Making her name on Italian television talent shows, Chiara Grispo marked herself out as a bright, young pop starlet with a belting voice and a bubbly, determined personality. Born in Vicenza, Northern Italy, she began competing in local music contests as a child and studied flute, piano and singing at a performing arts school before entering the Italian X Factor in 2013 when she was 16. She was eliminated at the boot camp stage by celebrity judge Mika, but continued to pursue a musical career with the release of a cover version of I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. She returned two years later to take part in Amici (a series in which aspiring musicians are put into an academy and nurtured by experts before a final showdown). She didn't win the competition, but Grispo's talent shone through and her popular cover of Jessie J's Price Tag helped land a deal with Buena Onda Records. Singing in both Italian and English, she wrote a set of emotional, defiant piano ballads and uplifting, summery singalongs for her debut album Blind, released in 2016, as well as reworking One by U2 and Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. Singles Come On and Ciao also became big radio hits in Italy, where Grispo was seen as an artist with the potential to appeal to an international market due to her language skills and sunny, positive, pop prowess.
