Il Pulcino Pio facts for kids

"Il pulcino Pio"
Single by Pulcino Pio
Released	18 July 2012 in Italy
Genre	Novelty record
Length	2:40
Label	Globo Records
Songwriter(s)	Original: Erisvaldo Da Silva Italian version: Bruno Benvenuti Lucio Scarpa Alessandro Tirocchi Maurizio Paniconi Morgana Giovannetti Vocals: Morgana Giovannetti (as Pulcino Pio)

"Il Pulcino Pio" is an Italian song released as a single on 18 July 2012 on Globo Records by the Rome radio station Radio Globo. The song is credited to the character Pulcino Pio (literally "Pio the chick", but also "the chirping chick") and is actually interpreted by Morgana Giovannetti, an actress and host of the station. It became the 2012 summer hit single in Italy peaking in the FIMI official Italian Singles Chart at #1 and staying at top for 8 consecutive weeks (August to October 2012). It also became a hit in France, Spain, the Netherlands, and other European countries in their respective local language versions. The English version was released as "The Little Chick Cheep", the French version as "Le poussin Piou", the Spanish version "El Pollito Pío", the German version as "Das kleine Küken Piept", the Dutch version "Het kuikentje Piep", the Catalan version "El Pollet Piu", the Greek Version "Το πουλάκι Τσίου" and the Russian version "Цыплёнок Пи".

Details

"Il pulcino Pio" is an Italian language adaptation of the Brazilian song "O Pintinho" alternatively titled "O Pintinho Piu" by author and composer Erisvaldo Da Silva who composed the song in 1985. It was first interpreted by "Trio Nortista" in Brazil. The song, whose rights were acquired by Globo Records S.r.l. was produced by Bruno Benvenuti (C.E.O. of Globo Records) and Max Moroldo (President of Do it yourself) and was translated to Italian by Bruno Benvenuti, Luca Scarpa, Alessandro Tirocchi, Maurizio Paniconi and Morgana Giovannetti.

The Rome station Radio Globo had scored a big hit by producing and airing its own version of "Mr. Saxobeat" in 2011 with the station hosts and staff featuring Maurizio Paniconi, Alessandro Tirocchi and Morgana Giovannetti and produced by Luca Scarpa. Named "Radio Globo Morning Show - Mr. Saxobeat Ostia Beach version") , the Radio Globo Italian version. The station followed the trend a year later by launching "Il pulcino Pio" featuring Morgana Giovannetti during their Morning Show based on a Brazilian tune using seemingly "Pulcino Pio" (literally a chicken that chirps).

In similar fashion to "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" where various animals are used, "Il pulcino Pio" uses sounds of a hen, a rooster, a turkey, a pigeon, a cat, a dog, a goat, a sheep, a cow and a bull. The song culminates with a tractor hitting the "vocal" chirping chick, running it over.

However, both the Italian version and the preceding Brazilian version are certainly not original or new. A Greek song titled "At the Fair (The Little Rooster)" was sung by Nikos Gounaris in 1939/40. Since then, it has been sung by many other Greek artists, including a duet by Nikos Gounaris and Sofia Vembo, the Katsamba brothers, Giorgos Zampetas, Dionyssis Savopoulos, Glykeria, and others. The song was a popular lullaby and children's song in Greece during the 1950s and 1960s.

The 1939/40 Greek version has no attribution of lyrics and attributes music adaptation (rather than composition) to Joseph Korinthios. This suggests that even that version is likely not original, but was probably based on some existing popular tune/song in Greece, Italy, or some other part of the world. Lyrics and music are extremely similar to those of the modern versions, such as "O Pintinho" and "Il pulcino Pio" (although not identical: the old Greek version has a pig and a donkey, but not a goat, cow, or bull, and lacks the tractor part at the end). In any case, it is fairly certain that any claims of contemporary artists, such as Erisvaldo Da Silva, that this constitutes an original song of theirs are false and amount to plagiarism.

