After the Sanmarine lyricist Mauro Balestri and the singer Valentina Monetta
it's time to have a little chat with the art director Fabrizio Raggi.
Read here what he had to say about the whole affair, how he was selected
and what he thinks of Valentina and what he plans to do after
Eurovision! Also, don't forget the Ralph Siegel interview from Baku 2012
here. This is the edited English one, read the original Italian one here.
Fabrizio, first of all thanks for the interview. Tell us a little how did you get to the Sammarinese Eurovision team?
Hello, thank you for the interview. I joined the team
thanks to my professionalism and especially becouse Valentina wanted
me. She proposed my name to San Marino RTV, and Alessandro
Capicchioni and Ralf Siegel accepted.
Before this you have done so many different things,
television series, soap operas, theater, film ... actor, director
.... What is the role that inspires you the most?
When a man is born an actor you'll stay an actor for
your lifetime. Acting is and will always be my first love, directing
is sensual, acting on the set is sensual.
Make also acting teacher, vocal coach …
Acting coach. Teaching is a mission: you need to
support one's vulnerability on one side, and on the other to arouse
the sense of urgency and the risk for an artist is really a mission,
to teach the technique and convey love for what you do. I teach in
San Marino with other professionals, we opened a school of singing
and acting, Voice Academy del canto e del teatro (here) and in Rome I'm with Francesca Viscardi
Leonetti art director in the school of acting Free Mistake
Project (here)
But back to the present and Eurovision. Art director.
How much are you a dictator :-) from dress by Valentina to her hair
and the rest? Or you limit yourself to the performance?
I give advise in terms of image, give ideas, then
together with the whole production team we try to make these ideas
reality. I would like to mention our designer for Valentina's dress
for this Eurovision, Marilia Reffi, a precious mind and a woman of
great culture and taste.
Can you tell us how you work? I guess the host TV
provides you with information in advance of the stage, what it's
like, measures, props .... Or how does it go?
First of all, we create ideas for a choreography,
images, colors and so on, then we ask if we can do them, how the host
broadcaster is setting the whole thing up and what it offers us, then
we act according to their feedback.
And if in case you have any special requests ....
like four dancers hanging down from the ceiling .... or they tell you
immediately what is possible or not?
If they give us a positive response to our requests
good, otherwise we work in another direction, obstacles do not scare
me, I know my team, I know the protagonist and I know that together
we are very strong.
And you, have you had any special request? I know
that some delegations in previous years have asked for everything
imaginable!
Each request is evaluated and, if possible, is
achieved otherwise not.
What can you tell us the performance of Valentina
without revealing too much? :-)
What can I say? Valentina has a very important tool:
her voice, her beauty. She has everything she needs to be a star. On
stage you do not need so much when you have this characteristics.
How was everything with this performance? Was
it immediately clear and easy how it should be or did you have
different ideas and then you have chosen this we will see later in
May ....
As any fruit needs time to ripen, so a draft idea
needs time to become a masterpiece!
I know you know already Eurovision. You follow it
every year and you have some performance that impressed you in the
past? Not the song nor the singer but just how it was made and the
performance on stage – as we have seen all the colors on Eurovision
stage over the years!
While watching old Eurovision videos, I cannot help
but admiring the joy and spontaneity in the eyes of Agnetha Fältskog
and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, the two ABBA female singers in '74 edition
(the year I was born).
What awaits you after Eurovision?
I hope to go on a Greek island to relax!
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