“Hello everyone, it was nice. See you again at the next idea”: with these words, while the moments worth framing from the show scrolled on the video, to the tune of Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Fiorello closed the second edition of his creation Viva Rai2 !, perhaps the one that resembles him most, surrounded by his team of around 200 people and his guests, lifelong friends, Lorenzo Jovanotti and Amadeus, as well as by his family, with his wife Susanna and daughter Angelica.
With an average of over 1 million and 20% on Rai2, broadcast from 7 to 8, and with a boom in ratings on Raiplay, Radio2 and on social media, Viva Rai2! it’s the show of records. In around 230 episodes and as many previews on Instagram filmed at dawn, Fiorello gave his all. To greet the last episode of the morning show or, in the Italian style, the ‘mattin show’ live, there were around 2000 people crowded on the barriers on the pavement in front of the glass at the Foro Italico, which was stormed shortly afterwards also for the Tennis internationals. If for Amadeus it was the last live appearance on Rai, before moving to Nove, for Jovanotti it was the first public outing after about 10 months after the tragic bicycle accident in Santo Domingo.
For his arrival, supported by a crutch, a warm welcome from the public and a lot of emotion. Lorenzo also indulged in a dance and a few jumps dragged by his friend Fiorello and singing ‘Azzurro’ together amidst the confetti. “I’d like to go back on tour, I’m not thinking about anything else”, explained Jova, indicating “next year, spring 2025” as a possible date. Surprisingly, in the center of the lawn of a deserted Olympic stadium, Ultimo appeared on the piano to sing his single, released a few hours ago, ‘Altrove’ and then ‘Albachiara’ by Vasco Rossi. After the unforgettable performances of the guests on the pedestrian crossing, from Pierfrancesco Favino to Ricchi e Poveri, from Virginia Raffaele to Giorgia to Carmen Russo, Fiorello also wanted to experience the thrill of the traffic lights together with Amadeus, surrounded by a lot of festive people.
“You dream of these at Nove”, joked the showman. “The Amarellos will never die”, he added, before performing a mini show in the middle of traffic, in the short interval between the red and green lights. Many children and many colorful banners, praising but at times also melancholy “Fiore, how will we wake up without you?”. With the cameras off, tangible emotion with some tears from the young dancers and the cast, starting with Fiorello himself.
Rai CEO Roberto Sergio underlined that Viva Rai2! has become “a real cultural phenomenon, beyond the extraordinary listening results”. Sergio himself was present at the penultimate episode, while the president of Rai Marinella Soldi arrived for the last one. “At Viva Rai2! we said everything and more. We made fun of everyone, as it should be, even the Rai top management. We have always had absolute freedom. With all the governments in Rai, we have never had interference, phone calls. I speak for me”, Fiorello told ANSA after the end of the show. There is no certainty about tomorrow. “Since Baglioni’s Sanremo in which I was a guest, I have never stopped. Six Festivals, a long theater tour, Viva Raiplay, two editions of Viva Rai2!… Now we need a break, we need to disappear a bit”, he concluded the showman, before reminding his entire team that maestro Renzo Arbore also closed Indietro tutto at the height of his success after a couple of editions. The choreographer Luca Tommassini said: “We invented this show in the middle of a street, in via Asiago, focusing on talents and friends and believing in this project that perhaps not even Rai believed in very much…”. For Claudio Fasulo, deputy director of prime time entertainment at Rai, “working with Fiorello is always very stimulating because, as a thoroughbred horse that he is, he always raises the bar”. For Simona Sala, director of Radio2, “Fiorello’s voice and genius, which aired on the radio every day at 2pm, evoked the memory of Viva Radio2. For him the door on Via Asiago is always open, it’s his home” . And who knows, maybe Fiorello doesn’t want to start again from the radio.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA
