Rosario Fiorello

Rosario Tindaro Fiorello (born May 16, 1960), also known just as Fiorello, is an Italian singer and also a radio and television presenter.

Career

Fiorello was born in Augusta, Sicily. He began his career working in tourist villages, first as a barman, and then as an entertainer. Near the end of the 1980s, Fiorello met Claudio Cecchetto, a talent-scout. Soon afterwards, Fiorello began hosting the show "Viva Radio Deejay".

Having become popular through the TV show "Karaoke", Fiorello went on to host various different TV shows. Soon after, he endured a period of drug problems that kept him away from the world of TV. He has displayed great abilities as a showman, first in the Mediaset networks, then with RAI in 2001, 2002, and 2004 with "Stasera Pago Io".

Since 2002, Fiorello has hosted the radio broadcast "Viva Radio 2" together with Marco Baldini, Francesco Bozzi and Enrico Cremonesi, during which Fiorello shows off his skills as a singer, mimic and entertainer. In the summer of 2005, a CD was published that collected the best of his radio career. The CD's high points include: the imitation of Mike Bongiorno and the Forgetful of Cologno (Berlusconi). The CD also includes imitations of Andrea Camilleri, Antonio Cassano, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Gianni Minà, Franco Califano, Carla Bruni, Oliviero Toscani, Marina Flaibani from Onda Verde, Nanni Moretti, Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Ignazio La Russa, the prince Albert of Monaco , Monica Bellucci and her husband Vincent Cassel.

Fiorello's skills as a vocalist have brought him to the cinema as well. He has participated in such varied roles as; a dubber in cartoons (most recently "Garfield"), to an appearance in the film "The Talented Mr. Ripley", in which he portrays Renato Carosone.

Imitations

Fiorello's most famous imitations - especially in recent years - include Mike Bongiorno, and that of Silvio Berlusconi as a character called "Smemorato di Cologno" who, in the parody, loses his memory every time something related to communism is mentioned. "Smemorato di Cologno" is referring to a psychiatric hospital in Collegno, and alluding to Cologno, the well-known Berlusconi locale.

Other famous imitations include:
* Albert II, Prince of Monaco
* Andrea Camilleri
* The "Signorina buonasera", the RAI announcer
* Antonio Cassano, an Italian Football player
* The lawyer "Messina" who defends his clients with absurd pleas
* Barbara Palombelli, an Italian journalist
* Bruno Vespa, an Italian journalist
* Carla Bruni
* Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
* Federico Moccia, an Italian writer
* Franco Battiato, an Italian Singer-Songwriter
* Gianni Minà, an Italian journalist
* Gianni Morandi
* Giorgio Napolitano
* Giovanni Muciaccia, the presenter of the TV program "Art Attack"
* "Giulietto e Romeo", two gay truck drivers
* Kim Jong-il
* Kimi Raikkonen
* Ignazio La Russa, an Italian politician
* Maurizio Costanzo
* Marco Carta, competitor on the TV program "Amici"
* Marina Flaibani of the radio program Onda Verde
* "Martano Volpi", a mad man from Tuscany
* Monica Bellucci
* The "mostroinviato" (monster-correspondent), which in Italian sounds like "our correspondent"
* Nanni Moretti, an Italian director and actor
* Oliviero Toscani, an Italian photographer
* "Paolo Fava", a strange jazz player
* "Padre Georg", Benedetto XVI's secretary
* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
* The hunchbak of Notre Dame
* The tenour Roberto Alagna
* Roberto Cavalli
* Romano Prodi
* Silvio Berlusconi
* Silvio Muccino as "Sasha"
* Tony Sperandeo, an Italian character actor famous for his stereotypical gangster roles
* Umberto Eco
* Valerio Staffelli, a journalist from the TV program Striscia la notizia
* Vittorio Cecchi Gori
* Vladimir Putin

During the May 16 2006 episode, on Fiorello's birthday, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi called to wish him a happy birthday and to congratulate him for his imitation, especially for the fact that Ciampi doesn't always pronounce clearly the last syllable of some words.

During November 2006 the newspaper Avvenire (linked with CEI) criticized Fiorello for his imitation of "Padre Georg". Most of the journalists admitted that they had never listened to the radio program directly.

Discography

* "Veramente falso" (1992)
* "Nuovamente falso" (1992)
* "Spiagge e lune" (1993)
* "Karaoke" (1993)
* "Finalmente tu" (1995)
* "Sarò Fiorello" (1996)
* "Dai miei amici cantautori" (1997)
* "Batticuore (CD Bianco)" (1998)
* "Batticuore (CD Rosso)" (1998)
* "I miei amici cantautori" (2000)
* "Fiorello The Greatest" (2002)
* "Uno è famoso, l'altro no:Il meglio di Viva Radio 2 CD+LIBRO" (2002)
* "Viva Radio 2 (il meglio del 2003)" (2003)
* "A modo mio" (2004)
* "Viva Radio 2 (il meglio del 2005)" (2005)

ee also

*Viva Radio 2

External links

* [http://www.rosariofiorello.it Official website]