(By Denis Greenan).
Italy's singing nun has won
Madonna's backing in a row over the sister covering her 1984 pop
classic Like A Virgin.
The music legend on Thursday night 'liked' on Facebook
Suor Cristina's slower and more hymn-like version of her first
smash hit, whose video famously portrayed her in a saucy wedding
dress lolling suggestively on a Venice gondola.
"Like A Virgin? #bitinghard", said the pop icon on her FB
profile, adding Sisters for Life! #Touchedfortheveryfirsttime
and posting two montage pictures of herself with the winner of
Italy's The Voice competition.
Suor Cristina - or Sister Cristina Scuccia - chose the
Madonna classic to help launch her debut album.
She said she had decided to scale back the boppy backing
and opt for the soulful over the sensuous.
"If you read the lyrics without being influenced by what
has gone before, you discover that it is a song about the
capacity of love to make people new again. To release them from
their past, and that's how I wanted to interpret it" the sister
said.
"That's why we've transformed it from the pop-dance track
it was into a romantic ballad a bit in the style of (US
singer-songwriter) Amos Lee", said the nun.
Suor Cristina said the sexy song, famously deconstructed
in Quentin Tarabntino's Reservoir Dogs, was now "more of a
secular prayer than a pop song".
But the choice did go down well with the Italian bishops'
new agency.
An editorial by SIR called it a "reckless and calculated
commercial operation".
"The public is always intrigued by the devil versus holy
water theme, but not even the American nuns in Sister Act would
have thought of something like this," the editorial said.
It said the singing nun's claim it was a sort of prayer
was a "blessedly naive" comment.
SIR stressed it was speaking for itself, not for Italian
bishops.
Suor Cristina signed a contract with Universal for an
album due out in November.
In so doing she apparently went back on a vow, made after
winning the The Voice singing competition on June 5, to return
to her life of prayer, school-teaching and preaching.
The 25-year-old nun thanked God after prevailing in the
final of the popular talent show on State broadcaster Rai.
"My presence here is not down to me, it's thanks to the man
upstairs," said the Sicilian nun, who has become a household
name in Italy.
Scuccia became an Internet sensation after winning over
the judges at a blind audition in March with her version of
Alicia Keys' No One - the clip of which has received more than
50 million hits on YouTube.
On the way to the final she wowed viewers with performances
of hits including Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want To Have Fun and
Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer.
The Ursuline sister performed four songs in the final,
including a duet with her coach, bad-boy Italian rapper
J-Ax.
After crushing her nearest rival by claiming 62% of the
popular vote in the final, she led the audience in reciting the
Lord's Prayer.
Her victory gave her the recording contract with Universal.
"I'll discuss everything with my superiors," Scuccia said
at the time, leaving the door open to a possible career.
"Nothing is ruled out in evangelization and we'll take our
message out on the streets if necessary.
The nun, who grew up with a love of music in a small town
called Comiso near Ragusa, got her first little break when she
was offered the starring role in the Ursuline Order's musical
about their founder St Ursula, in Palermo in 2008.
The then 18-year-old became a novice the following year and
took her holy orders two years ago, while continuing to take
signing and dancing classes.
The unlikely TV contestant was even praised by Alicia Keys
herself after her rendition of No One.
"Now, THAT'S what beautiful, pure energy looks like! Sing
it, sister Christina!" the US singer posted on Twitter, along
with a link to the nun's video.
American actress Whoopi Goldberg, who portrays a Cabaret
singer disguised as a nun in the film Sister Act, also heaped
praise on Scuccia after her breakthrough.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA