Malgioglio turns, they are all extraordinary: Voice 5
We (almost) always promoted Cristiano Malgioglio. Without him, this evening would certainly have been even deadlier. As a judge, he brought levity and musical culture, two essential ingredients for a program that should (and should) be a talent show. However, we preferred him when he still had the holy courage to take sides, not to say judge. Not exactly heresy considering the role he’s playing. And yet, despite voicing reasonable criticism late into the evening, he eventually stopped. Now we find it in good spirits to the angelic hymn of praise, never a reaction even when the competitors belt out their assigned songs. The guys are all exceptional (have become), always and everywhere. Even if he doesn’t choose her, he finds her exceptional. “If this song isn’t the hit of the summer, Maria, I’ll retire,” he announces coquettishly, immediately after being amazed by the enormous sex appeal of 19-year-old dancer Mattia, he says: “The new Joaquín Cortés”. A really sugary overdose of superlatives that doesn’t suit his character (or maybe, to think about it, too much). In fact, marry the line of good feelings by giving compliments and blushes like the witch from Hansel and Gretel treats and treats. Fill out the seedlings’ egos, then it’s their business out there. It’s a pity that his eyes can’t lie so well. Will “L’encyclopedia Malgioglio” keep even one of the names of the boys participating in Amici 22 in the list over time? See we would say no. Call us Cassandra.
Lo and Cuccarini, the loyalty reward every viewer deserves: Vote 9
Every time they come on stage together, you breathe. Emanuel Lo and Lorella Cuccarini are the artists with a capital “A” in this edition, perhaps the only ones who have never made a wrong move (duet). In the semi-finals they danced an exciting choreography to the notes of Brividi (Blanco-Mahmood) and in the end everyone had goosebumps. Shaped by the gods, they even kiss during the performance and the audience goes nuts. It will be half an ordeal for their better halves to see them so passionate and intertwined, but for the rest of Italy it’s a miracle, the price any average viewer deserves for staying true to a talent he found in the Over the years it has preferred noise and disturbance of public peace to art or even just beauty. Rudy Zerbi has already dubbed them “Fifty Shades of Prof” and to say they don’t play with that hot subtext would be lying. But what’s wrong? The show also consists of porcini winks and there are many who would much rather see the two dance for three hours rather than one episode of the evening. Peparini’s images are missing, the intensity is missing. Luckily, Lo and Cuccarini found each other. A Unesco heritage literally at the top compared to all the others. To protect.
Wax focuses on teen drama (and destroys Bersani): Voice 4
If you search it on Twitter without the hashtag #Amici22, only sponsored ones with people who shave will appear. But he feels invincible. How can you blame him? He has no voice, not even the autotune can correct the cues he picks up in a row of six with the remaining two, like an endless litany of angry mews. On the other hand, however, the unreleased Ballerine e Guantoni, produced by none other than Dardust. And indeed, it works. Totally impervious to the blessings bestowed on him, Wax takes care of doing at least one frontal episode. Much. And indeed, the teen drama card is played in the semifinals. Destroying the most beautiful love song of the last ten years, En e Xanax by Samuele Bersani, verse by verse, syllable by syllable, he draws closer to this edition’s winner in pectore, Angelina Mango. He takes her hand, the whole chorus hits her in the face, closing the serenade with “You have the soul that I would like to have”. And it generates more media echo than the Madonna of Trevignano who speaks of the sun. We don’t know whether he will also multiply pizzas and gnocchi in the finale, but what is certain is that he may be the only real television personality to emerge from the talent show to date. Thanks especially to the slipper tossing, the forced fights and the foxy wink. In short, it does everything a simple Tronista of men and women should do. And he does it very well. An artist, however, is something else.
Maddalena and Aaron, predestined victims (they deserved more): Voice 8
Perhaps they are not two phenomena. Luckily not even as a sideshow. Young aspiring dancer Maddalena Svevi and professional screamer Aaron were eliminated on purpose in this semifinal. Both deserved more. The first because she was harassed by Alessandra Celentano’s venomous verbal lashings from the minute she walked in. The evil professor was always telling her everything and trying to make her feel like the equivalent of a hippopotamus in a tutu. It is not so. Magdalena dances. And also very good. Her only misfortune was to face Australia’s Isobel Kinnear as an opponent, forged in the fire of dozens of international competitions since an early age. An unequal fight that perhaps didn’t even make sense from the start. Despite the perceived and actual adversity, Svevi has almost never lost his temper and continues to dance to the best of his ability. There are certainly not a few. A place in the final would have been a must for them, if only as compensation. As for Aaron, we have learned to appreciate fair play from him. Gentle giant, he cares enough about the race. He is 18 years old and lives this experience as a game that allows him to do what makes him happy, often and in front of many people: singing. It should be like that for everyone. Instead, Aaron looks like a spotted zebra in this context. Too bad not to find him in the final.
