Password: defuse. On the Concertone of May 1st, the first in which she was involved, alongside the three organizing confederal unions CGIL, CISL and UIL, the Rai management indicated by the center-right, caution is maximum. After the Scurati case, on which the investigation is still ongoing, the fear that the live coverage of the event gets out of hand, that’s understandable.
The recurring nightmare is that the Fedez case of 2021 will be repeated, with the accusations of censorship aimed at the Rai management (at the time, with the Draghi government, the CEO was Carlo Fuortes) and an outcry that ended in nothing, given that Rai did not file a complaint, as it had threatened. Last year the off-schedule was offered by the physicist Carlo Rovelli, attacking the Defense Minister Guido Crosetto in his monologue. Ambra, who was presenting, made amends, apologizing for the lack of cross-examination.
This year, in aatmosphere already quite incandescentMassimo Bonelli, who has been organizing the event for 11 years, preferred to cut it short: no monologues. A choice which, curiously, is very similar to the one made by Amadeus in Sanremo. «The narration will be done by the musicians» he said.
As for the choice of casthave already had an impact on Bonelli some criticisms which sound more or less like this: «It’s more like Sanremo than May Day». With reference to the 70 invited artists, among whom there are in fact many veterans of the Festival. Moreover, Bonelli has candidly confessed what he would like to do further. «Reform Sanremo Giovani because it doesn’t work that way». Half a candidacy to replace Amadeus…
But let’s go back to the artists on stage: many will launch their next albums and tours right from the Circus Maximus, as if they were guests of any program. Among the names, that of. stands out Last, the singer-songwriter who fills stadiums but who the left doesn’t like very much. On the other hand, they will be there Dargen D’Amicoalready discontinued at Sunday Infor talking about immigrants (protagonists of his Sanremo piece) and Achille Lauro, whose provocations have never really embarrassed state TV. Among the old rebel glories, they stand out Piero Pelù, who stuck a condom on his microphone in 1993. AND Morganthe most unpredictable, candidate to host Rai broadcasts which are then not given to him.
Among the singers committed to civil rights, Ermal Meta (host together with Noemi), Uzi Lvke from Corviale, the irreverent rappers Corveleno and Big Mama. Stefano Massini should recite the monologue on deaths at work, already staged in Sanremo, together with Paolo Jannacci. But many people think that it could be the writer himself, who has spent a lot of time on the Scurati case, who introduced the theme of anti-fascism.
The possibility of this being talked about on stage was the subject of questions in the press conference presenting the concert, accompanied by fears of censorship. And if Bonelli sidestepped the question, underlining that the topic chosen by the unions is Europe, for Rai the deputy director of Prime-Time responded, John Antwerp. «I wouldn’t use this word (censorship, ed) about the May Day stage (…) – he said -. It does not belong to Rai, to the tradition of these musical events where artists express themselves with music and poetry».
In Antwerp the Rai management seems to have deliberately left the “match” of this May 1st: any errors will fall on him. But already now, his distance from the chain of leaders of the Melonian faith protects the leaders from accusations of preventive censorship. The deputy director, for his part, displays calm: if his name appeared, surprisingly, among the candidates for the next RAI board of directors, today he’s playing it all out.
In Viale Mazzini, meanwhile, they ensure that the live broadcast will be as follows, without delays even minimal storms, which would have served to touch up any over-the-top interventions. Simona Sala, director of Rai Radio 2, is definitive: «We are not afraid. Risk is freedom».
