B i o g r a p h y
Singer, actress, writer, TV personality: Arisa’s artistic career branches out in many directions, all illuminated by her multifaceted talent.
Arisa undoubtedly possesses one of the most beautiful voices of all Italian female singers, with the ability to move even the most demanding listeners. Born Rosalba Pippa on 20 August 1982, in Genoa, she is raised in the family home in Pignola, a small town a few kilometres away from Potenza. She has music in her DNA: she is only four years old when she takes part in her first competition, singing “Fatti mandare dalla mamma” by Gianni Morandi, and setting out on a long voyage that would lead her, in 2007, to win a scholarship as a singer at CET (the music school directed by renowned Italian lyricist Mogol), where she meets the songwriter Giuseppe Anastasi, with whom she begins a fruitful artistic collaboration.
Success at “SanremoLab” in 2008 propels her to the stage of the Ariston Theatre, in the ranks of the New Artist category at the 2009 Sanremo Festival. A stunning debut. Arisa wins with the song “Sincerità” and wins over even the more discerning and demanding listeners: she wins the Critics’ Award dedicated to Mia Martini and the Assomusica Casa Sanremo Award for having been able to immediately establishing a rapport with the audience (“Sincerità” tops the iTunes chart even before the Sanremo Festival is over).
The song stays at the top of the singles chart for six consecutive weeks, projecting her debut album “Sincerità” into the Top 5 of the album charts. She soon follows up her success at Sanremo, receiving a gold disk for per the album “Sincerità” at MTV’s TRL Awards, and being named Best New Artist at the Wind Music Awards ceremony, held at the Verona Arena, by the Italian association of record
companies. She also performs at the Venice Music Awards, and begins touring: on 21 June 2009, she is among the performers at the live benefit “Amiche per l'Abruzzo” at the Milan San Siro stadium, organised by Laura Pausini, Gianna Nannini, Giorgia, Elisa, and Fiorella Mannoia to raise funds in support of earthquake victims in the Abruzzo region of Italy. In September 2009 she is invited to sing at the Quirinale palace, residence of the Italian President of the Republic.
In 2010, Arisa is back at the Sanremo Festival with the song “Malamorenò”. At the same time as the single, which rises high in the sales charts, the album with the same title is also published, “Malamorenò”, which includes songs co-written by Arisa.
Television also falls in love with Arisa, who is invited to take part in all the major shows.
In 2011 she makes her debuts as a movie actress, and the very positive response allows her to make acting a fruitful side career. Arisa plays Chiara in the film “Tutta colpa della musica”, directed by Ricky Tognazzi and presented at the Venice Film Festival. In additio to acting alongside Stefania Sandrelli, Elena Sofia Ricci, Marco Messeri, Debora Villa, and Ricky Tognazzi himself, Arisa sings the theme song: “Il tempo che verrà”, written by her in collaboration with Giuseppe Barbera and Giuseppe Anastasi. Her promising silver screen debut garners her a role in “La peggior settimana della mia vita”, directed by Alessandro Genovesi, in which she acts alongside Alessandro Siani (lead role with Claudio Bisio in “Benvenuti al sud” and “Benvenuti al nord”), Fabio De Luigi, and Cristiana Capotondi. Once again she performs the theme song “L'amor sei tu”, penned together with Naïf Hérin.
Among her musical engagements, a standout event is the “Arisa Special Tour Victor Victoria” in which she performs covers of famous songs in mash-up format with renowned classical music pieces.
Arisa rounds up 2011 with an unforgettable live set at the prestigious Blue Note jazz club in Milan, and by taking part in the fifth edition of “X Factor” as a judge, alongside Simona Ventura, Elio, and Morgan. Her competence, humour, and determination make her the revelation of the talent show, and contribute to the programme’s excellent audience shares in its first season on Sky Uno.
2012 begins with a new artistic adventure: on 24 January, her first single novel “Il Paradiso non è granché (Storia di un motivetto orecchiabile)”, is published by Mondadori. In the novel, Arisa uses her fictional character Marisa to narrate the experiences of the past few years of her life.
15 February 2012 is the release date of Arisa’s third album, “Amami”, produced by Mauro Pagani, and published together with the single "La notte", presented at the 2012 Sanremo Festival, where Arisa duets with Josè Feliciano on the popular song “Que sera”. Arisa comes second at the festival, and a few months later confirms her excellent result by topping the "Sanremo HIT Download" ranking of digital sales for songs taking part in the festival. At the end of March the AMAMI TOUR kicks off, and sees Arisa perform in theatres and city squares around Italy throughout the summer.
In October 2012, she is again part of the X Factor judge panel, and is in charge of the band team.
On 20 November her first live album is released, “Amami Tour”, that also contains two brand new tracks: "Meraviglioso amore mio" and "Senza Ali". "Meraviglioso Amore Mio" is chosen as part of the soundtrack to the movie "Pazze di me", by Fausto Brizzi. On 22 November the animation movie cartoon “A monster in Paris” strats showing in cinemas, with Arisa lnding her voice talents to Lucille, whereas in December 2012 she is part of the cast of the Neri Parenti romantic comedy “Colpi di Fulmine”.
In February, the new ARISA AMAMI TOUR 2013 is presented, and debuts with shows in Milan and Rome, followed by a string of dates into the autumn. In July Arisa takes part in the Festival Gaber in Viareggio, and in October she again lends her voice talents to the movies, this time playing Lucy Wilde in the animation film “Despicable me”.
In November her second novel is published, “Tu eri tutto per me”.
In February 2014 she takes part in the Sanremo Festival with the songs “Lentamente (il primo che passa)”, and “Controvento”, included in her new album “SE VEDO TE”.
The final stages of the 2014 Sanremo festival see Arisa in the limelight: she wins the festival with the song “Controvento”, a hit with both the audience and the jury.
In February 2015 she returns to Sanremo Festival but not as a singer but as a host together with Carlo Conti and Emma.
She participates again in Sanremo Festival in 2016, taking part to the competition, with the beautiful ballad “Guardando il cielo”.
“Guardando il cielo” is also the title of her latest album, release by Warner on February 2016.