"I've spent 25 years in the Rai family, and 25 years are not forgotten in a year, so this place is like coming home to me. The memories of those who have worked for this company for so many years, as well as those who have been in this theater, are memories that last forever ."

Amadeus, surrounded by cameras and journalists as he emerged from the Teatro delle Vittorie, responded with tears in his eyes after paying tribute to Pippo Baudo's body. "It would be a truly fitting, beautiful thing," he said, "to name the Teatro delle Vittorie after Baudo." "Pippo was fond of this theater," Amadeus added, "but those who worked there inevitably leave a piece of their heart. It's up to us, on television, to ensure they are remembered and that they exist for as long as possible, forever."

"There's no heir to Baudo, there's no heir to Costanzo, there's no heir to Mike Bongiorno, there's no heir to Raffaella Carrà: there simply isn't one because they were unique," he said. Perhaps, he adds almost as an afterthought, "only Fiorello can do variety shows like him."

Amadeus recalled the time before his Sanremo Festival, "in a restaurant not far from here, he asked me to sit at his table. I hadn't yet been scheduled to perform at Sanremo. It was April, they told me in August or so. I'll never forget, he told me, 'You have to perform at Sanremo, and if you're ever asked, you have to do this.' And he listed a whole series of things that I've had engraved in my mind ever since, like commandments to follow. That didn't happen by chance."

Among the pieces of advice were "to do things with great passion, great love, and respect for the people at home. Respect is fundamental, beyond the practical advice for getting things up and running." Pippo's television was "a wonderful television, it was ahead of its time," he concluded. "Anyone can be on television, but very few actually do it."

(Unioneonline)

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