From Carlo Conti to Fiorello, from Laura Pausini to Lino Banfi.
A parade of VIPs will bid farewell to Pippo Baudo, who died Saturday at the age of 89 after a long illness, in the chapel of rest at the Teatro delle Vittoria in Rome, which will remain open until 8:00 PM today and from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM tomorrow . The historic theater, at the center of programs that have shaped television history, will welcome the coffin of the celebrated host for a final farewell from his colleagues and the audience who loved him so much throughout his exceptional sixty-year career.
The funeral , explained Viale Mazzini in a statement, will be held in his beloved Militello Val di Catania, his hometown, and will be celebrated on August 20th at 4:00 PM in the Church of Santa Maria della Stella . Mayor Giovanni Burtone has declared a day of mourning for Wednesday, the day of the ceremony.
"If the coffin arrives hours earlier than expected, we will set up a chapel of rest in the San Domenico auditorium," Mayor Giovanni Burtone explains. "We will coordinate with the police headquarters," the mayor adds, "for all the necessary services, given that we anticipate a huge turnout. We will have large screens installed outside the church." "Choosing a funeral in his hometown," Burtone says, "is an act of affection that Pippo wanted to give to his city, which is grateful for what he did for us as a man and as a father. Baudo was the father of all of Italy because he was an important figure in the growth of the entire nation."
Behind the coffin, a wreath of flowers from the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, accompanied by a guard of Carabinieri in full uniform. Meanwhile, Baudo's ex-wife, Katia Ricciarelli, and Mara Venier, filed by hand. Then Gianni Morandi, Giorgia, Lorella Cuccarini, Max Giusti, Laura Pausini, Paola Cortellesi, Flavio Insinna, and Lino Banfi, accompanied by RAI Director General Roberto Sergio, said: "Roberto, why don't you name the Teatro delle Vittorie after Pippo Baudo?" "We'll discuss it at the board of directors," Sergio replied.
"Goodbye Pippo," Carlo Conti remembered on social media, "with you, television goes out, the television you invented, the one you created with love and genius, the television where you created singers and comedians. I am grateful to you first as a spectator, then as a colleague ." At the next Sanremo Festival, he assured, Baudo's memory will be central: "We've done it every year, so imagine the next one, which will be the first without him."
Fiorello, who had returned from Sardinia on vacation to pay his respects in person, was also moved . The showman embraced Baudo's daughter, Tiziana, for a long time. Then came the proposal: "A statue of Pippo in place of the horse at the RAI headquarters on Viale Mazzini." "Whatever has been said about Pippo, and whatever I can tell you, Pippo is always a little more," he told reporters as he left the chapel. "He's not just the great host of the 13 Sanremo Festivals, he's not just written pages in the history of television. There's no adjective to fully describe what he represents for Italian television, and especially for RAI, which owes him so much."
(Unioneonline/vl-D)