Angelina Veneziano is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless.

She is portrayed by Diana DeGarmo, who is famed for being runner-up on the third season of the reality television competition American Idol.

[1] She was introduced by former executive producer and head writer Maria Arena Bell on October 31, 2011, as the daughter of mob boss Angelo Veneziano (Mike Starr).

[3][4][5] The show's executive producer and head writer Maria Arena Bell offered DeGarmo the role of Veneziano after seeing her performance of Penny Pingleton in the musical production of Hairspray.

[3] She developed a crush on Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart), which she takes to extreme heights, conning him into a short-lived marriage with the help of her father.

Angelina eventually achieved her musical dream, having released a song entitled "Good Goodbye" which was written and produced by DeGarmo.

[8] After a five-month stint on the series, on March 27, 2012, Angelina left Genoa City to further pursue her music career in Los Angeles.

Described as "mafia princess" and an alter ego, TV Guide credited her as being comedic relief for the daytime drama.

[9] On September 12, 2011, it was announced that DeGarmo was to join the cast of The Young and the Restless in the contract role of "jersey girl" Angelina.

Upon Angelina's debut on the show, it was revealed that she would be romantically linked to Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart).

[13] Speaking about how she landed the role of Angelina, DeGarmo said that she was doing a special performance of the musical Hairspray at the Hollywood Bowl for three nights that August, to which head writer Maria Arena Bell had attended.

She stated:[3] [Bell] happened to come see it just as they were starting to look for Angelina, which is so not the kind of character role people think of me doing.

"[5] CBS Soaps In Depth wrote: "viewers definitely can expect Angelina to make her mark in Genoa City.

"[6] TV Guide introduced Angelina as: "the Jersey girl daughter of mob boss Angelo Veneziano (Mike Starr).

[1] Describing Angelina, DeGarmo labeled her as "over-the-top" and a "gum-smacking, tone-deaf princess whose hair is as large as her attitude."

[12] DeGarmo revealed that she was having a "blast" picking out costumes for the over-the-top part: "Her hair and make-up are icing on the cake" she stated.

[15] DeGarmo noted that her father, Angelo, "who thinks his spoiled-brat daughter sings like a choir of angels" puts pressure on Devon Hamilton (Bryton James), a young and upcoming music producer, to show Angelina the ropes of the music industry and make her a success.

[3] DeGarmo said: "Unfortunately, she’s not as good a singer as she and her father think she is [sic] Angelina is a bit oblivious to reality, but will slowly come to grips with it over the next few weeks.

"[3] She said that Angelina was into Top 40 music at first, but: "the writers have her singing the American standards — Judy Garland, that sort of thing.

[3][15] Angelina briefly fired Devon for adding rap verses to a song of hers which was soaring on the charts, but he retained the rights of the track.

[16] As her time on the show was nearing its end, it was announced that DeGarmo was to debut a country ballad song entitled "Good Goodbye".

[7] "Good Goodbye" was co-written by DeGarmo and her real-life fiance Ace Young, who was also a competitor on American Idol, and details Angelina's "emotional journey" on the show.

"[4] During an interview with TV Guide, DeGarmo said that the song will "tug at your heartstrings" and marks a big turning point for Angelina's storyline: "where she's finally starting to grow up.

"[9] When she first arrived in Genoa City, Angelina set her eyes on Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart), whom she developed a huge crush on.

"[14] Just before Kevin was set to marry his girlfriend Chloe Mitchell (Elizabeth Hendrickson), Angelina persuaded him to help her escape town, as she was in danger.

Angelo put Kevin in charge of keeping Angelina safe from her dangerous ex-boyfriend Carmine Basco (Marco Dapper).

Hearing of this, Angelo assumed that Kevin wanted to win over Angelina, and sent over his friend Dino to "break his legs".

"[14] Michael Logan of TV Guide praised DeGarmo and Angelina as comic relief for the show.

[3] Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly regarded Angelina as Angelo's ambitious "little angel" and called DeGarmo's casting as "not exactly the next Mariah Carey" a "bit of a twist".

[22] In 2021, Richard Simms from the same website put Angelina on his list of the most hated soap opera characters, calling her a "songbird whose mafioso pop forced Kevin Fisher to marry his talent-free daughter" and commenting that the audience were not very "thrilled" by the storyline.