Stsuperheroine, extraterrestrial. the one that flies higher, of dazzling beauty. In the third night of the Sanremo Festival 2023 Amadeus and Gianni Morandi welcomed Paula Egonu with the best premises. The volleyball player co-host for one evening she was not intimidated. Indeed, she has shown that she is up to that stage, with lightness and sympathy. Also for her, as per tradition, the time has come monologue. In his case, he chose to tell his story, talking about prejudices, racism and defeats.
Sanremo 2023, Paola Egonu: «I’m not here to give life lessons»
Amadeus introduces her. They sit on the steps and the conductor refers to some statements who made her talk. “Everyone rushed to have their say. Now it’s better that you do it, without interference. Free as you are, free as you’ve always been». “I hope to convey love and empathy to you,” Egonu replies.
«I’m not here tonight to give life lessons, because at my age there are more things I can learn than I can teach». She goes straight to the point without mincing words. «In the past I have been defined hermetic, so over time I have undertaken to tell myself a little more, trying to minimize the space for interpretation». However, every medal has its reverse. And dot the i’s.
«However, this did not prevent some sentences from being torn out of contextcut, pasted at random, slingshots on newspapers and used as headlines to make noise. I learned that every thought once it turns into word and is shared with someone, it is no longer under the control of whoever spoke it. This reminded me that we will always have to go back to the original».
Paula Egonu. (Getty Images)
Thanks to the parents
So he begins to tell his story. Maybe for the first time. She is the first of three siblings and thanks her parents for having “allowed her to have a happy childhood” and for having taught her “that if you want something you have to earn it without fearing sacrifices”. She also thanks them for having gave up on seeing her grow up, so that her dream would come true.
“They helped me find my path, even if it meant leaving home at 13. I’m not a mother, but I hope to become one and I’m sure that no parent is happy that their daughter grows up away from her love and her gaze. Thank you for giving up on me. Your caresses and your attentions have continued to miss me, but I know that this is my way».
Then switch to racism which he underwent. “As a child, I was obsessed with the whys. Why am I tall? Why do they ask me if I’m Italian? Why do I feel different? And why do I experience this thing as if it were a fault?». Egonu explains that he has been working on it and that today «this diversity of mine is my uniqueness».
Paola Egonu’s words on racism, sport and criticism
To better explain what racism is, give a simple example. before gods glasses of different colors with water in themmost people will choose that transparent «only because the content is clearer». The taste, however, does not change. “We are all the same beyond appearances”points out.
Still, the sport. His way, his luck, his greatest satisfaction. «Sport has given me so much, but I’m also the one who doesn’t believe that defeat is only when you lose a game. I play in attack and my goal is to be able to have the decisive ball in my hands with which I will score. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, e i’m still trying to accept the error».
In the end, the criticisms. «They have never been lacking and they will not be lacking, it is inevitable. Some are constructive, most of them free, others – and I don’t want to play the victim – are real boulders. The hard way I learned that it’s up to us to give the right weight. I’m the one who, like everyone else, had to face bad times, but never stopped enjoying the good ones.”
Paola Egonu at the Sanremo Festival. (HANDLE)
Paola Egonu at Sanremo 2023: «I love Italy»
Egonu was accused of victimhood «and of having no respect for my country and just for recounting bad experiences I’ve had and for showing my weaknesses and fears». In closing, she stands up and takes her leave of the Ariston audience with a message of love addressed to Italy.
“I love Italy. I wear the blue shirt with pride, which for me is the most beautiful in the world. I have a profound sense of responsibility towards this country, in which I place all my hopes for tomorrow”. Then he adds: «I have often missed important appointments. There are more finals I’ve lost than I’ve won, yet that doesn’t make me a loser. Just as those who get the lowest grade in school are not losers, those who fail to realize their dream right away. Even those who arrive in the last positions in the standings in Sanremo are not losers».
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