Uan icon of absolute freedom on stage, but also a steely and uncompromising manager behind the scenes of the small screen. Raffaella Carrà lives again in the intimate and unpublished portrait revealed by his historic agent Angelo Perrone which, on the occasion of the 83rd anniversary of the artist’s birth, decided to pierce the veil of hypocrisy over the world of entertainment. The manager told the most secret behind the scenes and the clear cuts that the queen of TV applied in relationships with her fellow presenters. In fact, the presenter had a very strict code of ethics founded on professional respect and meritocracy.
Raffaella Carrà, the “theft” of the format and the total cold with Antonella Clerici
The most disruptive backstory shakes the past of public television and concerns the broken relationship with another leading face of Rai 1. Raffaella Carrà withdrew from Antonella Clerici for a long period because of what he considered real professional misconduct. In 2004 Carrà had signed the success of Dreamsthe show that made ordinary people’s wishes come true. Two years later, Clerici brought it to prime time The train of desiresa photocopy program.
The unforgivable affront was not the idea itself, but the method. Clerici in fact enlisted the exact same work team as Carrà for the show, without making a courtesy phone call to warn her. The reaction of the queen of the Rai license was a relentless diplomatic sanction: he decided never to set foot on his colleague’s broadcasts again. Manager Perrone remembers the firmness of that choice: «He preferred to go as a guest to the competitor I sing hosted by Gerry Scotti rather than a I’ll leave you a song».
The secret admiration for Silvia Toffanin
If unauthorized plagiarism was punished with oblivion, education and composure were rewarded with unconditional esteem. Raffaella Carrà had a profound admiration for Silvia Toffanina face that apparently belonged to a television era far removed from his own. What struck Carrà was the stylistic code of the Mediaset presenter, antithetical to the shouty TV of today.
The artist was looking for quality listening, a quality he saw again in the Canale 5 weekend living room. «He had a lot of respect for Silvia Toffanin and her polite interviews, as she defined them»the agent confessed. The desire for a meeting in front of the cameras was mutual and structured, but fate was not generous. Only a series of unfortunate logistical complications prevented Carrà from sitting in the chair Very truea missed interview that the artist regretted until the end.
The friendship with Mara Venier and the spark of Carramba
However, there is also a chapter of immense gratitude, a magic circle that links Carrà to Mara Venier. In the mid-nineties, the link between the showgirl and Italy had temporarily frayed and Raffaella worked mainly in Spain. It was an interview given to Mara Venier in Madrid that changed the history of television.
In front of Venier’s cameras, Carrà felt her audience’s nostalgia rekindled. That meeting between friends it was the decisive push to pack my bags and sign the return contract. Just twelve months later, thanks to that newfound enthusiasm, Italy’s most loved blonde debuted in prime time with the first, historic edition of Carramba what a surpriseforever rewriting the rules of Rai 1 entertainment.
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