Little Giuseppe da Perfugas at the Zecchino d'Oro. Mamma Elisa: "For him it's a beautiful game"

There is also Giuseppe Piras, 8 years old, to bring the name of Sardinia up to the 64th edition of the Zecchino d'Oro. And his Perfugas, which thus sees his first child (the 43rd Sardinian since 1959) competing in the famous Rai kermesse dedicated to children.

Giuseppe will sing together with Irene De Arcangelis from Fondi, in the province of Latina, and of course at the Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano directed by Sabrina Simoni, "Il Reggaetonno" (text and music by Gianfranco Grottoli, Andrea Vaschetti, Andrea Casamento and arrangement by Andrea Casamento and Lucio Fabbri). They are two of the 17 children from 9 regions of Italy who will participate in the program this year divided into three afternoon appointments: 3, 4 and 5 December live on Rai1 from the Antoniano di Bologna television studio.

The theme of this edition is #Unviaggiobellissimo, unraveled in 14 songs that touch very different topics, from animals to the family, from the love of reading to the importance of recycling. Leading the first two afternoons will be Francesca Fialdini and Paolo Conticini, while for the final they will leave the baton to the artistic director, Carlo Conti. Among the authors this year great names such as Claudio Baglioni, Marco Masini, Giovanni Caccamo, Flavio Premoli (Pfm), Luca Mascini (Frontal assaults). And Flavio Careddu, a native of Posada and author of the song “Acca”, which won two years ago: he wrote “Bartolo il jar” with Carmine Spera. Two Sardinians then worked on the animation of the song "Clap clap": they are Michela Anedda and Alessio Degortes.

Giuseppe - a passion for swimming, football and obviously music (even if his dream is “to be an ice cream maker”) - arrived in Bologna after a long casting among thousands of children.

Her mother Elisa, who flew to Bologna with the little singer, her carabiniere husband Pietro and her other two children aged 6 and 3 and a half, tells it to L'Unione Sarda.

When did you discover Joseph's talent for singing?

"At least 4 years ago. At the time we lived in Genoa for eight months because that's where I gave birth to my last child, at the Gaslini. As a diversion, it often happened that we took Giuseppe to karaoke. We were told that the baby was brought and so , when we returned to Sardinia, we enrolled him in the Sonos Civic School of Perfugas, a beautiful reality in our country that opens the world of music to everyone. Then Covid arrived and some time passed… but in the end we tried. And the first one was 'good' ".

How did the selections go?

“The first steps were online, the children presented a song of their liking. Giuseppe chose 'Il blues del manichino'. In a second phase it was Antoniano who established the piece: they assigned him 'L'Anisello Nunù' and there we understood that they were looking for a child with a very high voice ”.

Then?

“In June the final in Bologna: in total there were 42 children. Giuseppe entered with his teacher Laura. Only one companion could enter and we thought it was right for her to enter. That's why my son gave me a good trick ... ".

Or?

"He told me that he had not passed the selection and I believed him ... with 42 children in the competition chosen from all over Italy they were certainly all good".

How did you prepare the song “Il Reggaetonno”?

“After the final we stayed in Bologna for a week. There he had the opportunity to study the piece with the Chorus and Irene. So they recorded it ”.

He likes?

“A lot, it's a lively and fun song. It's about a dance invented by a tuna that became famous from Polo to Macondo. It's a great party ".

How do the tests these days work?

“The children are busy all day but they don't try all the time, behind it there is a much broader discourse. They play, draw, do many different playful activities. Giuseppe returns to the hotel in the evening, exhausted but happy. In short, thanks to the skill of the organizers he lives it as it should: a game ".

Don't you feel the stress of the race?

“The children know they have already won, it's the songs that are competing now. Of course, they are aware that it is their responsibility to interpret the assigned piece well and do it justice ".

And you parents? How are you organizing?

“We are stressed! Only one companion can enter the rehearsal at a time due to Covid, so we take turns a little bit. Today, for example, we could both enter, but we didn't know who to entrust the little ones to! So I'll just go ".

To Perfugas? Everyone cheering?

“Giuseppe is the first child in the country to participate in this show so yes, everyone is very happy. So much so that at the end of December they organized an event in which he will perform with the other children of the Civic School. In the meantime, they are all crossing their fingers ".