Rudy Zerbi, clown by profession (but wasn’t he a professor?): 4.5 votes
Identifying a problem is the first step to solving it. Now let’s talk about Rudy Zerbi, a subject we have so tactfully kept silent about. Like one of those nightmares you don’t even dare tell when you wake up. Just judging the evening, it’s difficult to make sense of his character. He would still be a professor, but maybe a rooster and hen puppet. Certainly he has been seen interacting with fake fowl more than competing cubs. Not to mention that time, actually it was only seven days since he disguised himself as a giant hand. A real credit are the interludes he directs with his professor, Alessandra Celentano, performances that would seem too childish even in the context of a middle school play. Not to mention Canale 5. However, its female counterpart not only enlivens the aforementioned chaos, but enlivens each episode for the better, but mostly for the worse. Zerbi, on the other hand, seems to have definitely opted for impromptu clowning, and the contribution he gives to each serale is equal to a negative number well below zero. Better than work, we know that, but it’s a shame he slipped away like that. We cannot rule out that he still has something interesting to say. Definitely better than children’s songs with the toxic claim: “Zerbi and Cele the coolest on TV”. Stuff I miss tickles in ’95.
Chilling semifinals, all knots come home to settle down: vote 3
You can evaluate every single episode that occurred during the semifinals. But the semifinals were also sad overall. And the vote is unfortunately a fatal shortcoming. Indeed, one step away from concluding this unfortunate issue, several unfortunate pieces of evidence jumped out. First of all, the apparent superiority of the dance department over the singing department. The young up-and-coming dancers all deserved a place in the finals, even if not especially those who were eliminated weeks ago. Traditionally, someone has to “sing” in the last episode, but the confrontation between dancers and gold throats was and remains merciless. Isobel and Angelina are top of the class by far. But only one of the two who doesn’t sing is at all. The other only relative to the mid-low level of the team he was lucky enough to compete with. We’re not laughing on the part of the professors either: they all seem hijacked by the forum studies by now, given how willing they are to throw at each other’s jugulars for the most trivial of reasons. So he loses sight of the boys. Another sore point from the jury: At the end, it becomes clear how much the magical trio’s ratings are often the result of a hormonal storm, rather than any objective data. In short: Mattia would have deserved the Finale shirt too if he hadn’t been better than Maddalena, which the judges obviously hardly noticed, distracted by the prominent belly of the dancer born in 2004. If a straight guy drooled on a prospective 20-year-old dancer like that, no one would enjoy it. There are therefore many imbalances that are weighed down by the horror curtains of Zerbi and Celentano mentioned above. Il Serale di Amici is a battleship that cannot fail on Auditel’s side. However, it can get boring.
Mattia, from underdog to finalist (and here’s a good story): grade 8.5
Charmed by Isobel Kinnear’s skills, many risked missing out on another of this edition’s few hardcore talents: Mattia Zenzola. Born in Bari in 2004, he had already entered Amici’s school last year but was forced to step down from Serale due to a serious injury. Professor Raimondo Todaro wanted to give him a second chance and we are grateful for that. Without Mattia, this rather meager edition would have lost even more show and entertainment. Passionate about Latin America, Mattia doesn’t speak, doesn’t argue, doesn’t whine: he dances. And for that reason alone, it was a great satisfaction to see him in the final’s gold jersey. For him as for the public. “It took us two years, but we made it,” even Maria De Filippi benevolently teased him during the proclamation. To avoid the “flushes” of Cristiano Malgioglio and sworn companions in the giant slalom, the boy will play together with Isobel, Wax and Angelina on Sunday 14 May to win the talent. Yes, on Sunday 14 May because, as announced by Queen Mary: “Marco Mengoni is singing in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday and we wish him well”. Briefs for fair play. Let’s hope you’re doing well. A little bit for everyone, English and non-English.