Striscia la notizia

"Striscia la notizia" is an Italian television program on the Mediaset-controlled Canale 5. Its name in Italian translates as "the news slithers", a probable allusion to the "Biscione" ("Big Snake"), the snake which is part of Canale 5's logo. Founded in 1987, it is meant to be a parody of the daily news, which airs right before the program, but "Striscia" also satirizes government corruption and exposes scams with the help of local reporters who are also comedians. The program is produced by Antonio Ricci and is hosted by two major comedians. Usually Ezio Greggio (who co-founded the show with Gianfranco D'Angelo) is assisted by another comedian (such as Enzo Iacchetti or Michelle Hunziker) for the winter season, after which there is a change of guard.

The Gabibbo

The Gabibbo, an Italian cultural icon acts as the mascot and is the soul of the show. Gabibbo is a caricature of an Italian layman, a low-income worker who lives near the docks of Genoa. Always loud, braggart but pungent in his naive but straightforward ways, he butts in everywhere he sees new friends to chat to with a childlike enthusiasm always running after the veline. the show's two dancing showgirls. He is, in some ways, like the Cockney type often seen in British comedies.

The "veline"

The term "velina" comes from the name of the guidelines issued to journalists by the "Ministero della Cultura Popolare" (Ministry of Popular Culture), during Fascist rule. The "veline" stated which news could be printed and which would be censored.The veline are two young women in their early twenties, one blonde, the other brunette. Initially, they came onstage to hand the news to the hosts; today they perform short dance breaks or stacchetti, always finishing up on the news anchors’ desk. They usually perform in swim-suits or tank tops and sing pop tunes as they dance. The "veline" probably evolved from the scantily clad waitresses who served at the tables in Drive-In, the show that made Greggio and D'Angelo widely known in the late eighties. The "veline" have become the most popular female icons on Italian TV. The names of the "veline" are announced after a long beauty pageant during the summer. The program is called "Veline". A similar program, "Velone" "Velone" (which means "grown up "veline"), is a contest for women in their 50s and 60s (although some are nearly 100). As in "Veline," the women dance and perform in brief sketches. Each September a new "velona" is chosen.

The "veline"

The "Tapiro d'Oro"

The "Tapiro d'Oro" ("Golden Tapir"), a small golden statue, is a special "prize" delivered to big celebrities or politicians who have been humiliated or defeated. Although many personalities take it in front of the cameras in the hope of getting attention for themselves, others run away and Valerio Staffelli, a special correspondent for the show, has to run after them until they finally take it. Other times, however, the bodyguards have been known to have acted aggressively breaking the reporters' noses and camcorders. Once time, Rai Uno Director Fabrizio Del Noce, cornered by Staffelli banged his microphone on his face breaking his nose.

"Striscia "and the Italian show business

"Veline"'s name (invented by the co-founders and their producer) nowadays is often attributed (often disparagingly) to any famous girls on TV with little or no intellectual gifts. Often criticized by high-brow critics and feminists as the symbol of trash-TV, the "veline" are, however, much more likely to be sought by producers of Italian soap operas, TV series or shows after just one year on "Striscia" than any other female candidates. They are considered the ideal match for prominent soccer players and therefore a role-model for many young viewers. Enzo Iacchetti, one of the hosts, had a long relationship (broken when she decided to pose nude for a 2007 calendar of the "Max" magazine) with Maddalena Corvaglia, a "velina" from a previous edition of "Striscia".

External links

* [http://www.striscialanotizia.mediaset.it Official website]