Giuseppe Raimondo Vittorio Baudo, one of the most famous presenters on Italian television, passed away today at the age of 89.
During his career, he has directed many editions of various shows such as Settevoci, Canzonissima, Domenica in, Fantastico, Serata d’onore, Novecento and the Sanremo Festival, of which he holds the record of 13 which he presented between 1968 and 2008. He was also the artistic director of the event in seven of the thirteen editions he directed.
In addition to his television career, he has also appeared in theater, films, and television series, mostly as himself, and has written several songs, which have been used in both television and films.
He has rarely appeared on television recently. The last time was in September 2023.
He was born in Militello in Val di Catania on 7 June 1936. He finished high school and began a career in the entertainment industry, while still studying law at the University of Catania. He obtained a degree, despite never having practiced law. The path he followed was, in fact, quite different.
After some experiences in the theater and as a presenter on Sicilian stages, in the late 50s he joined the Moonlight Orchestra as pianist and singer, with which he also made his television debut in 1959 in the variety show La conchiglia, d’oro, presented by Enzo Tortora.
The debut of Pippo Baudo in Rai
In the early 1960s, Pippo Baudo became a television presenter at RAI and achieved success in 1966 thanks to Settevoci. In 1968, he presented the Sanremo Music Festival for the first time, together with Luisa Rivelli; in the same year, he also presented Un disco per l’estate, an event that he had inaugurated four years earlier and which he would present again in 1969, 1986, 1992 and 1993. Among the various programs he hosted: Domenica in, Canzonissima, Senza rete (1974 edition), Fantastico, Secondo voi, Papaveri e papere and Mille lire al mese.
Baudo and his career
With the advent of private television, he collaborated in the launch of the Catania-based broadcaster Antenna Sicilia. In 1982, he presented the summer music show Vota la voce, broadcast on Canale 5, and from the spring of 1983 until the following year, he hosted the television show Un milione al secondo for two editions on Rete4, owned by Mondadori.
From 1984 to 1986 he hosted three editions of Fantastico, Rai 1’s historic Saturday night show. All three editions recorded high ratings, beating out competition from Canale 5.
Also in the mid-1980s, he directed three editions of the Sanremo Music Festival, in 1984, 1985 and 1987: the final of the last edition recorded a record average of over 17 million viewers.
Sanremo record holder
From 1992 to 1996, he achieved exceptional critical and public acclaim, directing five consecutive editions of the Sanremo Music Festival; in 1994, he was appointed artistic director, a role he held for the next two editions. In 1997, he made his stage debut, starring alongside Garinei and Giovannini in the musical “The Man Who Invented Television”.
That same year he returned to Mediaset, but this second experience was also not very positive. After a series of failures, in 1999 he returned to Rai 3 to host Giorno dopo giorno, an afternoon quiz show that reviewed the main events of the 20th century, adapted for prime time under the title Novecento, with four editions between 2000 and 2010.
Private life
Pippo Baudo had two children: Alessandro, whom he met after a brief legal dispute with Mirella Adinolfi, and Tiziana, who was his secretary and assistant, born from his marriage to Angela Lippi. After a seven-year relationship with Alida Chelli and a shorter relationship with Adriana Russo, he married for the second time to Katia Ricciarelli on 18 January 1986, from whom he divorced in 2004.
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