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
J: Johnny Dorelli - Love in Portofino and beyond
Johnny Dorelli, "il Frank Sinatra d'Italia" according to the press on the occasion of Johnny's 80th birthday in February 2017. The newspaper L'Avvenire explained: "ancor oggi il suo è l’unico nome da farsi in risposta al quesito «Chi è il più grande entertainer dello spettacolo italiano?». Il primo in questa classifica resta lui, Dorelli: sin dall’esordio italiano, è stato l’unico interprete nostrano mai paragonato a Sinatra". Born in Italy, Johnny moved with his family to New York and at early age and studied music at the High School of Art. On his return to Italy, he was signed by CGD and released popular songs like Lettera a Pinocchio, Love in Portofino, and Parla più piano. His big break would come on the Sanremo stage in 1958, when he was paired with Domenico Modugno to sing Nel blu dipinto di blu. Television appearances followed and in 1963, Johnny was invited to host his first varietà Johnny 7.
But as the newspaper explains, "Dorelli era divenuto numero uno anche in tv, cinema e teatro, perché il neo-ottantenne possiede pure cultura, humour, tempi comici e capacità attorali tali da poter mettere in scena ironica bonomia, poi fredda efferatezza e infine straziato smarrimento. Come ne La coscienza di Zeno di Bolchi, e sempre con stile. [...] Quanto manca all’Italia del 2017 la sua poliedricità misurata ed educata: altri Sinatra, da queste parti, non se ne sono visti". So signore, signori, ecco per voi: Johnny Dorelli.
Excerpts from Johnny's autobiography are taken from Johnny Dorelli with Pier Luigi Vercesi, Che fantastica vita (2020) and read by AI.