SABATO MUSICALE - VIVA SANREMO 3

The final evening of the 2011 Sanremo Song Festival is about to begin, so I'd better hurry up and tell you about last night's contest:

I was sorry to see these two songs eliminated, as the first is rather charming and the second gives me hope:

Of the songs remaining in the contest, here are three that I like and I'm posting the third especially for my friend Josep:

I think Natalie is a young talent about whom we are going to hear a lot more.  She looked much more relaxed last night, singing her song with L'Aura.

Now, ladies, don't men get on your nerves when they go for women with throaty voices?  Well, they're all crazy for Miss Giusy Ferreri in Italy:

My favourite song remains Vecchioni's Chiamami ancora amore, which I posted on Wednesday. I must say, I don't think the rockified version which Vecchioni performed last night did the composition any favours but I'm still rooting for it.

If Roberto Benigni was Tuesday night's hero, Robert De Niro was last night's for many women when he declared,

"I don't like skinny women".

Morandi, who had the unenviable task of interviewing the somewhat reticent actor, had Elisabetta Canalis on hand as interpreter, but the word "gentrified" defeated her. [Admittedly, it is unlikely to be in her "survival" vocabulary or among the sweet nothings she presumably whispers, in English, to Clooney.] The official interpreter had obviously been told to keep out of it at that point and it was an embarrassing moment. Keep twirling in the clothes, Eli and leave interpreting to the professionals!

I am happy to be able to conclude this post by reporting that, despite the miseryguts and spoilsports in the Lega, the Italian government has at last declared that 17th March, the anniversary of Unification, is to be a holiday and President Napolitano has praised Roberto Benigni for Tuesday night's oration:

"Roberto Benigni found the right words to express our national identity via symbols of the nation, its history and its flag."