Jo Squillo , is an Italian singer-songwriter , television presenter and activist
Jo Squillo , pseudonym of Giovanna Maria Coletti ( Milan , 22 June 1960 ), is an Italian singer-songwriter , television presenter and activist .
Having initially established herself as an exponent of punk rock music together with the Kandeggina Gang , she progressively moved towards dance pop , achieving strong success with the song Noi donne , presented at the 1991 Sanremo Festival together with Sabrina Salerno . In the 90s you also started a career in the world of television, hosting or participating in various capacities in numerous programs over the years. In the 2000s you founded a satellite channel called Class TV Moda . Since the beginning of her career she has also been an activist for various issues, including feminism and ecologism .
Late seventies: the punk beginnings
He made his debut not yet of age as an exponent of the Italian punk movement . His first recording dates back to 1980 with the Cramps label , for which he released the 45 rpm Sono villain/Orrore as a member of the entirely female group Kandeggina Gang , a name chosen to symbolize the radical cleanliness that the group he proposed to do with musical tradition. The group, which had previously formed within the Santa Marta social center in Milan , is characterized by strong anti-masculine accents, which they did not fail to reiterate during their live performances , such as the one in March 1980 , during which they threw red-stained Tampax onto a shocked audience in Piazza Duomo , Milan.
In June 1980 Jo Squillo was the leader of the Rock Party , which managed to stand in the municipal elections. A year later, in 1981 , he moved to the newly founded independent record company 20th Secret , for which he released the solo LP Girl senza fear , containing 16 punk rock songs. With this album he confirms his rebellious talent and reveals a strong anarchic spirit, in line with the avant-gardes of the period. The artist achieved good commercial success both in Italy and abroad, especially in Germany . Some previous recordings converge in this album, such as his first success Skizzo skizzo , in whose video clip he pretends to kidnap the popular singer Christian , to symbolize the radical and violent renewal that his music proposes. Among the songs included in the album are Violentami and Orrore songs that caused a sensation at the time.
The eighties: New wave and Italo disco
During the eighties Jo Squillo experimented with different musical currents, embracing the new wave movement typical of those years. In 1982 he recorded the single Africa , dedicated to Nelson Mandela , and collaborated with the Kaos Rock group , led by his historic partner, Gianni Muciaccia, with whom he contributed to the album Shake . In 1983 he released the single Avventurieri with which he participated in the Festivalbar , whose music video was filmed on the erupting Etna volcano. The following year he recorded a second album Bizarre , which is oriented towards Italian disco sounds . The album includes the hit I Love Muchacha (written in four different languages, Italian , French , Spanish and German ) and also with this song he successfully participates in the Festivalbar . From the album an experimental video is made on the homonymous song Bizarre on manipulated polaroids by Antonio Contiero and directed by Alessandro Furlan , taken from the comic book Soft Streams published in the magazine Frigidaire from a text by Carmen Covito .
In addition to the aforementioned single I Love Muchacha , also published in Spain and Germany , a good success was represented in 1985 by the song Roulette , with which he participated in the Festivalbar . A busier period will see her first present a song in Latin and English, O Fortune , a reinterpretation of Carmina Burana and a new dance album which she takes to the 1987 Festivalbar , while in 1988 she publishes the album Terra Magica , an album with ecological themes; the album is dedicated to her teacher Demetrio Stratos . In 1989 she took part in Sanremo Rock and performed on the evening in which international guests were present. In 1990 she participated for the fifth time in the Festivalbar with the dance song Whole Lotta Love, released both as a single and as a disco mix. The song is included in his fourth album Di lei Tracce 80/90 , which contains the singles recorded during the 1980s, plus some unreleased songs.
