Wikipedia

Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)

"Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)" is a song recorded and released as a single by Romanian singer Elena Gheorghe, featuring rapper Glance. This marks their second collaboration, the first one being the native number one single "Ecou" (2013). "Mamma Mia" was initially released for digital download and streaming in the United States on 5 August 2014 under Robbins Entertainment, and worldwide the following year in July under Cat Music. An English language track, it was written by Clint Tommy and Laurenţiu Duţă, while the production was being handled by Duţă.

"Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)"
Shot of Elena in a pink one-piece.
Cover artwork used in the United States.
Single by Elena featuring Glance
Released5 August 2014
GenreDance
Length3:37
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Clint Tommy
  • Laurenţiu Duţă
Producer(s)Laurenţiu Duţă
Elena singles chronology
"Până Dimineața"
(2013) 		"Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)"
(2014) 		"Señor Loco"
(2015)
Music video
"Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)" on YouTube

Music critics gave the song mostly positive reviews, complimenting its catchy instrumentals, but doubted the role of the featured artist by calling it "not convincing". An accompanying music video for "Mamma Mia", directed by Dan Petcan and Bogdan Filip, premiered on the Cat Music YouTube channel on 21 May 2014 and was supported by a giveaway. The clip depicted Elena at wedding playing the role of the bride, and Italian male as the groomsman. Commercially, the song was modernly successful, peaking at number 33 on the singer's native Romanian Airplay 100. The song was also sent to radio stations across Italy, Poland and Spain,[1] where it had managed to enter several charts.[2]

Background and composition

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"Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)"
A 28-second sample of "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)", which has been described as a catchy dance-pop tune.[3][4][5]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In February 2014, Elena went on local radio station Kiss FM for an interview, where she would announce an international single coming up. At the time of the interview, Laurențiu Duță was producing the song in Los Angeles.[6]

"Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)" was written by Clint Tommy and Laurenţiu Duţă, while the production was being handled by Duţă himself.[7] It was initially sent to radio stations across Italy in July,[3] before being released on streaming devices in the United States by Robbins Entertainment the following month.[8] +Mas Music distributed the song's release on 23 January 2015,[9] while Cat Music handled its worldwide release on 13 July.[10] "Mamma Mia" marks Elena and Glance's second collaboration, the first one being "Ecou" (2013), which achieved huge chart success in the singer's native country.[11] An English language love song, "Mamma Mia" was described as a catchy dance-pop tune.[4] Lyrically, the song is about Elena questing whether she should date a romantic Italian man, knowing well that she will be played on by him. Some lyrics of the song are: "I just can't getting off my mind he's so amazing / My heart says Yes, my mind says No / Just let him go, go, go."

Reception and Promotion

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Upon its release, "Mamma Mia" was met positively by music critics. Jonathan Currinn gave the song five stars, calling it a "lost treasure that we'll forever love".[5] He went on to compliment the music video, which he called "completely epic" and "full-on amazingness in every way". He called out the clip's director Dan Petcan for his "terrific job at directing [it]", and Elena for her acting skills which were described as "brilliant".[5] Zuletzt Aktualisiert from HitFire described the song as a "catchy dance pop track". He found the song rather amusing, and called the lyrics for being "the typical clichés about Italian men". However, he criticized the role of Glance, the featured artist, by calling his part "not convincing".[4] Website TurnuCuStiri awarded "Mamma Mia" with the "song of the week" on 11 June 2014, praising the song for "having everything [a song] would need to be a summer hit"[12] Italian site Radio Date praised the song, saying that "[it] recalls other summer hits".[3]

To promote the song, the singer embarked into a ten-show tour in Poland.[13] Elena and Glance would later go on to perform the single at local radio station ProFM, along with a cover of Shontelle's "Impossible".[14] "Mamma Mia' was also sent to various radio stations in Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain, and managed to enter a few charts. In the singer's native country, the song peaked at number 33 on the Airplay 100, while in Poland's radio station Radio Eska it peaked at number six.[2] Romanian singer, dancer and moderator George Papagheorghe impersonated Elena and covered the track on native interactive talent show Te cunosc de undeva!.[15]

Music Video

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The music video for "Mamma Mia" was produced by Dan Petcan and directed by Bogdan Filip.[16] It was uploaded onto the Cat Music YouTube channel on 21 May,[17] and premiered on the Romanian TV talk-show Neatza cu Razvan si Dani on 28 May.[18] A behind the scenes video was also uploaded on 5 August, which was supported by a contest where the winner would get a Nokia Lumia 1320 phone.[19]

 
A screenshot from the music video. Elena (middle) is seen getting ready for the wedding with some fellow females.

