The mayor cancels Povia's concert: "Homophobic and anti-vax". He: "They exclude those who think differently"

Concert cancelled («it's number 40») for Povia.

The decision is made by the mayor of Nichelino, a town in the province of Turin. The singer himself reports it : everything was ready, the live show was scheduled for the patronal feast of San Matteo, with "a signed contract, with a poster with the logo of the Municipality. And then at a certain point the project is presented to the council" and "someone vetoes it. I'm telling you without controversy but I don't like to suffer in silence".

"This summer I did a hundred concerts, all of which went very well in municipalities from right to left," says the singer, "I'm a normal, decent person," "but then that slightly rotten cherry on top of the cake always arrives and your concert is cancelled. I haven't done anything wrong, I'm a person who has ideas, who expresses them above all in songs ," "then they also tell you I'll pay you anyway if there are penalties, but I don't want money for a performance I didn't do, I'd like to perform."

"Here many fill themselves with words like freedom and democracy, especially the democratic ones who talk to you about inclusion, but then they tend to exclude those who have a slightly different thought than yours - continues Povia -. It hurts to see a concert canceled for the usual ideological reasons, they labeled me as the one on the right and there's nothing to be done. Even if I always answer that between right and left I'm from the historic center".

Meanwhile, the mayor of Nichelino, Giampiero Tolardo, claims his choice : «I take full responsibility for it, even more so after the political drift that this affair has taken. Right and left have nothing to do with it. Frankly, I didn't know Povia's discography and I was convinced that he would simply limit himself to being on the jury. When I learned that he would also perform on stage, I informed myself and discovered his homophobic, anti-abortion and anti-vax positions, the opposite of the democratic values that our community represents. And I thought it was appropriate to make this decision for which, I repeat, I am the only one responsible, also with regards to the tight timeframe».

(Unioneonline/D)