The nineties: pop turning point and television career
In 1991 he achieved great success by participating in the Sanremo Festival , paired with Sabrina Salerno , with the song We are women , written by himself. In the same year she made her debut as a television presenter presenting the musical program Scorribande on Antenna 3 . The following year she was again selected to participate in Sanremo only to be excluded from the event when it was discovered that her Lei me gusta il movement was not an unreleased song; she is replaced by the famous Tuscan singer-songwriter and television presenter Enzo Ghinazzi aka Pupo with the song addressed to Jesus due to the many moments of crisis that she was going through in her artistic career and also in her human life, My Prayer . Also in 1992 the album Movimenti was released, mainly oriented towards pop and dance sounds , with a decent sales result. In the summer of the same year she performed the promotional single Aria on various television shows. Also in 1992 she starred in Pier Francesco Pingitore ‘s film Gole ruggenti , where she sang the song Timido , included in the album Movimenti , and on 29 May she hosted her with Paolo Bonolis Caccia al ladro on Canale 5 .
In 1993 he dedicated himself mainly to television hosting the following programs: Il grande gioco dell’oca for Rai 2 , the Castrocaro Festival and Sanremo famous for Rai 1 . She also participates in the Sanremo Festival with the song Balla italiano , contained in the album of the same name published after the singing event. Also included in the album is the song I want a microphone , presented during the summer at the Cantagiro of that year and the theme song for the radio program (with the same title) that he hosted on Radio Dimensione Suono . Also in this year she works for the historic children’s newspaper Intrepido , where she is chosen to answer readers’ mail and is the protagonist of a comic strip entitled The Adventures of Jo Squillo . In 1994 she released another album, 2p LA – xy=(NOI) , more simply known as Noi , following her participation in the second edition of the Canale 5 Italian Festival , with the song Could be you . The album was promoted on various broadcasts with the songs Andiamo su and Mille storie extracted as promotional singles. In the same year she again presented the Castrocaro Festival on Rai 1.
In the following years he only released single CDs and a few collections , with very limited distribution, focusing mainly on his television career. In 1995 he hosted Bit Trip for Swiss TV. In 1996 he hosted the fashion program Kermesse for Rai 1 , and released the single CD Non vedo l’ora , a duet with the rapper Luca T. In 1997 he presented Una città per canto for Rete 4 . In the same year she experimented with the new musical genre Jungle by releasing the single CD Jo In The Jungle , containing a cover of the song (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin . Since 1999 he has presented the weekly TV Moda program for Rete 4 , dedicated to the world of fashion, which will mark a definitive turning point in Jo Squillo’s career in the years to come.
The 2000s: the affirmation of TV Moda After three years of absence of record releases, in 2000 she released the single CD Donne al sole . In the same year she was the presenter of the first edition of the Festival Show , a singing event organized by Radio Birikina . At the beginning of 2002 she founded and became director of a satellite channel entitled TV Moda which exclusively broadcast fashion shows, interviews, events and reports from the fashion capitals in which the singer takes part; in 2007 the channel became part of the Class Editori group , changing its name to Class TV Moda .
In the summer of 2003 he recorded a dance cover of the song Can’t Take My Eyes Off You , which was released as a single CD . In the following years she recorded several songs accompanied by music videos used as theme songs for TV Moda , which however were not released as singles; among them are the songs Il dream , Potere all’anima , Let me enter , 24055 busy 6 and Another love is possible . In 2005 she took part as a competitor in the second edition of the reality show The farm , hosted by Barbara D’Urso on Canale 5 , where he took initiatives contrary to the rules of the broadcast including the organization of collective fasting and group meditations, as well as occupying one of the areas prohibited to her (the farmer’s house, to which she had no right of access), being disqualified.
In 2009 he created a new dance version of Noi donne , with which he participated in the first edition of the Rai 1 show Ciak… si canta! and at the benefit concert organized by Laura Pausini at the San Siro Stadium in Milan Amiche per l’Abruzzo , on 21 June 2009. After ten years of broadcast on Rete 4 , starting from the 2009 – 2010 television season TV Moda was moved to Italia 1 , in the morning slot .
