Virginio Simonelli, simply known as Virginio, is an Italian pop singer. He made his debut in 2006 in the Sanremo Festival's New Proposals category with the song Davvero. In 2011 he won the tenth edition of the Italian singing competition Amici di Maria De Filippi in the singers-songwriters category. He sold 30,000 copies of his records.
Biography
As a child Virginio showed a natural predisposition to music. As a teenager he learned to play the piano, to sing and to compose his first songs, also experimenting with dancing and acting. After graduating from the Gobetti High School of his hometown, Fondi, he moved to Milan. There, he enrolled in the Nuova Accademia Delle Belle Arti, where he graduated in Graphic Design And Art Direction, getting in touch with producers Paolo Agosta and Ivo Grasso, with whom he began collaborating.
First steps in music: '' Sanremo Nuove Proposte '' and the first album '' Virginio ''
In 2006 he took part in the 56th Sanremo Music Festival in the category New Proposals with a song written by him, Davvero that anticipated his first album Virginio, produced by Ivo Grasso and Fabrizio Grenghi. The album contains ten tracks and the lyrics were written by the singer along with Paolo Agosta, who also composed the music. The second single Instabile was released in May and the third one Novembre in October. In 2010 he made his first experience as an author, writing with Paola & Chiara the tracks Milleluci and Adesso Stop!, of which he also composed the music, contained in their album Milleluci.
Winner of "Amici di Maria De Filippi" and the EP "Finalmente"
In September 2010 Virginio passed the selections of the tenth edition of Amici di Maria De Filippi. During the contest Virginio presented Ad Occhi Chiusi, Non Ha Importanza and Dolcenotte and won the competition in March 2011. On March 8, 2011, he published his second studio albumFinalmente promoted by the singles Ad occhi chiusi and Sale. The album sold over 30,000 copies and it was certified gold and therefore awarded at the Wind Music Awards.
"Ovunque" and second experience in ''Amici''
On March 26, 2012, Virginio published his third album "Ovunque", featuring the singles Alice and La Dipendenza and a song, Catch Me, that Gary Barlow, leader of Take That, gave to Virginio, who translated it into Italian with the title Tu Mi Senti. From March 31, 2012 Virginio attended the eleventh edition of Amici in a special contest, called Big, where former contestants of previous editions of the show challenged each other, but Virginio was eliminated during the 3rd episode.
Beside being a singer-songwriter, Virginio is also a well-known author. In 2012, he was the author of Francesca Michielin's "Riflessi di Me", in 2013 he wrote for and with Laura Pausini the international hits "Dove Resto Solo Io" and "Limpido", the first single featuring Kylie Minogue of her 20 – The Greatest Hits. In 2014, Virginio wrote for Chiara Galiazzo "Qualcosa Resta Sempre". In 2015, again with Laura Pausini, he wrote "Como Yo Sabría", the first single of Maverick, finalist of the third edition of The Voice Spain, in the team led by the Emilian singer. In 2015 Virginio also wrote for Raf "Qualcosa Resta Sempre" and in 2016 "Weird" for Lorenzo Fragola. In 2017 he worked again with Chiara Galiazzo, writing "Chiaroscuro".
The new album
At the same time Virginio continues working on his fourth album. During a trip in the United States, between New York City and San Francisco, he met authors Dimitri Ehrlich and Andy Marvel. Together they wrote his new single, Hercules, published on October 2, 2015. On the same day, the video of the song was published on Virginio's VEVO.
