In the cover evening today they will sing “The Lady is a Tramp”
What do the kids who crowd the center of Sanremo sing at the top of their lungs well after the end of each episode of the Festival? Neither Ditonellapiaga nor Sayf but the “stain on Chanel’s clothes” from a famous hit (Rich women and, if you do not wish to attend, the title is sufficient) signed by Tony Pitony. Of which in the Riviera the Elvis mask, some celebratory t-shirts, an impersonator, locals who assure “he passed by here” and fathers worried because “my son wants the autograph” appear. Even if you don’t need to look around, just open social media: he is one of the most viral characters of the Festival, almost 2 million listeners on Spotify. And with a similar number of “likes” on TikTok.
Tony Pitony and Ditonellapiaga in the duet of the cover evening
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But, paradoxically, he is not in the competition: we will see him tonight on stage next to Ditonellapiaga in the covers competition, for which they will perform The lady is tramp. A tandem that Pitony presents with a video on Instagram – in which, inside a limousine, he autographs one of the singer’s shoes – and which promises controversy. He, who makes “Pucci look like a boy scout” – copyright Fiorello – has already animated the Fantasanremo festival in recent days, also because he signed the theme song, Nipple (“Great excuse to stay on the sofa/Without Spid at hand” and whoever wants to understand should understand) even if his communication strategy is to communicate just enough. A happy contradiction compared to the overexposure of singers at the Festival.
Who is Tony Pitony and how did he become famous
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Ettore Ballarino (that would be his real name), born in 1996, originally from Syracuse (“useless city”, his comment but his former teachers remember him as a model student at the Scientific School and his friends protect his secrets), a past across the Channel, he disguises himself to “be able to eat in peace at the restaurant” and has made incorrectness of the texts – he says – a revenge against the doors in the face received in the world of entertainment. “Becoming the tipsy uncle who sings the dirty song during dinner”, his summary. As I like black ones (“it’s no longer a color that saddens me”) o Strip (“we beat Brumotti in the narrow alleys, in the short alleys”). There are those who consider it an heir of Elio and the Storie Tese or of the Skiantoswho accuses him of just wanting to be noticed, who points out that the battles against the sexist texts of some trappers are not extended with equal ardor against him.
They also inconvenienced the Treccanion the point: “His lyrical protagonist is not a model, but a grotesque character, who almost enjoys losing his dignity. And this makes him an object of satire. When he laughs, the listener laughs at the executioner, not with him”, explained Beatrice Cristalli, trainer and linguist. But the provocative spirit has distant origins: it can still be seen online his failed audition X Factorin which he played distorter Hallelujah. Knowing full well that they wouldn’t catch him. Now he is in Sanremo.
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