“My grandfather wanted me to work in the fields”

The tears of Emma (which she did not dry but dropped down her cheeks to her chin), the emotion of Mika (“There was so much lived in what you sang”), the amazement of Hell Raton (“You have completely disarmed me”), the stellar prediction of Manuel Agnelli (“Your timbre and the magic you have inside can make you a great interpreter”). And today tens of thousands of clicks on social networks, hundreds of messages, phone calls to make the smartphone go haywire. Giuseppe Roccuzzo – 24 years old, Sicilian from Giarratana, just under three thousand inhabitants in the province of Ragusa – one of the revelations of “audition” di «X Factor 2020», lives in a bubble but, feet firmly planted on the ground, “tonight I’ll be back serving the tables” at the restaurant in Lugano where he works as waiter. Next Thursday we will see if one of the chairs of the possible competitors will be his.

Roccuzzo, the surname has remained as an art name. Because?

“Out of spite against my paternal grandfather. I am the only one of the few male grandchildren – about thirty, almost all female – to bear this surname. Today he is 90 years old and still cultivates the land, he would have liked me to work in the fields too. But, apart from my diploma in hospitality, music has always been my passion: mum was called to sing at weddings, dad plays the guitar well ».

The emotion of the audition in front of the four judges.

“Fear, simply fear. It is always the judgment of four artists from different musical backgrounds: maybe one is satisfied and the other displeased ».

Perhaps he was struck by his sensitivity.

«They understood that I have weaknesses. And then I’ve always been shy, discreet, almost humble. My motto is “humility precedes glory” ».

And it was glory.

“Let’s go slow. Of course, I couldn’t believe Emma was going to cry, I couldn’t believe my eyes. ‘

Was it hard to get here?

«It is the story of many young people who leave their land in search of work, so as not to weigh on the family, especially if it is in a difficult time. All four children left, me and my three sisters: Claudia, my twin, Nadia and Noemi. We live in Luino, in the province of Varese, I work as a border crossing between Italy and Switzerland. But I had to play the “X Factor” bet ».

“Promise me”, the song by Elisa that she proposed and excited the judges so much, “is a very important song for me,” she said. Because?

“Because it invites us not to make fun of ourselves, to be ourselves, authenticity always pays off in the end”.

Would you like Elisa to write for you?

“It would be an honour. But also Mahmood or Francesca Michielin ».

Agnelli saw in her a great future interpreter. Are you not interested in writing?

«Actually I write as well. Now I have a small production team and just today a song of mine comes out on Spotify and i-Tunes, “Let’s start again from here”. The video on Youtube will soon arrive ».

Giuseppe Roccuzzo, in art Roccuzzo, where does he start again?

«I hope so much from the music. Which is a passion but also a therapy: it is the only place in the world where someone like me feels safe ».

Last update: Friday 2 October 2020, 20:11

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