It's on Fiorello

At first there was the minor leagues of the tourist resorts, then the promotion to the major leagues with Karaoke, Festivalbar and the shows with Costanzo, and now the world cup:  can he win?
More than winning I am trying to offer the audience a good game, like those that entertain, despite the result.  One thing is for sure:  I have trained with complete dedication.

So far only three of your colleagues have had the honor of having a show on TV split in various episodes:  Gianni Morandi, Adriano Celentano and Renato Zero, three artists who have been on top for almost 40 years and who could draw from a repertoire that is more than tried.  You, on the other hand, have been active for a shorter period of time... 
They actually have a cupboard full of ingredients that they gathered over the years, while I will have to draw from the present inventory, and this, I must admit, is stimulating.  But at any rate, I am confident:  this show has been tried in small venues throughout small towns and the audience has responded with enthusiasm...

You will have Maria De Filippi as a contender with C'e` posta per te, that has been moved from Sunday to Saturday evening just to compete with you.  Are you afraid of the competition? 
Today television is a reality show, and entertains with tears, surprises with truths that are more or less manipulated.  I will try to entertain. For sure Maria is a tough contender! 

How is your team made up?
The show, aside from me, is written by Giampiero Solari, Claudio Fasulo, Riccardo Cassini and Sergio Rubino.  The cast also includes some sort of a Sicilian family made up by Andrea Tindona, who in the movie I cento passi was the communist painter, by Santo La Macchia, a very young entertainer from the tourist resorts who reminds me of myself at my beginnings, by Tommaso Accardo, who played my grandfather in the TV ads all summer.  And then there is the extremely beautiful Kartika Luyet, the girl who during the summer had an ad where she was on a beach and was "assaulted" by pesky little crabs and who is now in another spot with the crabs this time coming out of the snow.  It's a group a friends who have helped tailor a show just for me.  They did a great job and I feel...excited.

The truth on your "great refusal" to present Sanremo:  fear of being a mere support to Carrà, caution caused by wanting to avoid a responsibility such as the Festival or something else?
Giving up the possibility to present the Festival was a subject of a lot of meditation, but the my responsibilities towards my new show have prevailed and this would have been in conflict with the responsibilities of the Festival that require work beginning in January. 

Won't you miss the Festival a bit?
Surely.  But with Rai I don't have a long term contract.  We'll see what happens in the future, then I will decide whether to stay with Viale Mazzini or to go back to the wonderful piazzas of Italy

Together with your family and beginning with your sister Catena, you are like a family business.  Advantages and not of working "as a business"...
The advantage is to have people around that you can trust, while the disadvantage is to wind up working late  

In television you are now on top.  What is your next accomplishment going to be?
To create my very own family.  A family that in many ways is already real:  my partner Susanna and her daughter Olivia, who is seven, and is for me already more than a daughter.  She is actually my very own consultant for all matters that deal with children, from Pokemon to Donald Duck.

Let's get back to the coming Festival of Sanremo:  looking at the list of your colleagues in competition, do you have any thoughts on who might win?
Sanremo has often the ability of fooling your, with winners who are definitely a surprise:  remember the one in 1995?  I went as the clear favorite and then nothing happened at all.  But I can't complain:  after many years, now I believe things went well just like that and the sales of my record certainly made up for the disappointment of arriving fifth.

Fiorello and movies:  it seemed that after having been in the cast of Mr. Ripley's Talent you had a new career before you, but instead...
Instead I did not receive any interesting offers and when I had interesting offers, I was busy on other projects.

What does the title of you new show mean?
Stasera pago io (tonight it's on me) is an invitation to spend an evening together, with my welcome guests but also an opportunity to let it all hang out.  Any way, the check will come:  but this time, it's on me!