Francesco (Franco) Battiato (born 23 March 1945 in Riposto) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esoteric, philosophical and religious themes. His collaborations from 1994 onward with the nihilistic-cynical philosopher Manlio Sgalambro have added lyrical references to Emil Cioran, Friedrich Nietzsche and other anarchistic thinkers.

Together with Alice, Franco Battiato represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 with the song "I treni di Tozeur".

Franco Battiato was born in 1945 in Riposto (in the former municipality of Jonia, that included also Giarre) in the province of Catania, Sicily.

At the age of 20 he moved to Milan and in 1967 he obtained the first musical contract. His single La Torre was released and Battiato appeared on TV to perform the song. He scored some success with the romantic song È l'amore. After further covers of pop songs, he met the experimental musician Juri Camisasca in 1970 and collaborated with Osage Tribe, an Italian psychedelic-progressive rock band. As a solo artist, he released the science-fiction single La convenzione (The convention), one of the finest Italian progressive rock songs of the 1970s.

Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, Italian pronunciation: [ˈɛnnjo morriˈkoːne], (born November 10, 1928) is an Italian composer and conductor, who has written music for more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces. Morricone is most famous for his work in the Spaghetti Westerns directed by his friend Sergio Leone, including A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) but his career includes a wide range of composition genres making him one of the film world's most versatile artists. He is considered as one of the most influential film music composers of the 20th century.

Born in Rome, Italy, Morricone took up the trumpet as a child and attended the National Academy of Santa Cecilia to take lessons on the instrument at the age of nine. He formally entered a conservatory at the age of 12, enrolling in a four-year harmony programme. He received his trumpet diploma in 1946 and started working professionally, composing the music to "Il Mattino" ("The Morning"). Morricone soon gained popularity by writing his first background music for radio dramas and quickly moved into film.

Luca Carboni (born 12 October 1962) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He debuted in 1981 as guitarist in the band Teobaldi Rock, publishing his first solo album in 1983. He always distinguished for his intimistic style.

Carboni was born in Bologna.

In 1976, at 14, he founded the band Teobaldi Rock, with the role of guitarist and songwriter. In 1980 the band took part in the Bologna Rock 80 festival; the following year they released the first and last single, "L.N."/"Odore d'inverno".

Carboni's road changed when the Stadio read his lyrics and asked him a song for their first album. The song was entitled "Navigando controvento" and appeared in the album Stadio (1982). The band's leader, Gaetano Curreri, helped him in realizing his first album, published in January 1984 and entitled ...intanto Dustin Hoffman non sbaglia un film: it was co-produced by Curreri and included collaborations with Ron and Lucio Dalla. The album sold 30,000 copies and the single "Ci stiamo sbagliando" more than 50,000, establishing Carboni in the Italian music panorama. In that year he won the Festivalbar for the category Youngs.

Gialappa's Band is the name used by Marco Santin (born 11 February 1962 in Milan), Carlo Taranto (b. 16 December 1961 in Milan) and Giorgio Gherarducci (b. 1 November 1963 in Milan) , the Italian trio of TV and radio commentators.

Gialappa's members formed in 1985 at the Radio Popolare of Milan, where they launched the show Bar Sport. The show contained satirical commentary on Sunday matches of Italian football Serie A. The trio also commented on the FIFA World Cup, employing large doses of sarcasm and sound effects (crashing glasses, car crashes, babies crying) to emphasize the players' errors or game fouls. The format was very successful and, as of 2006^[update], they have broadcast comments on every football match for the European Championships and World Cups since 1986. Several UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches were also commentated during the 1990s.

However, Gialappa's main event remains the European and World Football cup. Several editions of the program also featured guests from the same nations as the playing teams. The trio moved from local radios to major private radio Radio Deejay and, later on, to Radio Due. In 2006, satellite television Sky Sport offered the Gialappa's commentaries as an alternative to the official report.