TV Italian Style
The ‘TV Italian Style’ podcast is an A-Z of the golden age of Italian television of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s from the perspective of the ever popular varietà and the famous faces who would host and guest star on these shows. It’s a bilingual podcast, in English and Italian, with conversations with experts on Italian TV and culture alongside clips from all the best shows and performances. Visit the accompanying website https://tvitalianstyle.wordpress.com/ to download translated transcriptions for each episode to support your listening.
TV Italian Style
I: Io, Agata e tu... Introducing Raffaella Carrà
On 5 July 2021, Raffaella Carrà passed away at the age of 78 after an unspecified illness. The story was front page news, given Raffaella's status in contemporary Italy. RAI explained ‘È morta all’età di 78 anni Raffaella Carrà, definita la Regina della tv italiana. Showgirl, cantante, ballerina, attrice, conduttrice televisiva, radiofonica e autrice televisiva. [...] Durante la sua lunga carriera, Raffaella Carrà è diventata un’icona della musica e della televisione italiana’ (RaiNews 2021). According to Il Corriere della sera, ‘Raffaella era una donna forte, libera, controcorrente. Una donna che della libertà e dell’allegria aveva fatto la sua bandiera’ (Volpe 2021). And La Repubblica described Carrà thus: ‘Ballerina, cantante, attrice, conduttrice e autrice: sapeva fare tutto. E faceva tutto bene. Era la regina della televisione italiana, e probabilmente lo sarà per lungo tempo. Provocatrice e rassicurante al tempo stesso ha saputo farsi amare da intere generazioni di italiani’ (Gagliardi 2021).
In addition to the media coverage, there was an outpouring of emotion from fans across social media. Famous fans who expressed their sadness at Carrà’s death included television presenters Pippo Baudo, Renzo Arbore, Fabio Fazio, and Maria De Filippi, as well as singers Laura Pausini, Gianni Morandi, Adriano Celentano, and Loredana Bertè. And President Mattarella announced ‘Sono profondamente colpito dalla scomparsa di Raffaella Carrà, un’artista popolare, amata e apprezzata da diverse e numerose generazioni di telespettatori in Italia e all’estero. Volto televisivo per eccellenza ha trasmesso - con la sua bravura e la sua simpatia - un messaggio di eleganza, gentilezza e ottimismo’ (in Gagliardi 2021).
This coverage highlights in particular Raffaella's status as an iconic, popular, and much-loved singer and performer in Italy from the end of the 1960s to the present. The references to strength, freedom, and being countercultural and provocative as well as reassuring tell us what she meant to her audiences. And President Mattarella’s statement reveals one of the primary media through which Italian audiences had access to Raffaella, and through which her star significances were shared: television, and in particular, the variety show.
In this episode, I'm joined by Nicolò Salmaso and together, we'll explore Raffaella's career and contribution to the varietà televisivo and to television in general from the end of the 1960s through to the 1990s.