Italy's Singing Nun Cristina Scuccia Covers Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' in Debut Single (Video)

Oct 23, 2014 02:59 PM EDT

Italian nun sister Cristina Scuccia is making headlines again with the release of her rendition of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" song after stunning the judges on Italy's "The Voice" with her audition of Alicia Key's "No One."

The stark contrast was that Madonna most likely wasn't referring to God when she sang the words "touched for the very first time." Scuccia claims she chose the song simply because it could be interpreted as the redemptive love of Christ.


"Reading the text, without being influenced by previous interpretations, you discover that it is a song about the power of love to renew people [and] rescue them from their past," the nun told Italian newspaper Avvenire.

"We have transformed this song from a pop-dance piece, which it was, into a romantic ballad ... something more similar to a lay prayer than a pop piece," she added.

Both videos are set in Venice, and while the nun sings in various landmarks wearing a habit and alone, Madonna is seen rolling around sensually in a gondola and gets carried away by a lion-faced man.

Release just three days ago, Scuccia's rendition "Like a Virgin" has already received over 1.5 million views on Youtube. Her self-titled album will be released worldwide and contains 10 revisited and reinterpreted tracks.

Scuccia said she did not think Madonna had heard her rendition, and said, "I'd like to see her face when they tell her it's a nun singing."