Italy: Get to know Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro

This year’s San Remo festival in Italy completed about a month ago and Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro were crowned as the big winners. The duo with  the song “Non mi avete fatto niente” will travel toLisbon representing Italy at ESC 2018. But who are these two artists who will  represent Italy in the biggest European song feast?

Ermal Meta was born on 20 April 1981 and is an Italian-Albanian singer and songwriter. He was a member of the Italian bands Ameba4 and La Fame di Camilla, which  participated in the “Newcomers” section of the Sanremo Music Festival. After writing songs for several Italian artists, he began his solo career by releasing two studio albums: “Umano” (2016) and “Vietato morire” (2017). The latter reached the top in Italy and preceded the single with the same title, which ranked third in the main contesting part  of Sanremo 2017 Music Festival, where also received the Mia Martini Critics Award.

Born in Fier, Albania, Meta moved to Bari, southern Italy, at the age of 13 with his family. Meta made his debut as a guitarist of the Italian band Ameba4, which competed in the Newcomers section of the Sanremo 2006 Music Festival with the song “Rido forse mi sbaglio”, which was included in their autobiographical album released in February 2006.

In 2007, Meta became the frontman, singer and main songwriter of “ La Fame di Camilla”. Their first album, “La Fame di Camilla”, was released by Universal Music in 2009. The band released later  the albums “Buio e luce”, including the track that participated in the Newcomers section of the Sanremo 2010 Music Festival and “L’attesa” (2012). The band broke up in 2013.

In July 2013, he appeared as an artist in Patty Pravo with the song  “Non mi interessa.” .In 2014, he wrote the soundtrack of the Italian tv series “ Braccialetti rossi”, interpreting the song “Tutto si muove”. In 2016, he competed at the 66th Sanremo Music Festival, delivering  the song “Odio le favole,” which ranked third in the “ Newcomers” section. “Odio le favole” was included in his solo album, Umano. He returned to the contest  in 2017, competing for the first time in the “Big Artists” section, with the song “Vietato morire”.  During the third night of the contest, he presented a remix of “Amara terra mia” by Domenico Modugno, which received the Best Remix Award.  Meta took third place in the contest  and received the Mia Martini Critics Award. His second studio album, “Vietato morire”, was released on February 10, 2017.The album also included a duet with the Italian singer-songwriter Elisa.

In March 2017, Meta was selected as judge for the 16th Italian Amici di Maria De Filippi talent series.

Fabrizio Moro was born on April 9, 1975 and is an Italian singer, winner of the 57th San Remo Festival (2007), in the category of young creators.

Fabrizio Moro was born in Rome and specifically in the San Basil district. A few years later he moved to Stesiville, a small neighborhood in Guidonia, on the outskirts of Rome where he spent his childhood. From a very young age he showed great ability in songwriting and a special talent in the music itself, so much he learned to play guitar without a teacher.

His first album, which was named by his name, was released in 2000, when he first participated in the Sanremo Festival in the category of young artists with the song “Un giorno senza fine”, winning 13th place. In 2004 he participated in the” Italianos para siempre” selection, along with other representatives of the Italian song. The following year, his new single “Ci vuole un business” was released, a song used by the Italian Red Cross for his social campaigns. The track then released with the artist’s second album titled “Ognuno ha quel che si merita”, which was released in early 2007.

In 2007 he participated in the 57th Sanremo Festival, always in the category of young artists, with the song “Pensa”, which was dedicated to the victims of the Mafia, winning the first prize, as well as the Critics’ Mia Martini Award. For “Pensa”, a video clip was filmed by director Marco Rizzi, in which Rita Burselino (an Italian politician and activist against the Mafia – her brother Paolo was a victim) and several actors of the film “Mery per sempre” which Rizzi returned in 1989.

In 2008, he participated again in Sanremo festival with the song “Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita”, winning the third place in the Campioni category. On February 29th of the same year he released his new album, entitled “Domani” (Tomorrow). On July 4, he made his first live concert at the Roma Rock Festival, in front of 8,500 spectators.

