L'Italiano

"L'Italiano" (Italian for "The Italian") is a pop song by Italian singer Toto Cutugno, released in 1983. It was his biggest international hit and is his best-known composition. Its popularity declined during the 1990s and was re-discovered when Cutugno performed it live at a charity concert in Rome commemorating Italy's victory at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, creating a new wave of popularity for the song.

Background
Cutugno composed the song following a concert in Toronto, which inspired him to write a song dedicated to Italian emigrants. The lyrics were written by his close collaborator of the time Cristiano Minellono, who got the initial inspiration for it from the title of a Canale 5 program of the time, Buongiorno Italia.

Initially titled "Con quegli occhi di italiano" ('With those Italian eyes'), the song was originally intended for Adriano Celentano, who turned it down. Cutugno then thought of having the popular impersonator Gigi Sabani sing it in a Celentano's impersonation, but when Sanremo Music Festival organizer of the time Gianni Ravera listened to it, he convinced Cutugno in performing it by himself. "L'Italiano" entered the competition at the 33rd edition of the festival, ranking fifth. It eventually won the side competition "Cantanti e vincenti", and placed second in the critics' award classification, behind Matia Bazar's "Vacanze romane" and preceding Amedeo Minghi's "1950".

Recordings
In 1983, Finnish singer Kari Tapio recorded a cover titled "Olen suomalainen" ("I am a Finn"), which became a hit in Finland.

Also in 1983, a Dutch version titled "Als ik maar bij jou ben" ("As long as I'm with you") was a moderate hit for palingsound group Canyon from Volendam.

In 1984, Doron Mazar, an Israeli singer and Gassan Abbas, an Israeli-Arabian actor recorded a cover to this song, titled "Ani Hozer HaBayta" ("I am returning home").

In 1998, the Hungarian band "Happy Gang" made a cover titled "Sokáig voltam távol" ("I've been away for long") on their album "Te+én" ("You+me").

This song was copied by Indian music duo Sanjeev-Darshan for the movie "Mann".

In 2011, the song was released on the famous party band The Gypsy Queens eponymous album The Gypsy Queens. The song became a successful cover for the band when they released a video clip of the song (produced by Didier Casnati) featuring Italian actress Caterina Murino, and reached several million views on YouTube in only a couple of weeks.

Brazilian singer José Augusto recorded the song in Portuguese as "Faz de Conta".

French singer Hervé Vilard recorded the song in French as "Méditerranéenne".

Austrian-Italian singer Patrizio Buanne recorded his version in album "The Italian" in 2005.

Vietnamese singer Đàm Vĩnh Hưng recorded his version in Vietnamese as "Say Tình" in 2001.

The Sicilians recorded a cover mixed by Dj Serg featuring Angelo Venuto and released on their album Un amore in 2004. It was played on Top 40 Radio stations as well.

In 2021, the couple Jonathan Cilia Faro and Annalisa Minetti record a cover of the song for the compilation Pro Latino 146 (DMC, DMCPL146).