"It's the last Festival. We gave it our all at night, this evening Amarello will meet together for the last time, I think we'll have a lot of fun
. There's an almost emotional air. Ama and I look at each other and ask ourselves whether it is the last. Yes, it is the last because it is right that things change, it is right to give space to others":
Fiorello says this in an interview with ANSA
, shortly before the final evening of the 74th Festival of Sanremo.
Video Sanremo, Fiorello: 'Made peace with the Festival, but enough'
"To those who come, I advise not to throw everything away because Ama has traced a new path from a musical point of view.
It has brought young people closer to the Festival with data that surprised me. It is a credit that must be recognized to Amadeus. Who will do the next year Sanremo - adds Fiorello - could follow this path and then do another Festival in its image and likeness, good luck!".
Shortly before, in a press conference he had made a joke about the ratings and the John Travolta case: "Little happened in this edition of the Festival and we clung to that thing there. But listening to the data I'm impressed: if the result is this, the I would gladly do the dance here again", he exclaimed with his usual irony.
After decades of controversial ties with Sanremo, so much so that he has a headache every time he arrives in the city, Fiorello feels at peace with himself.
Here he received the phone call about his father's premature death, but over the years the Ariston stage also gave him terrible performance anxiety.
It may be the experience, it may be the age, it may be the closeness of his wife Susanna and his daughters Olivia and Angelica (who will be in the theater for the final), "the reluctance" is overcome.
"Sanremo represents an unpleasant family memory and an event so important and large that it always arouses pathological levels of anxiety in me"
but this time it was different, explains the showman.
"Only thanks to the very strong friendship between me and Amadeus", these five consecutive years of full involvement in the Festival were possible, one of which, unforgettable, without an audience, in the middle of the pandemic, the last edition with Viva Rai2!
'in smart working' from Rome and this last one in person with an episode at dawn and another four late at night.
Now the tiredness is making itself felt and it is difficult to make plans with clarity.
"But in my role that's enough. Amadeus - explains Fiorello - could also do the Festival again in two years but in my role as an entertainer I can't, it would be repetitive. Five years have been a long time, we need more".
No move to Discovery or La 7 in sight for him.
"If I have to do things on TV I'll do them on Rai, right now, until Viva Rai2 comes around! After that I think there will be a period of total rest for me", explains Fiorello specifying that the rumors about his possible move to La7 or Discovery sul Nove are born from "jokes between friends, like Andrea Salerno (La7 director ed.). Every now and then - explains the showman - we laugh and joke".
With this fifth consecutive Festival with Amadeus, adds Fiorello, "I have overcome my reluctance towards Sanremo but that's enough. I want to enjoy Viva Rai2! because it is giving me so much satisfaction."
As for the 'Beware of those two'-style broadcast with Fiorello and Amadeus, much desired by Rai CEO Roberto Sergio, Fiorello does not comment.
And the prime time variety show?
Memorable are those made with Bibi Ballandi who brought him to the variety show on Rai and gave him a new artistic life after the Karaoke boom and all the years at Mediaset.
Rosario addresses a moving memory and a particular dedication of gratitude from Sanremo to his producer.
"When the tiredness of these days has worn off, we'll see if I'll do that evening variety show again. In the summer. At the seaside, that's where the ideas come from," he concludes.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA