Blogilkar had the pleasure to interview
the Italian Head of delegation Nicola
Caligiore. How did he live those two last editions in Baku and
Dusseldorf? Will Italy be back in 2013? Will there be an Eurovision
night in Sanremo? What are his favorite Eurovision songs? What does he
think of Italian fans behavior? Here is the interview in English version. The Italian original one is here.
Last
year, Italy was back with, let's say general euphoria and welcomed
with open arms by all in Dusseldorf. How were you received this
year?
We were greeted very well, for me now all the event
management and other heads of delegations are like one big
family.
Last year, Italy was not among the favorites and finished
second. This year, the Zilli was among the main contenders for
victory and finished ninth. Why?
I can not tell exactly, it is a
competition ... you can win, you can lose ... it's part of the game,
moreover, to be ninth out of forty-two is not a bad result.
Have
you discussed whether it was right to change the song?
The song
"L'amore è femmina" was selected by Universal Music in
agreement with Rai and artist management. The record company has
invested and believed a lot in this project, I can only thank
Universal Music for the great work.
Last year when Gualazzi slowly
climbed the table almost hidden to the top, what was going through
your head?
I answer with a song: ".. Euphoria! We're going up
up up .. "
At the end you were happy and relieved, or maybe
a little disappointed not to have won?
As I said before, it's a
competition, you must want to win but we must also know how to lose
.. second place for Raphael was a tremendous achievement and a great
gesture of affection towards our country.
And in 2012, did you
expect a better placement as you were a favorit?
I believe I
already responded to this earlier.
However, 25 countries out of 41 voted
Italy but only Malta had it in top-3. How do you explain that? (Also
the fact that Finland did not vote for Italy! For the first time
since 1978! ... Finland has voted Italy in the top-3 nine times out
of 18 possible since 1974 with the voting system we have today). Fans
talk about plots a la Jalisse in 1997 (I do not believe it, I want
to clarify, Ed.note). That RAI has asked the juries not to vote for
it in various countries. What do you think of these
accusations?
Stupidities and absurdities, which degrade the
grueling work and complex behind this event - Rai has decided not to
have anything to do with other juries, not in any way - We chose
independent professionals (striking example was the fact that they
have not been able to help San Marino in the semifinale) and we kept
out of any "games", just to protect the country's image, to
avoid the easy stereotypes about Italians - I would like the fans
appreciated these things rather than give credit to fantasy
conspiracies.
It seems that fans in Italy instead of being
happy that Italy has returned talk bad about RAI and anything is not
good for them - a fact that has made you also react on FB (here). Do you
think it served something or was it useless?
It was my mistake to
try to communicate too much with the fans and I was a little naive in
wasting time trying to hear the views of the most - I realize that in
a spectacle like this everyone is expecting something, and believe
they have the answers to all: reading the comments I realize,
however, that 99% of them do not know at all what's behind it, but
only the facade: the dynamics of the contest and the business, the
dynamics of EBU-UER, the costs of participation, the problems and
controversies with the record companies, and especially do not
appreciate the fact that ESC is still at the moment a product
considered marginal in Italy - Personally I believe in this product
and have protected it as much as I can, I find that the fan should be
a little more grateful to be back and Rai has represented our country
for two years with great elegance and respect, the rest is useless
nonsense.
The audience is up, many magazines and newspapers have
dedicated space for the ESC, including TV Sorrisi e Canzoni with
three pages and Twitter has made records and miracles. Do you think
that the positive trend will continue?
Obviously I hope so! We
tried to do a great job with the press this year, looking for as many
co operations as possible, but certainly the controversy on
Azerbaijan were difficult to contain.
Do you think enough RAI
promotes the event? Personal opinion?
"Enough" is a
relative term – I's rather compare to the previous year: Rai has
promoted the event much more than in 2011: Nina has been a guest on
numerous programs, the promo has gone inter-network (at almost no
other programme is allowed this "privilege"), the radio has
cooperated very well, all the TV.news did the launch and services, we
animated the Facebook page and tweeted the final ..... I do not
accept to be told that "RAI does no promotion at all," you
can not expect that we speak as if Eurovision was the Football World
Cup or Sanremo, one must have patience and appreciate the
progress.
If you had a carte blanche to be able to do the national
selection and promotion of the event in Italy, what would you do?
(Again from Sanremo, a competition just for the national selection or
internal selection ....)
Personally, and I repeat it is a personal
opinion, I do not agree to a national selection with televoting - the
formula of musical talent is in trouble in Italy, I'd much happier to
be able to choose an artist whose recording career is not ad hoc
Eurovision, who has a music career and a developed discography, thus
avoiding the phenomena "One shot" that often characterize
the event instead of good for music: we're back to the ESC also
because we believe it's a platform to promote good Italian music in
the world , as it had in the past, fulfilling a mission of public
service as indicated in the service contract. I do not know what will
happen in the future, we may also explore new formulas, but it is too
early to tell.
A question on everyone's lips: Will Italy be back
in 2013 and remain in the ESC?
The participation is decided by the
General Direction. Obviously I hope so, but can't tell you anything
for sure yet, especially in light of recent changes to corporate
governance.
Sanremo 2013 will be back from where the artist will
be chosen and / or song?
Still early to tell
And if you
dedicate an evening of Sanremo for Eurovision? :-)
It seems a bit
utopian, but ... never say never.
You were familiar with the ESC
after years living in Spain. Now with these two years of experience
as Head of Delegation are also a fan or is it just work for
you?
Well, I do not deny that I was passionate about the festival,
but I'm certainly here to work for my company. Obviously I try to
perform my task with the utmost respect and passion
Do you have
any favorite older songs and some from 2011-2012? (Excluding Italy of
course)
There are several ... In the past I liked Rybak and
Fairytale, and
because of a story related to my personal life, I'm very fond of
Comme comme, ca by Evridiki
(Cyprus). This year I found very beautiful the songs of Germany and
Hungary, very close to my musical taste.
How are relations with
other delegations? With whom does Italy spend time with? (As the
Finns often end up with the Icelanders and the Irish usually
....)
There is a very good relationship with everyone! As I said
before, the spirit of the event is really that of a beautiful party,
for logistics reasons including schedule and shared events, Big5
often end up spending lots of time together
Whose idea was that
Nina screams "Clap Your Hands, Europe!"?
Absolutely
spontaneous by Nina herself!
Thanks so much for the interview and
hope to see in Sweden 2013!
Thank you!
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