Filmed at Club Dignitas in Bucharest,[20] the story takes action in Southern Italy.[21] The video starts with Elena, playing the bride, and the groom getting ready in their respective rooms with their helpers and friends. Elena peeks out her door to see the Italian guy, played by George Pistereanu,[21] sitting on a chair outside her door. She takes a moment before heading out the door and engaging in a flirty commotion, where he chases her while she acts coy. She goes up to her groom and straightens his jacket, before heading outside with him to get married. The narrative continues with the dinner and the party fully get on the way. The Italian guy continues to chase her, but her mother is always watching or stepping in. During Glance's bit of the song, the groom and the groomsmen can be seen having a party in the room they were previously getting ready in. One of the bridesmaids can be seen dancing sexily over Glance, before turning her attention to the groom. Elena sees all this and puts a stop to it. The party continues until near the end where Elena sees her groom and the bridesmaid behind a tree, ending their embrace and her dress is unzipped at the back; he withdraws his hand from under the back of her dress. At the very end, Elena is sitting on some stairsteps changing her shoes, where the Italiano guy wraps his jacket around her before leaving with his mates.[5]

Track listing

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  1. "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano) (Radio Edit)" – 3:37
  2. "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano) (Extended)" – 4:32
  3. "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano) (Instrumental)" – 3:36
  4. "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano) (Bodybangers Remix)" – 5:48
  5. "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano) (Bodybangers Edit)" – 3:35
  6. "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano) (Bodybangers Remix Extended)" – 5:48

Personnel

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Credits adapted from Tidal.[7]

  • Elena – vocals
  • Glance – vocals, featured artist
  • Clint Tommy – songwriting
  • Laurenţiu Duţă – songwriting, production

Charts

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Release History

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Country Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Romania 25 July 2014 Radio airplay Cat
[3]
United States 5 August 2014 Digital download/streaming Robbins
[8]
Mexico 23 January 2015 Mas
[9]
Various 13 July 2015 Cat
[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Elena > Cat Music Romania". CatMusic.ro. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Elena Gheorghe a dat lovitura! A devenit super cunoscută în străinătate datorită lui..." [Elena Gheorghe scores! She became super famous abroad because of...]. click.ro (in Romanian). 5 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Mamma Mia (He's Italian) - ELENA FEAT. GLANCE" (in Italian). Radio Date. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Zuletzt Aktualisiert (28 May 2014). "Neuer Hit aus Rumänien: Elena feat. Glance mit "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)"" [New hit from Romania: Elena feat. Glance with "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)"]. HitFire.eu (in German). Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d Currinn, Jonathan (17 June 2017). "Elena featuring Glance - Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)". CriticJonni.com. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  6. ^ Raluca Chirilă (21 May 2014). "Elena feat. Glance - "Mamma mia" (He's italiano) - VIDEOCLIP". InfoMusic (in Romanian). Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Mamma mia – Credits". Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Tidal.
  8. ^ a b c "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano) [feat. Glance] – Single by Elena on iTunes". iTunes Store (US). 5 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Oh mamma mia (He's italiano) [feat. Glance] – EP by Elena on iTunes". iTunes Store (MX). 23 January 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  10. ^ a b c Citations regarding the digital release of "Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)" in various countries:
  11. ^ "Media Forest – Chart 2013". Media Forest. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Elena feat. Glance - Mamma mia (He's italiano) (videoclip): melodia saptamanii" [Elena feat. Glance - Mamma mia (He's italiano) (video): song of the week.]. TurnuCuStiri (in Romanian). 11 June 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  13. ^ Lili Lascar (28 August 2020). "EXCLUSIV! Mamma mia! Elena Gheorghe a castigat o AVERE din spectacolele sustinute in Polonia!" [EXCLUSIVE! Mamma mia! Elena Gheorghe has earned a fortune from her shows in Poland!]. WOWbiz (in Romanian). Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Elena feat. Glance - Mamma mia (He's italiano) ProFM LIVE Session". YouTube. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Jorge, transformat in Elena Gheorghe! Va canta "Mamma Mia" sambata la "Te cunosc de undeva"" [Jorge, transformed into Elena Gheorghe! He will sing "Mamma Mia" Saturday at "Te cunosc de undeva"]. ADPM (in Romanian). 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Elena Gheorghe lanseaza "Mamma mia"" [Elena Gheorghe releases "Mamma mia"]. roEvents.ro (in Romanian). 21 May 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Elena feat. Glance - Mamma mia (He's italiano) Official Video". YouTube. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Premieră! Elena Gheorghe feat. Glance - "Mamma mia"". YouTube. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Making of Elena feat. Glance - Mamma Mia, powered by Nokia Lumia 1320". YouTube. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  20. ^ Anca (21 May 2014). "Clipul "Mamma Mia" a adus-o pe Elena Gheorghe din nou în fața altarului" [The clip for "Mamma mia" has brought Elena Gheorghe back in front of the altar!]. 1music (in Romanian). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  21. ^ a b Simona Josan (21 May 2014). "Elena Gheorghe lansează piesa "Mamma mia", împreună cu Glance! CÂNTĂREAŢA ARATĂ TRĂSNET ÎN VIDEOCLIP!" [Elena Gheorghe releases the song "Mamma mia", together with Glance! The singer looks stunning in the video!]. Libertatea (in Romanian). Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Elena feat. Glance – Mamma Mia (He's Italiano)" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  23. ^ "DJs Charts: Sonido Global Year End Chart 2014". AllAboutCharts. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Media Forest – Chart 2014". Media Forest. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
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