Francesca Michielin (Italian: [franˈtʃeska mikjeˈlin], Venetian: [mikjeˈliŋ]; born 25 February 1995) is an Italian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and television presenter. She rose to fame after winning the fifth season of the Italian talent show X Factor, she published five studio albums and several successful singles, peaking four times at number one on the Italian singles chart and selling over 1.3 million copies in Italy.
Her first single, "Distratto", debuted atop the Italian Singles Charts, becoming the first female winner of X Factor to achieve it. Michielin's debut studio album, Riflessi di me, was released in October 2012, preceded by the single "Sola". Between 2013 and 2014 she recorded two commercially successful collaborations with Italian rapper Fedez "Cigno nero" and "Magnifico". During the following years, she released the albums di20 (2015) and 2640 (2018), and several hit singles, including "L'amore esiste" (2015), "Nessun grado di separazione" (2016), "Vulcano" (2017) and "Io non abito al mare" (2017). In 2020 Michielin published her fourth studio album Feat (stato di natura) with the lead single "Cheyenne", followed by Cani sciolti in 2023.
During her career, Michielin has competed thrice in the Sanremo Music Festival, placing second both in 2016 with "Nessun grado di separazione" and in 2021 with "Chiamami per nome", performed with Fedez, while coming 21st in 2025 with "Fango in paradiso". In 2016 she went on to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest. She was nominated at the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Italian Act, MTV Italian Music Awards and at the italian cinematography awards David di Donatello and Nastro d'Argento for her original song "Nei tuoi occhi".
Michielin also co-wrote and produced songs with several Italian artists, including Måneskin, Giorgia, Elisa, Fabri Fibra, Carl Brave, Coma Cose, Emma Marrone and Gaia. In 2022 Michielin debuted as a novelist with the book Il cuore è un organo and hosted the docu-series Effetto serra and the new seasons of X Factor.
Early life
Michielin was born in Bassano del Grappa, in the region of Veneto, to Vanna Moro and Tiziano Michielin. She has an older brother, Filippo. Her first experience with playing music came from studying piano, when she was 9-years-old. She later started studying electric bass. At the age of fourteen, she started singing in her hometown's gospel choir. Thanks to her brother, she developed an interest in rock music, and she later focused on artists like Bon Iver, Jeff Buckley and Damien Rice.
After listening to Adele's debut album 19, Michielin started writing her own songs on piano. During high school, she also founded a three-pieces punk rock girl band, named Monkey Nuts, in which she played bass.
Before rising to fame, she was a student at the third year of the liceo classico Brocchi in Bassano del Grappa. Starting from the school's fourth year, she only took exams as an external candidate, to continue pursuing her musical career. In July 2014, she obtained the maturity diploma at the Cavanis institute in Possagno. In March 2022, she was graduated in jazz singing with honours at the Conservatory Agostino Steffani in Castelfranco Veneto.
Career
2011–2012: X Factor and Riflessi di me
When she was sixteen, Michielin was asked to replace a soloist singer in a gospel concert. Her performance impressed a sound technician, who decided to register her for the auditions for the fifth series of X Factor, in 2011. She sang Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", and she was chosen by her mentor Simona Ventura to be part of her team. During the live shows, she performed songs including Adele's "Someone Like You", "Roadhouse Blues" by The Doors, and Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground".
On 29 December 2011, during the semi-final, Michielin premiered the song "Distratto", written by Elisa and Roberto Casalino. In the final on 5 January 2012, she was announced as the winner, beating runner up vocal group I Moderni. With her victory, she won a recording contract with Sony Music, with a stated value of €300,000.
Her debut single "Distratto" was released as a digital download EP on 6 January 2012. On 12 January 2012, the song debuted at number one on the Italian Singles Chart, it was later certified double platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry, for domestic downloads exceeding 60,000 units, and it was the 10th best selling song of 2012 in Italy.
The song was included in Michielin's debut EP, Distratto, which was released on 24 January 2012. The EP includes re-recorded versions of some of the songs she performed during the live shows. On 17 February 2012, Michielin appeared as a guest during the fourth night of the 62nd Sanremo Music Festival, performing the song "Al posto del mondo" with contestant Chiara Civello.
Michielin's second single, "Sola", was released on 31 August 2012. The single preceded her debut studio album, Riflessi di me, featuring collaborations with producer Andrea Rigonat and singer-songwriters Elisa and Roberto Casalino. Michielin has writing credits on three songs on the album, including the title-track, co-written with Elisa and Virginio Simonelli. Riflessi di me later spawned the singles "Tutto quello che ho" and "Se cadrai".
2013–2014: Collaborations and "Amazing"
In March 2013, Michielin was featured on the song "Cigno nero" by Italian rapper Fedez. The song, co-written by Michielin herself, was included in Fedez's album Sig. Brainwash − L'arte di accontentare and was released as its second single.
In 2014, Michielin took part in the theatrical performance La ragazza con l'orecchino di perla, with music written by Franco Battiato. The show was held at Teatro Comunale di Bologna on 19 and 20 January 2014.
On 28 March of the same year, Michielin released a new single, "Amazing". The song, entirely composed in English, was written by Michielin with Fausto Cogliati and Negin Djafari for the Italian version of the soundtrack of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
In 2014, Michielin appeared on Fedez's track "Magnifico" for his album Pop-Hoolista. After being released as the album's second single, the song reached the top spot of the Italian singles chart, and it was certified triple platinum in Italy.
2015–2016: di20, Sanremo Music Festival and Eurovision Song Contest
In April 2014, Michielin confirmed she was working on new material. The single "L'amore esiste", produced by Fortunato Zampaglione and Michele Canova, was released on 6 March 2015, ahead of her second studio album, di20. The song achieved commercial success, entering the top ten of the Italian FIMI Top Digital chart, and receiving the Lunezia Pop Award.
"L'amore esiste" was followed by "Battito di ciglia", released on 10 July 2015, and "Lontano", released on 25 September 2015.
To launch di20, Michielin performed at the Unicredit Pavilion in Milan on 21 October 2015, four days before the official release of the album.
In January 2016, Michielin also embarked on her first concert tour, titled Nice to Meet You. A live extended play was recorded during the show and released exclusively to digital stores on 30 January 2016.
In February 2016, she competed in the 66th Sanremo Music Festival, performing the song "Nessun grado di separazione". The song placed second in the competition, behind Stadio's "Un giorno mi dirai". The band was then eligible to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, but they declined, stating they would be on a previously planned tour in May 2016. Their decision led RAI to select Michielin as the Italian entry for the 61st edition of the European competition.
Michielin's entry was a new version of "Nessun grado di separazione", featuring an English-language chorus and titled "No Degree of Separation". In the final she placed 16th out of 26.
"Nessun grado di separazione" debuted atop the Italian singles chart and was included in di20are, a new edition of Michielin's second studio album.
On 3 June 2016, "Un…