The Island of the Famous collapses. The commentators Sonia Bruganelli and Dario Maltese collapse, the hosting style of Vladimir Luxuria collapses, a cast collapses which, as they would say in Legnaese dialect, is “maltrainsema” – translated, put together badly – and a program idea collapses in 2024 based on mechanisms that already in the second edition of the program – and we are in the tenth – smelled like grandma’s attic.
The TV ratings on Wednesday 22 May tell of a disastrous structural failure of the surviving Canale 5 show: the 12% share with an average of one million 678 thousand viewers. A debacle: never before had such a low result in terms of ratings been recorded by the Island of the Famous in its history in Italy.
What causes this collapse? There’s no denying it: no one would have ever expected aAtalanta feat in the Europa League final against the Bayer Leverkusen. Not even Rai, probably, which found itself in its hands of a match with over 6 million average viewers with a share of 29.2%. Of course, if the Dea had lost the match, perhaps conceding three goals in the first half, the television results would probably have been different. But this cannot be a justification, given that 12% for a Canale 5 prime time is the stuff of a film, not even on first run.
So what happened? The situation is there for everyone to see, literally: Vladimir Luxuria she takes on the role of a teacher rather than a presenter. She would have been more effective as a commentator. Dario Maltese and Sonia Bruganelli, totally aligned and without any spark of genius, seem more committed to bickering than providing content to viewers. They would have been more effective at home. On the sofa. Elenoire Casalegno it’s the only one light at the end of a tunnel too long. But it was decided to confine her to Honduras as the envoy. When you have few but confused ideas…
Let’s get to the cast. That it should win one between Edoardo Stoppa and Samuel Peron it was certain from the first minute of the first episode of this edition. And neither of them had even jumped from the helicopter yet. The other castaways, apart from the already unfortunately eliminated Valentina Vezzali and Rosanna Lodi, do not cause controversy. Edward Franco he’s the only one trying to create some discussion. But he is regularly mocked by pundits. To whom the mechanism by which ratings rise and fall depending on the attention of viewers has probably never been explained.
The underlying theme of a surviving show is, precisely, survival. Which in this edition of the Island of the Famous is more guaranteed than at an aperitif at the Hollywood in Milan. The competitors are not put to the test, they suffer from hunger in a moderate way. Furthermore, the challenges they have to face have remained the same for years. Who among us doesn’t have one by now fire test station in the living room at home?
Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop and rethink this format. This edition is now practically over – only the semi-final and final are missing – but truly new ideas are needed for the next one. Disaster, as we are widely seeing, is truly just around the corner.
