Showman Carlo Conti will be
joined by television actor Gabriel Garko, comedian Virginia
Raffaele and Romanian actress and model Madalina Ghenea for the
66th edition of the Sanremo music festival scheduled to take
place February 9-13, the TV presenter said Tuesday.
Guest artists are to include Laura Pausini, Eros
Ramazzotti, the Pooh and Renato Zero, the artistic director and
presenter added during the traditional January press conference
to present the festival.
"Carlo Conti's call came as a surprise, maybe because I
tend to underestimate myself," Garko said.
"This will be my first experience on stage and I have
decided to be fully myself," he continued.
"I will enter Italians' homes in a different way from
usual: normally I am the protagonist, here I will be at the
service of the show," Garko concluded.
"I am very excited and I don't know how to thank Carlo
Conti. In truth I have to thank Italy," Ghenea said.
"Sanremo is a dream come true," continued the actress chosen by
Oscar-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino for his recent
film Youth, who arrived in Italy aged 14.
"I used to watch it with my family," Ghenea said.
Raffaele said that when Conti told her that he wanted her
for Sanremo during a lunch meeting in Florence she lost her
head.
"On the train back I forgot to get off at Rome and ended up
in Naples," she said.
"I hope I will do a good job. It is fun working with Carlo.
I sense that he is complicit in experimenting, in having a good
time."
Tuesday's press conference also contained a tribute to
British pop and rock idol David Bowie, who lost his battle
against cancer on Sunday aged 69.
Giancarlo Leone, director of state broadcaster's RAI1
channel that broadcasts the television bonanza, showed a video
of the veteran singer's participation in the 1997 festival
presented by Mike Bongiorno.
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