Who is the Italian Britney Spears?

I am not what I’d consider a real music snob, but I do love good music and I do have certain standards. I never did, for example, like Britney Spears, no matter how popular her music might have been. Which is why, although I love listening to Italian music, I live in fear that I will be caught professing admiration for the Italian equivalent of Britney.

I’m not sure how to go about finding out how Italian musicians relate to the musicians I’m used to, and really, the bottom line is that I just like certain songs or artists for reasons that are probably completely beyond my control. For instance, I’ve become quite a fan of Nek, largely because he enunciates so clearly when he sings that his CDs have become a great language exercise. But more than that, I also just find the songs catchy and very singable. The husband loves Vasco Rossi, whose music I appreciate but whose voice kind of annoys me. Other artists whose CDs we have include Ligabue, Fabrizio Moro, LunaPop, Eros Ramazzotti, Mango, Cesare Cremonini, Laura Pausini and Alex Britti. One song I’ve had stuck in my head for weeks now, after hearing it repeatedly on Radio Italia (which I listen to online), is a duet between Elisa and Ligabue called “Gli Ostacoli del Cuore,” or “Obstacles of the Heart.” The video for the song is below.

So, while I try to figure out who the Italian Coldplay or Counting Crows might be (and also whether it makes a bit of difference whatsoever, as long as I like the music), here is a post from Ms. Adventures in Italy about what’s popular on the Italian music charts this summer, and that Elisa/Ligabue video.