the way I approach life. Boredom is seen as a negative thing, but in reality, it’s time you dedicate to yourself, it allows to you to discover yourself. Between a life of ups and downs and one of boredom, I will always choose one of ups and downs, but I will always leave myself time for boredom.”
Angelina explaining the meaning behind ‘La noia’.
It has charted in Italy, Greece, and Switzerland already, has debuted at 4th on Spotify’s daily chart, and has placed 110th on the Billboard Global 200 chart. Alongside fellow Sanremo 2024 entry, Annalisa’s 3rd placer ‘Sinceramente’, it became the fastest song by a female solo artist to reach platinum (two weeks).
Social media
If you want to keep up with Angelina, you can find her on social media, on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, or Tiktok.
