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M is for Millenovecentosessanta... (nineteen sixty)

Could May 16, 1960 be a grey and sad day? Of course not!
May 16, 1960 was a sunny day. In the hospital of Catania there is confusion. Everybody is worried... Rosario, the mother, is having a difficult delivery. The doctors don't hesitate: "or the baby dies, or the mother dies". But after hours of contraction, there is the light. The first one of the Fiorello's is a baby boy with black hair. He doesn't cry much, smiles a lot. They wanted to call him Raffaele, but the second that the parents see their baby, they change idea: Rosario, just like his mother! And then there is the ideas for the second name: Tindaro, in honor of the "Madonna of the Tindari", the black Madonna to who his mother is devoted.

N is for Nicola...

Nicola.. the name of the father of Rosario, Anna, Catena and Giuseppe.
He worked for the finances, he was a radio telegrapher.
"The idol" of Rosario, who often went with his father to the barracks. And it is here where Rosario spends some unforgettable moments. And it is here where the strange attraction for the microphone, used by his father to transmit messages in codes, comes out.
Nicola had a particular bond with Rosario... he rarely could get angry with Rosario, because he was so fascinated by the sympathy of his son.
Nicola never hindered the choices of his children, above all the choice of Rosario to entertain.
He liked being with his kids, he was their role model, the example to follow, a man with a sense of humor, sensible, knowing how to handle situations in the best way.. This is why Rosario, Anna, Catena and Giuseppe grew in the respect of liberty.
His unexpected death by a heart attack, in February 1990, caused a immense pain for the whole family... Talking about Rosario, the people that are close to him know how much he suffered and how much this fact deeply had an impact on his life.
Rosario has always said that he learned a lot by his father and during the karaoke, if there was a man of a certain age on stage, his father returned into his mind.
The greatest thing Rosario mourns about is the fact that he never has had the opportunity to show his success to his father.
And still today, at a distance of 12 years, he declares that he when he thinks about his father he still suffers a lot and he misses him every second of his life... He says: "for me he is still alive, I always feel him close"

O is for Ostuni...

This is the holiday village where Rosario got married... You didn't know that?!?!?
It was only a joke! One out of the million things Rosario's head produced...
We are in 1986 at Ostuni. Rosario has a girlfriend, who is a colleague entertainer, Elisabetta.
To fool the people they decided to organize a false marriage. They said that the religious ceremony would have been intimate, while the party would have taken place in the village.
They made a beautiful wedding dress for her, while he was wearing a smoking of someone who would have been married twenty years ago: the smoking was short, tight and crumpled by the age and dust. They also hired six Mercedes with drivers and they called some friends to act like their parents.
The clients all searched for suitable cloths, gloves and hats. The day of the "yes I do", Elisabette and Saro presented themselves at the entrace of the village: 1200 people were waiting with rice and video cameras.
The party takes place in the amphitheater, but... They didn't calculate the gifts! Carpets, statues, domestic appliances and a honeymoon to Vienna!
After finishing dinner, Elisabetta and Rosario are saying goodbye to the people that would leave the next day.. the farce would have been finished right after this. But the people that left, met people that arrived and told them about the wedding... Rosario and Tata (that's how her friends called her) had to fake for weeks.


P is for Pippo Baudo...

Pippo Baudo, a great person of the television, on top for more than 40 years now...
In the holiday villages people of every type arrive: famous people, people who work on television, tecnician and people who work for the Rai and Fininvest (current Mediaset). Exactly one of these is Baudo, who notices Rosario. We are in 1987. Baudo presents a show dedicated to "common" people who in one minute have to show what they can do, to have the possibility to be in the showbiz world..
Pippo himsef, trusting the enthusiasm of his friend who's talking about Fiorello, calls Fiorello for a try out: he is a little bit hesitant, he is afraid, new things fascinate him until a certain point..
But Pippo is Pippo, and Fiore needs to live new challanges, to confront himself with a different world.
He leaves the holiday village in which he worked. In his pocket he has a plane ticket to Rome and a heart full of doubts who melt in front of a surprised Pippo. He is surprised of this young guy who says that he is not able to do conjuring tricks, but he can just talk.
Baudo is frantically searching for some talents who can appear in front of the cameras for 30 seconds, for the program "Festivalbar"... But Fiore is not able to just give 30 seconds..
He leaves, takes his bag, puts on his flowered shirt and goes back to the village. A little bit with his head low, frightened like someone who just got through a defeat. But there was no battle.
Rosario will understand that later on, thinking about the compliments that Baudo gave him ("you could present "Fantastico"! But I am already presenting that program, so you can't!).
But thanks to this try out, a door in his heart opens for the television... Now Saro knows what he wants and what he can do!

Q is for Quattro... (four)

Quattro… or better.. “à è quattro”… who doesn't remember? It has been the motto in the edition of 2001 of Stasera Pago Io... In 2002 replaced by "IGNAZIO"!

R is for Rosaria...

Are you thinking about a mistake? Is the name written with an A instead of an O? Of course not!
Rosaria.. the name of Rosario, Anna Catena and Giuseppe's mother!
Mrs Rosario is still a beautiful woman, of whom Rosario resembles physically and emotionally... and to who he is deeply connected!
Rosaria is his greatest fan and it is to her Rosario dedicates all his success to.
Despite the obligations of work keeping them far from each other, he tries to call her a lot, because like he said, he is a "adorible mother's darling"!
Rosaria still doesn't understand that her first-born child became famous and she keeps telling him things all moms tell: don't smoke, don't be late at night..
In the past it happened that mother and son went to the disco together!
Many times we see her in the public in Rosario's shows. Or like last year, we saw her on stage together with her sons! His mother is proud of her four children, even if she doesn't like it to show it in public.

S is for Saro...

Saro is the Sicilian abbreviation of Rosario. This is how Rosario's friends call him, especially his Sicilian friends! In fact, for the others he is Fiore!
In homage to this name, Rosario titled his cd that came out in 1996, "Saro Fiorello". The one that represented the turning point in his musical career. Inside that cd there is a sentence singed as Saro, which is the most authentic part of our idol!
The mother, Rosaria, is called Sara.

T is for Tommasino...

Tommaso Accardo, better known as Tommasino, Fiorello's "right hand" in his gags! Sympethetically called the OGM (oggetto geneticamente modificato --> genetically modified object), or the dark object of desire!
They started working together in some spots of Infostrada. After that they found each other in Stasera Pago Io 2001.
Tommasino was above all the bodyguard of the beautiful guests of Fiorello. Then they also were together in the summer tour, Stasera Paghi Te, and last but not least the second edition of Stasera Pago Io... in Euro! Together they do a lot of sketches, most of all they sang!

U is for Ulisse...

This was the title of Rosario's first theatrical performance! In kindergarten they had to perform and the leading man would be Ulisse. There were about 2000 kids, but as the role of the leading man nobody had his doubt: "Fiorello" was the unanimous answer!
Rosario remembers this episode of his life with pleasure and once he said: "you can see that this thing really touched me right to the rims, because from that moment, I couldn't live without the stage anymore!"

V is for Valtur...

The holiday villages have been a good experience for Rosario. In fact, he worked there for 11 years!
In 1977 Valtur opens a holiday village in Brucoli, a few kilomteres from Augusta.
Like a lot of other young people, Rosario knocks on the door of the village: he is willing to do everything, he needs to work.
The beginning in the village is difficult: the only place he can work is in the kitchen. But Rosario isn't really made for this job. For example one time, laughing and joking, he dropped a plate with fish on a white dress of a lady. Or another time he dropped piles of plates and dropped the dessert for 1200 people in the trash can! But once he could be an entertainer, things are getting better.
A meaningful moment explains the entertainer Fiore has always been.
We are back to the 80's. Fiore comes back home after doing military service. The boss of the village, Enzo Olivieri, says to him: "You will be an entertainer, or I won't take you"
And Fiore said:
"No, I need money. I would like to be a bartender, because I earn more money".
But after thinking about it a few days, Fiore presents himself at Enzo Olivieri and he takes him as an entertainer. Here is where everything starts!

Z is for Zio... (uncle)

Rosario is also an uncle of Anna's (his sister's) child and of Beppe's (his brother's) child.  Anna's baby girl was born in 1997 and her name is Nicoletta, in honor of the deceased father. Beppe's baby girl's name is Anita. She was born in 2003. Rosario cares a lot about his nieces and he talks about them often on television or in interviews. 

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