The Italian duo Jalisse, will be landing on our shores shortly for another appearance on Bla Agenda, this Saturday, on One TV at 8.35 pm.

Husband and wife Fabio Ricci and Alessandra Drusian got together as Jalisse in 1994, and have been performing ever since. The title was inspired from a name of a role in a TV series, and is Arabic in origin, referring to a storyteller who grabs the attention of his audience with his fables and music.

The first steps of Jalisse in the international music world started in 1995, when they took part in Sanremo Giovani with the song Vivo reaching third place. A year later they took part in the Festival di Sanremo in the Nuove proposte category, and managed to reach sixth place with their song Liberami. In 1997 they were promoted from the Nuove proposte on to the Big category and won that edition of the San Remo Festival.

Their winning entry was the ballad Fiumi di Parole. They were chosen to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest of that same year, and they reached a very respectable fourth place with 114 points.

Jalisse were the last singers to represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest to date, and due to this, their song has achieved a sort of cult status among the contest fans.

Following their participation at the Eurovision Song Contest, Jalisse issued the album, Il cerchio magico del mondo, an album dedicated to the “various ethnicities, celtic fables, native americans and to the good values and principles of all those who respect our world” – as stated on the artists’ official website. The album is full of New Age music, similar to the Irish Clannad.

The duo is still very popular within the Eurovision fans’ circuit, OGAE and took part in various concerts organised by the OGAE circuits in Russia, Boston (USA), Canada, and the in Festival di Vina del Mar in Chile.

In 1999, Alessandra and Fabio got married and had a child. This resulted in their decision to take a step back from the limelight and dedicate more time to their family. In 2000, Jalisse released their new single, I’ll fly – this time with Alessandra as a soloist. In autumn 2006, they released their second album Siedi e Ascolta, a title that harks back to the meaning of Jalisse.