Below, remember again their song ““Non mi avete fatto niente”:

Here are the lyrics:

[Strofa 1: Ermal Meta]
A Il Cairo non lo sanno che ore sono adesso
Il sole sulla Rambla oggi non è lo stesso
In Francia c’è un concerto, la gente si diverte
Qualcuno canta forte, qualcuno grida “A morte”
A Londra piove sempre ma oggi non fa male
Il cielo non fa sconti neanche a un funerale
A Nizza il mare è rosso di fuochi e di vergogna
Di gente sull’asfalto e sangue nella fogna

[Strofa 2: Fabrizio Moro]
E questo corpo enorme che noi chiamiamo Terra
Ferito nei suoi organi dall’Asia all’Inghilterra
Galassie di persone disperse nello spazio
Ma quello più importante è lo spazio di un abbraccio
Di madri senza figli, di figli senza padri
Di volti illuminati come muri senza quadri
Minuti di silenzio spezzati da una voce
Non mi avete fatto niente

[Ritornello: Ermal Meta]
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non mi avete tolto niente
Questa è la mia vita che va avanti
Oltre tutto, oltre la gente
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non avete avuto niente
Perché tutto va oltre le vostre inutili guerre

[Strofa 3: Fabrizio Moro]
C’è chi si fa la croce, chi prega sui tappeti
Le chiese e le moschee, gli imam e tutti i preti
Ingressi separati della stessa casa
Miliardi di persone che sperano in qualcosa

[Strofa 4: Ermal Meta]
Braccia senza mani, facce senza nomi
Scambiamoci la pelle, in fondo siamo umani
Perché la nostra vita non è un punto di vista
E non esiste bomba pacifista

[Ritornello: Fabrizio Moro]
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non mi avete tolto niente
Questa è la mia vita che va avanti
Oltre tutto, oltre la gente
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non avete avuto niente
Perché tutto va oltre le vostre inutili guerre
Le vostre inutili guerre

[Strofa 5: Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro]
Cadranno i grattacieli, le metropolitane
I muri di contrasto alzati per il pane
Ma contro ogni terrore che ostacola il cammino
Il mondo si rialza col sorriso di un bambino
Col sorriso di un bambino
(Col sorriso di un bambino)

[Ritornello: Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro]
Non mi avete fatto niente
Non avete avuto niente
Perché tutto va oltre le vostre inutili guerre
Non mi avete fatto niente
Le vostre inutili guerre
Non mi avete tolto niente
Le vostre inutili guerre
Non mi avete fatto niente
Le vostre inutili guerre
Non avete avuto niente
Le vostre inutili guerre

[Outro: Fabrizio Moro & Ermal Meta]
Sono consapevole che tutto più non torna
La felicità volava
Come vola via una bolla

Lyrics in English:

[Verse 1: Ermal Meta]
Now they don’t know what time it is in Cairo
The sun on La Rambla today isn’t the same
In France, there’s a concert
People having fun
Someone sings powerfully
Someone screams “to death”
In London it always rains, but today it doesn’t hurt
The sky makes no exception, even for a funeral
In Nice, the sea is red with fire and shame
With people on the asphalt and blood in the sewer

[Verse 2: Fabrizio Moro]
And this enormous body that we call Earth
Wounded to its core form Asia to England
Galaxies of people dispersed in space
But the most important space is that of an embrace
Of mothers without sons, sons without fathers
Of faces lit up like walls without pictures
Minutes of silence, broken by a voice
You haven’t done anything to me

[Chorus: Ermal Meta]
You haven’t done anything to me
You’ve taken nothing from me
This is my life, and it keeps going
Beyond everything, beyond people
You haven’t done anything to me
You haven’t won anything
Because there’s more than your pointless wars

[Verse 3: Fabrizio Moro]
There are those who make the sign of the cross
And those who pray on rugs
Churches and mosques
Imams and all the priests
Separate entrances to the same house
Billions of people hoping for something

[Verse 4: Ermal Meta]
Arms without hands
Faces without names
Let’s swap our skin
Deep down we’re all human
Because our lives aren’t a point of view
And there is no pacifist bomb

[Chorus: Fabrizio Moro]
You haven’t done anything to me
You’ve taken nothing from me
This is my life, and it keeps going
Beyond everything, beyond people
You haven’t done anything to me
You haven’t got anything
Because there’s more than your pointless wars
Your pointless wars

[Bridge: Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro]
Skyscrapers will fall
So will the metro
Walls of conflict raised for bread
But against all the terror that hinders the path
The world gets back up
With the smile of a child
With the smile of a child
With the smile of a child

[Chorus: Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro]
You haven’t done anything to me
You haven’t won anything
Because there’s more than your pointless wars
You haven’t done anything to me
Your pointless wars
You haven’t taken anything from me
Your pointless wars
You haven’t done anything to me
Your pointless wars
You haven’t got anything
Your pointless wars

[Outro: Fabrizio Moro & Ermal Meta]
I know that everything won’t come back
Happiness flew
It floated away like a bubble