Arlette Roxburgh the winner! A recap and a chat with Silvia Cecchetti, second place winner, an Italian singer with a long history of successes, such as participating to Italy's festival di Sanremo and touring with singer Andrea Bocelli.

The Resort World Casino of New York (Jamaica, Queens) welcomed the sixth edition of the Festival della Canzone Italiana di New York: five singers from Italy and five from the rest of the world competed against each other with brand new songs.

Silvia Cecchetti

A moment with Tony Di Piazza

Every year, the competition is organized by the Associazione Culturale Italiana di New York,
an organization that has been promoting Italian culture and language in the US for years. “Ours is an ongoing commitment motivated by our desire to put together an event that is not just entertainment but a bridge between Italy and the States... an international showcase of good music,” organizers Tony di Piazza and Tony Mulè, said.

The winner was, for the first time ever in the history of the festival, a New Yorker. Arlette Roxburgh, a wonderful singer originally from the Caribbean who is married to an Italian and resides in Staten Island, sang the song "Vittoria" (Victory)... how appropriate... and her victory was also a great birthday gift for her!

Second place went to Silvia Cecchetti with "Il dopo te" (What comes after you). Silvia is an Italian singer with a long history of successes, such as participating to Italy's festival di Sanremo and touring with singer Andrea Bocelli. Third place to another singer coming straight from Italy, Clarissa Vichi, with the song "Aria" (Air).

The show was hosted, for the third year in a row, by the talented Benedetta Rinaldi of “Italia chiama Italia,” a program that airs on Rai International. The festival was taped for Rai Italia and aired live on Radio Icn, in a special show hosted by Tony Pasquale.
Stefano Santoro has been directing production of the festival for a few years now and artistic direction was in the capable hands of Incanto Productions, a company specialized in bi-lingual music and theater productions. As always, the jury was made up of professionals and VIPS coming directly from Italy and also from the Italian Community here in NYC. The public was excited to see: Maria Nazionale, a Neapolitan pop singer, who has risen to fame thanks to her participation in the latest edition of the Festival of Sanremo with the song “È colpa mia” (It's my fault); Robertino, an Italian singer known mostly for songs he performed as a teenager in the 1960s. His most celebrated song is “Con un bacio Piccolissimo.” Claudio Berardinelli, Italian music promoter, was also part of the jury along with the actors of Italian TV soap opera “Un posto al sole,” Riccardo Polizzy Carbonelli, Alberto Rossi. Ilenia Lazzarin and Luisa Amatulli (the favorites of all Italian-American women who are fans of the show).

The festival was also a great opportunity for the show to tape a scene that will be featured in a future episode. Organizer Tony Di Piazza was taped handing out an Award to Michele Saviani, the character brought to life by Alberto Rossi.

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