Alessandra Amoroso

Alessandra Amoroso is an Italian pop singer who rose to fame on the reality television show Amici di Maria de Filippi before embarking on a chart-topping solo career in 2009. Born on August 12, 1986, in Galatina, Lecce, Italy, she made her television debut in 2008 during the eighth season of Amici di Maria de Filippi. She proceeded to win the televised singing competition, finishing ahead of second-place runner-up Valerio Scanu in 2009. One of her most memorable performances was "If I Ain't Got You" as originally sung by Alicia Keys. Like Keys, Amoroso proved herself capable of singing pop as well as soul music. Around the time of her Amici di Maria de Filippi win, she released a pair of Top Five hit singles, "Immobile" and "Find a Way," the former of which was especially popular, charting for 12 weeks and peaking at number one. Amoroso subsequently made her full-length album debut with Stupida (2009) on Sony BMG. Both the album and its title track were chart-topping hits, while the single "Splendida Follia" was also a hit, albeit a lesser one.