"Saturday Night" is a song by Italian Eurodance project Whigfield, fronted by Danish-born Sannie Charlotte Carlson. It was first released in 1992 in Italy and November 1993 in Spain through Prodisc. In 1994, it was released in the rest of Europe, and experienced worldwide success. The song was written by Italian producers Larry Pignagnoli and Davide Riva, and produced by Pignagnoli. In 1994, the song was included on Carlson's debut album, Whigfield. The single entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart, making Whigfield the first artist to enter at the top in the UK with their debut single, dethroning Wet Wet Wet's 15-week chart-topper "Love Is All Around". As of October 2015, "Saturday Night" has sold a total of 1.18 million copies in the UK. It also reached number one in Germany, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland, and it became a top-10 hit in Austria, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. In Spain the single spent 11 weeks at the top position. Outside Europe, it peaked at number three in Zimbabwe, number 19 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and number 78 in Australia. NME magazine ranked "Saturday Night" at number 15 in their list of the 50 best songs of 1994. It was also nominated for Best Single, while Whigfield was nominated for Best New Act on the 7th annual Smash Hits Awards in 1995. Background and composition Whigfield (AKA Sannie Charlotte Carlson) studied fashion design in Copenhagen and went to Bologna in Italy where she worked as a model by day and as a PR girl for clubs at night. One of the club DJs, Davide Riva, was part of a music production duo. He persuaded her to sing for them. She then visited Italian producer Larry Pignagnoli in his studio and performed a song sample. He hired her to record "Saturday Night" and she chose the name Whigfield after an old teacher in Denmark. Larry Pignagnoli already had success with Spagna in the late 1980s and early 1990s before he produced "Saturday Night" with Whigfield. With lyrics written by Pignagnoli in three days, the duo did over 20 takes, then they spliced the best bits together. Reviews categorized "Saturday Night" as a melodic bubblegum-influenced pop-dance and Euro-pop track. James Hamilton from the magazine's RM Dance Update compared it to "Do Wah Diddy Diddy". "Saturday Night" includes a rave-tinted rhythm section,