Mietta - 74100 (2006)

Born Daniela Miglietta in Taranto on November 12, 1969, Mietta is an Italian singer and actress gifted both with a deep and fascinating voice -- which allowed her to move from soul to electronica to melodic pop -- and an extremely sensual Mediterranean beauty. After playing for some time with a small local band called Ciak, Mietta debuted in 1987 as an actress in the radio show Nasce una Stella. Thanks to the help of producer Claudio Mattone, her music career started one year later, when she took part in the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Sogno." She then returned to the competition with "Canzoni" in 1989 and with "Vattene Amore" in 1990, the former finishing first in the New Artists section and the latter, a duet with Amedeo Minghi, becoming one of the most successful Italian songs of the decade, selling more than 350,000 copies -- a success replicated by Mietta's first album, Canzoni, released that same year. The magic moment continued with 1991's Volano le Pagine (including the single "Dubbi No") and 1992's Lasciamoci Respirare, recorded in London with the help of Geoff Westley and including her first self-penned songs.

After participating again in Sanremo with "Figli di Chi" in 1993 (accompanied by the I Ragazzi di Via Meda ensemble), her musical style began to move away from the Italian melodic pop tradition. The first step of this change came with 1994's funky blues-oriented Cambia Pelle, followed one year later by Daniela è Felice, largely influenced by soul and trip-hop, and 1998's tribute to soul music La Mia Anima. In the meantime, Mietta -- who in 1996 had dubbed the character of Esmeralda for the Italian version of Walt Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame -- debuted as an actress in Italian television productions such as La Piovra 8, L'Ispettore Giusti, and Donne di Mafia. Meanwhile, in 2000 Mietta released her first anthology, Tutto o Niente, also including some new tracks, followed in 2003 by Per Esempio...per Amore. After her participation in the 2005 edition of the reality show Music Farm, during the following years Mietta's style moved toward simpler and catchier pop with such albums as 74100 (2006) and Con il Sole nelle Mani (2008).