VIDEO | Europeans, Tajani’s show with the Rich and the Poor: “This is made in Italy”

On "Mamma Maria" Casellati and Barelli go wild, Gasparri sings and films with his cell phone, Alessandra Mussolini dances: on her head she has a crown of electoral saints

ROME – Well, well done, encore. Antonio Tajani can say he got the show right: Claudio Lotito never fell asleep. He also resisted Alessandro Sallusti’s intervention: twenty minutes between Erdogan and Putin, quoting his old articles. The director of the newspaper, alas, went on stage after the Rich and the Poor, the real stars of the Roman afternoon. The front rows of Forza Italia sang and danced: Tajani, Casellati, Gasparri, Barelli, Lotito. “What’s the matter, the left puts on a show and we can’t?” smiles the Foreign Minister before the concert.
At the sports hall in Viale Tiziano the secretary of Forza Italia put on an electoral show with a bang: a round stage in the center where Serena Autieri and Ricchi e Poveri perform. The historic band lines up its successes, they sing on recorded backing tracks: It will be because I love you, If I fall in love, What it will be, Mamma Maria, Voulez vous dancer. The ministers sing, clap, keep the rhythm.

In Via Flaminia, as in all of Rome, the sun is shining. There are a few militants queuing up to enter the arena, not many to be honest. Forza Italia flags are distributed at the entrance, inside there are maxi banners that cover entire rows of chairs, better than leaving them empty.
Tajani arrives early, walks around the stage and converses with journalists. “For me the ideal coalition is the one made up of popular, conservative and liberal people”, he says, reiterating his distance from Marine Le Pen. “It is not a personal matter but one of content and values.” There is a concert atmosphere, rather than a rally: music, flags, lights. No beers. There are young people who wear a t-shirt with Tajani’s face: the Foreign Minister has gone up a pop level, like Che Guevara with a beret.

Maurizio Gasparri opens the dance from the stage: “We are here and we will stay there, we will demonstrate our strength with pride”. Paolo Barelli also greets the crowd, not many, so much so that there are empty chairs. The group leaders in Parliament today act as supporting groups. The first star to take stage and applause is Serena Autieri. The actress and singer, these days at the theater with Rugantino, sings the Italian anthem, Nel blu painted blue, Rome doesn’t act stupid tonight. Then it’s up to the Rich and Poor. Tajani thanks her with a bouquet of flowers.
Then it’s their turn, The Rich and the Poor. They are on tour throughout Italy, filling the arenas with three generations of fans. Tajani welcomes them on stage and blesses them: “Every success of yours is our success, a success of Made in Italy, you are good ambassadors. You always make us look good, thank you… foreign policy is not made only by ministers and diplomats…”.
Tajiani said, conversing with reporters, that he really doesn’t feel like singing: “I’m as tone deaf as a bell“, he confesses. “The Ricchi e Poveri are singers of the Italian tradition – he adds – winners of many competitions, they are part of our singing history. We are a cheerful country, of people who sing, with extraordinary singers appreciated all over the world. We have had Pavarotti, we have Bocelli , Il Volo, we had Battisti, Battiato, Al Bano, the Ricchi and Poveri. There are so many of them, ours is a culture like this, singing makes life easier”.
Casellati arrives late. and he goes to great lengths to sit in the front row next to Tajani, who has his wife nearby. “Maybe because I love you I dedicate it to her”, wins easily. Some people make fun of Lotito for the videos in which he sleeps blissfully in Parliament. “I don’t sleep – he reiterates – I think, I meditate”. This time he doesn’t really doze off. He doesn’t even get carried away by the music, to be honest. On “Mamma Maria” Casellati and Barelli go wild, Gasparri sings and films with his cell phone, Alessandra Mussolini dances: she has a crown of electoral holy cards on her head. There’s a patrol from a Rich and Poor fan club screaming at the top of their lungs. Photographers can’t believe their eyes: it’s all gold. What a confusion, it must be because Tajani.