C.‘is a bit of Scarabeo, a pinch of Paroliamo and Ruzzle, something from the historic Rai program My word. But there is also so much more and new in Lingo – Words at stakethe game show for everyone that will be up from the 12th La7 at 18.50, from Monday to Saturday. Leading it is a smart woman, who for a long time was the face of Daytime in Rai: Caterina Balivo, 42, two children, a lot of experience and a lot of determination in facing the new appointment. Absent from TV for two years, from the pandemic onwards, Caterina Balivo returned to work with enthusiasm and now she says: “I’ll wait for you on La7 with the new game show Lingo“.
Caterina Balivo, 42 years old: “I’ll wait for you on La7 with the new game show Lingo”. From 12 on air from Monday to Saturday at 18.50.
Can you tell us how the program works?
You play with the words of the Italian language, the difficulty is to find those of the right length. Or we start from the definition to find the word, perhaps with the help of a few letters. At each episode three pairs of competitors compete; there is fun and culture. Simone Tempia, a young writer expert in our language, will help me and will reveal the secrets of the words to guess, starting with the ones we use the most these days, such as votes, or urn. I will bring my world, with pop music, memes.
A new program in a band, that of the early evening, already occupied by consolidated programs. Brave?
More than anything else, I love challenges, and I’m curious. Lingo is a new game show for Italy, but well known abroad, it is witty and intelligent. Of course, I lead the network at that time before the news, and I am grateful to La7 for giving me this opportunity. But it was also another motivation that pushed me: the quizzes are always made by men. We women are more present in the talk, where stories are told, perhaps because we are more empathetic. But you also need empathy for a quiz and so yes, I’ll try, giving my all.
An important commitment: from Monday to Friday, for 100 episodes. Doesn’t that frighten you, after two years spent mostly in the family?
I don’t want to give up the family balance that I have built in these two years, bringing Guidalberto and Cora, aged 10 and 5, to school, for one thing. But Lingo it is a game show, and I am convinced that it will allow me to keep my spaces private.
Speaking of private spaces, how is the garden going?
Very good! There is still a lot of basil, black cabbage, pumpkins were born. Guidalberto has just sown the watermelons, and they are growing even though we are at the end of the season. Who knows, with this climate … The important thing is love for nature, and we parents have passed it on to him.
Take away a curiosity: how did you get along with Italian when you were at school?
Well, I did the classical high school, I liked writing and above all reading. I read a lot in my teens, then I stopped between 18 and 26 and then picked up on the classics again. Now I’m getting closer to the great American writers, I’m getting passionate about Furore.
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