by Mariano PrunesMilan-born sisters Paola Iezzi (born March 30, 1974) and Chiara Iezzi (born February 27, 1973) started singing together as teenagers with their group Elefunky. In 1995 producer Claudio Cecchetto hired them as background singers for 883, both for studio recordings and touring. The statuesque sisters, blonde Chiara and brunette Paola, also appeared in several of the band's videos. Soon enough, the sisters decided to try their luck as a duo, writing and performing their own songs. In 1997 Paola & Chiara won the "Nuove Proposte" section at the San Remo Festival with the song "Amici Come Prima," soon released as part of their first CD, Ci Chiamano Bambine. They also participated in the Italian soundtrack of the Disney film Hercules. After the disappointing sales of their second album, 1998's Giornata Storica, Paola & Chiara took a break from music and recycled themselves as TV hosts for MTV Italy. Success finally arrived with the single "Vamos a Bailar (Esta Vida Nueva)," a hit of the 2000 summer. Included on the album Television, the song and album set the template for Paola & Chiara's new sound and look. Instead of the rock and folk-rock leanings of the first two albums, now the sisters refashioned themselves as a Europop dance/club act, in the manner of Pet Shop Boys or Madonna. Paola & Chiara's subsequent albums, singles, and steamy videos (the one for "Kamasutra," for instance, was banned from the air and circulated only on the Internet) continued in the same vein, becoming fairly well known with the dance crowd of Europe, as well as in Japan and Latin America. They also started to include more songs in or with parts in English and Spanish. A greatest-hits collection appeared in 2005. Both sisters started to work on solo projects, but still continued to record and perform as a duo. Win the Game, Paola & Chiara's first album made for the independent label Trepertre, was released in 2007.