Two thousand and ten years: activism for women’s rights and musical and television projects
In 2010 Jo Squillo recorded the song La vita è female , used as the theme song for TV Moda and Doppio donne , a radio program hosted by her on Rai Radio 1 together with Maria Teresa Lamberti from 2010 to 2014 ; the song, together with a second song entitled 6 the most beautiful story of my life, also used as the theme song for TV Moda, is included in the compilation Tv Moda Compilation Vol. 1 , published on 28 February 2011 . On June 28 of the same year she released a dance single entitled Never Get Down , produced by Ben DJ and accompanied by a music video . Since September 2011 TV Moda has been broadcast on Mediaset networks in a renewed formula entitled ModaMania . In February 2012 she released her seventh album, entitled We Are Women and composed entirely of songs about the female universe: the album is made up of six covers by other artists and four of her songs published in the 2000 . Since December of the same year you have also presented the magazine Mode , broadcast in the third evening on Rai 2 for four seasons until 2015 .
Since June 2013 he has expanded his commitment as an activist for women’s rights by designing and organizing the “Wall of Dolls” project, a permanent installation in Via Edmondo De Amicis in Milan to denounce femicide and violence against women ; in the following years other “Doll Walls” were set up in Rome , Venice and other Italian cities, and every year on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women Jo Squillo is the organizer of events and demonstrations in this regard . Since 2016 she has also been the creator and director of documentaries on the topic which appear annually during the most important Italian film festivals: Wall of Dolls at the Rome Film Festival 2016 , Futuro è donna at the Venice Film Festival 2017 , Women & Freedom at the 2018 Venice Film Festival and Women in prison tell their stories at the 9 Venice Film Festival .
In the musical field, in 2013 and 2014 he recorded two dance songs in English, respectively Free Your Love and I Don’t Need You (Save the Woman) , whose video clips were used as the closing theme of ModaMania for those years. In the autumn of 2014 she was in the cast of Domenica among the singers of the talent show within the program entitled Ancoravolare , paired with the emerging singer Carolina Russi . In February 2015, the artist’s first album, Girl Without Fear , was reissued on limited vinyl by the record label Spittle Records . On March 8 of the same year, on the occasion of International Women’s Day , she published the music video of a new song against violence against women entitled La cage dell’amore , the new closing theme of ModaMania.
On June 21, 2016 he released a deep house single entitled Spinball , accompanied by a music video released on the same day . On 21 July 2017 she released an EDM single entitled Break It Off , accompanied by the respective video clip . In the summer of 2018 he announced on his social networks the release of a new dance song entitled Happy Weekend : the song, however, was not released as a single, but was used as the closing theme of ModaMania . Since September she has joined the cast of the seventh edition of Detto Fatto , hosted by Bianca Guaccero on Rai 2 , as a fashion expert ; in January 2019 she left the show to return to Mediaset and take part as a competitor in the fourteenth edition of the reality show L’isola dei famous , broadcast on Canale 5, where she was forced to withdraw after a month of staying due to an injury . In the 2019 -2020 television season she resumes her collaboration with Detto Fatto as a tutor and fashion expert. Since 2019 she has been the official testimonial of City Angels .
Two thousand and twenty years
From 24 March to 17 May 2020, due to the isolation throughout Italy imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic , she gave life to a series of daily DJ sets entitled Jo in the House , live on Instagram from her home, which they obtain high numbers of views, catalyzing the media attention of the period . On 22 March 2021, on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the song We are women , together with Sabrina Salerno he created a new video clip of the song in collaboration with Netflix , to promote the Sky television series Rojo , of which several scenes are shown within the video clip ; the new version of the song used for the video, however sung only by Jo Squillo, is released as a single on 2 April 2021. On 3 September 2021, she presents the documentary she conceived and produced out of competition at the 78th Venice International Film Festival Forced marriages . From 17 September to 5 November 2021 she participates as a competitor in the sixth edition of Big Brother VIP , where she is eliminated during the sixteenth episode . On November 4, 2022 she sings We are women at Tale e Quale show together with Alessandra Mussolini in the guise of Sabrina Salerno; the following year she is one of the contestants on the same program. WOW and I thought Raffaella Carrá had done everything!!