Voices for Freedom and Amnesty International Italy have announced the ten finalist songs for the 21st edition of the Amnesty International Italy Award in the Big category, the historic recognition awarded to songs on human rights released by established Italian music figures in the previous year.
The list of selected songs includes different themes and musical styles, as well as artists of different generations; among the topics covered: immigration, integration, war, hardship, freedom to be and love, humanity, ecology.
Here are the finalists (in alphabetical order by performer):
- Manuel Agnelli, “Severodonetsk” (Manuel Agnelli),
- Chiara Civello, “I am as I am” (Kaballà / Chiara Civello /Macau),
- Dargen D'Amico, “Gaza” (Dargen D'Amico),
- Grazia Di Michele, “On the Other Side” (Grazia Di Michele /Mario Rosini),
- Dolcenera, “Mediterranean” (Dolcenera / Francesco Sighieri),
- Marlene Kuntz, “It Was Enough” (Cristiano Godano / Davide Arneodo / Taketo Gohara / Riccardo Tesio / Cristiano Godano),
- Nada, “In the middle of the sea” (Nada),
- Rancor, “Far Away 2036” (Rancor / Mattia Crescini / Cristiano Campana),
- Massimo Ranieri, “Letter from beyond the sea” (Fabio Ilacqua),
- The Zen Circus ft. Claudio Santamaria, “118” (Andrea Appino, Karim Qqru, Massimiliano “Ufo” Schiavelli).
The award is assigned by a jury, which will be announced soon, composed of journalists, radio and television hosts, intellectuals, music industry professionals, representatives of Amnesty International Italy and Voci per la Libertà.
The winner will be awarded during the next edition, the 26th, of “Voices for Freedom – A Song for Amnesty”, scheduled from 21 to 23 July in Rovigo.
In the meantime, applications for the Amnesty International Prize in the Emerging category are still open, with the deadline set for 22 April 2023.
The call is available at: www.vociperlaliberta.it/festival/premio-amnesty-emergenti
Singer-songwriters and bands can participate with a song about human rights, in any language or dialect and of any musical genre.
Eight semifinalists will be selected from all the registered participants. Of these, four will perform in Rovigo in “Voci per la Libertà” on Friday 21 July and four the following day. The best five will access the final on the 23rd. The artists (who will be provided with room and board) will be evaluated by a jury composed of important professionals and journalists.
The winner will be entitled to many bonuses, such as the production of a video clip and, together with the other finalists, inclusion in an album or playlist together with the big names. Other bonuses will be defined as they happen.
One of the eight semifinalists has already been chosen, and it is OBI with the song “Attimo”, as the winner of the “Amnesty Youth Award”. This is a prize reserved for registrations received by March 20 and voted by the young people (under 35) of Amnesty International.
Mattia Strafile, aka OBI, was born in Turin on May 31, 2001 and already in 2014 began a long and tiring apprenticeship in freestyle rap contests. In the song "Attimo" he addresses the theme of freedom through the young eyes of an Afghan student who, between the pages of a book, banned by the Taliban regime, finds her little big corner of serenity.
All updates on www.vociperlaliberta.it and www.amnesty.it
