Mario Maffucci and the unexpected behind the scenes of the Sanremo Festival 1998: how his risky ideas became successes

There was also Mario Maffucci, behind the scenes of the 48th Sanremo Festival, in 1998. He was in his second year as an artistic director. The audience from home saw Raimondo Vianello on stageflanked by the statuary Eva Herzigova and the brilliant Veronica Pivetti. But he did not know that, a few hours before the start of the broadcast, something unexpected happened.

Tells it Andrea Scarpa in the book Samurai. The adventures of a TV forrest of the TV behind the scenes of power (Edizioni Fuorisena), born from hours of conversations with Maffucci, today 85 years old, historic television manager and protagonist of the Rai epic Between the 80s and 90s.

Scarpa, what happened shortly before the live broadcast of the 1998 festival?
“Vianello said:” If Pippo Baudo had the blonde and the brown, I will have the beautiful and the ugly. ” Maffucci knew that it would not be easy to find some willing to accept that role, but Vianello had already decided: it had to be Veronica Pivetti. Too bad that three hours from the live, reading the script, Pivetti had a nervous crisis. Maffucci asked Vianello if he had explained to him before what his role had to be, and he admitted no. But he went to speak to her, finding the right words. In the end, Veronica went on stage and contributed to a memorable edition. “

What would Maffucci think – who has dealt with it for 18 years – of the Sanremo Festival Recent?
«I guess it would pay attention to the news and new proposals, as he has always done. It was he who brought Mike Bongiorno and Piero Chiambretti dressed as a little angel to the same stage, or to want Fabio Fazio to run the festival after Vianello. It has always been prudent, but courageous ».

Speaking of courage, there were moments when Rai had to defend risky choices.
“Absolutely. In 1989 the Lopez-Marchesini-Solenghi trio presented a sketch that theRoman Observer He defined as “drinking, stupid, trivial comedy”. Biagio Agnes, then general manager of Rai, collected criticism without wording, respecting the autonomy of his brother Mario, who was director of the newspaper “.

Leo Gullotta, Renzo Arbore and Mario Maffucci

Another example of challenge to the television system?
“Fantastic 8, with Adriano Celentano. Berlusconi was trying to occupy the center of the television scene, snatching Pippo Baudo from Rai (and then also Raffaella Carrà and Enrica Bonaccorti) with a millionaire contract. To answer, Maffucci pointed everything about Celentano. But in his first episode as a conductor, he had a live nervous collapse, and remained in silence for a long time. It could be a disaster, but Maffucci managed the situation with cold blood, anticipated the advertising and saved the evening. From that moment, the silences of Celentano became a successful brand ».

And then there was the case of the electoral card.
“Yes, Celentano invited the audience to write the phrase” hunting is against love “on the election card, unaware that this would invalidate the vote. The Prosecutor of the Republic of Rome paint him, Maffucci and another Rai manager, Rossini, for violation of the rules of the electoral law. Also in that case, however, Maffucci collected and kept the helm. It affects me to compare that resolve to the hypersensitivity that dominates today ».

What do Mario Maffucci’s legacy is today?
«He launched talents like Carlo Conti and Milly Carlucci, believed in the experimentation and dared. But that vision seems to have missed ».

Why?
«In the last 25 years the role of the authors has emptied. Once Italian TV created original formats, today it matters foreign formats. It was an artisanal work, built with care, while today agencies and stables dominate ».

If he should choose a symbol of that bravest television?
“The Bagaglino. Often criticized, but went live without censorship. Or it was transmitted as it was, or did not do it at all. In 1988, then, Andreotti found himself face to face, on stage, with his imitator Oreste Lionello: an intertwining of satire and politics without barriers, now unthinkable ».

What is missing compared to that TV season?
“The desire to dare is missing. The Rai of Once organized worldwide events. Madonna’s 1987 concert at the Torino Municipal Stadium was broadcast live on Rai Uno. But I also think of the concert of the three tenors at the Terme di Caracalla. Today Rai disappeared from the international scene, while then Maffucci had the courage to challenge the status quo to make Italian TV a global reference point. And there was air of freedom ».