The most curious and eagerly awaited event of this thirteenth edition of “Belve” (five autumn episodes) arrives halfway through the broadcast and lasts only about ten minutes, but it seems to leave its mark on the entire programme. Francesca Fagnani, in black, exchanges roles and positions with Maria De Filippi, the queen in white of TV: the presenter becomes an interviewee, revealing “what a beast she feels like”. Then the unmistakable Defilippian voice recounts, as if it were “You’ve Got Mail”, a “beast” by Fagnani – an action to be regretted, in the jargon now consolidated among enthusiasts – and takes his leave.
This thirteenth edition of the Rai “Belves” starts with the unusual blessing of the Mediaset queen: singular not so much because these are television groups competing for ratings and advertising, and the exception to the rivalry, until now, had only been Sanremo, but because, knowing the selectivity and the Defilippian television workaholism, Fagnani can feel pardoned. And here is the sign of this new edition of “Belve”: Francesca Fagnani seems to abandon the nastiness of the past, which was the stylistic feature of the program, and conducts three interviews with a certain indulgence towards the guests.
The first, with the giggly Maria Belen Rodriguez, is full of joy and seems to go on in vain, the topics are mentioned and never explored in depth, some opportunities for insight and relaunch are lost. Then the rest flows away as always. Fagnani is shrewd and knows well that a television program like hers, in the age of social media, works doubly, thanks to the (long) interviews and through the dissection and “memes” of TikTok and Instagram. Here both the “high” (Isabella Rossellini) and the “low” (Rita De Crescenzo) become viral, without distinction.