After the huge success of the Italian version of the song, a more racy faster version was produced with an accompanying music video by Do It Yourself Multimedia Group S.r.l. with animation created by Federico Mancosu. It was launched online in May 2012. The YouTube music video for the Spanish version of the song attracted more than 6 million views in the three months that followed and has been viewed over 1.3 billion times as of February 2020.

The structure of the lyrics is a reverse aggregation of animal sounds. The list of animals comprises a chick, a hen, a rooster, a turkey, a pigeon, a cat, a dog, a goat, a sheep, a cow, and a bull in that order. A different background instrument is added each time a new animal is introduced, and the song enumerates the animals introduced up to that point, in reverse order. At the end of the list, there are several repeats of the chick sounds. There is a complex pattern of repeats of the final chick sound per verse: 6, 5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 5, 4. In the final verse there is only a tractor sound, and the list is not enumerated but the song skips directly to the chick, with no chick sound.

Versions

The song had great following and a number of covers and parodies emerged.

It was a massive hit in summer resorts where coaches would lead groups of vacationers of all ages to dance to the different movements. It also became a feature in many night venues and clubs.

Language versions

Many language versions followed like:

• Hungarian: "A rádióba ment a csibe"
• Catalan: "El Pollet Piu"
• Dutch: "Het Kuikentje Piep"
• English: "The Little Chick Cheep"
• French: "Le Poussin Piou"
• German: "Das kleine Küken piept"
• Greek: "To poulaki Tsiou" (in Greek "Το Πουλάκι Τσίου")
• Greek (Cypriot version): "To Poulloui Tsiou" (in Greek "Το Πουλλούι Τσίου (Κυπριακή Version)")
• Portuguese: "O Pintinho Piu"
• Romanian: "Puiul Piu"
• Spanish: "El pollito Pio"
• Russian: "Cypljonok Pi" (in Russian "Цыплёнок Пи")
• Chinese: "Xiao Ji Bibi" (In Chinese "小鸡哔哔")
• Polish: Kurczaczek Pi
• Dansk: Den kvidrende kylling

etc.

Sequels

On 17 September 2012, Radio Globo launched an alternative version called "La Vendetta" in which the chirping chick takes revenge on the tractor that ran over it in the original music video.

The Pulcino Pio character and distinctive voice was used in other releases as well in different settings. For example, the follow-up single "Superstar" features Pulcino Pio, now a big sensation, being pursued relentlessly by ardent fans and paparazzi and trying to avoid them.

Albums

After the popularity of the single in France, a compilation album was released in February 2013 called Piou Piou Dance Party (2013) featuring a number of local French and international hits of the previous year. The album entered the SNEP French Albums Chart at #10 in its first week of release.

Tracklist:

1. Le Poussin Piou - "Il Pulcino Pio"
2. Carlprit - "Fiesta'
3. Cash Cash - "Michael Jackson"
4. Jose de Rico - "Rayos De Sol"
5. Radio Project - "Celebration'
6. David Guetta feat Sia - "She Wolf"
7. Mika - "Celebrate"
8. Sexion d'Assaut - "Balader"
9. Asaf Avidan - "One Day"
10. Keen V - "Elle t'a maté (Fatoumata)"
11. Psy - "Gangnam Style"
12. Axel Tony - "Avec toi"
13. Rihanna - "Where Have You Been"
14. DJ Mam's - "Fiesta Buena"
15. R.I.O. - "Summer Jam"
16. Alex Ferrari - "Bara Bará Bere Berê"
17. Avicii - "Last Dance"
18. Tacabro - "Tacata'"
19. M. Pokora & Tal (Génération Goldman) - "Envole-moi"
20. Tal - "Rien n'est parfait"
21. Shy'm - "On se fout de nous"

Charts

Besides Italy, the song has charted in other countries. In November 2012, the French station NRJ promoted the song heavily resulting in chart success in France.

Certifications

See also

In Spanish: Il pulcino Pio para niños