San Remo song festival to rake in the lire

by Francoise Kadri

SAN REMO, Italy, Feb 22

(AFP)

Residents of the Italian Riviera resort of San Remo and national television executives are hoping for a bigger bonanza than ever from the five-day annual song festival opening Tuesday.

With a rejigged formula, the 49th festival is the event of the year for the state television company RAI and Italian record producers, attracting more than 17 million viewers or up to 63 percent of audience share.

It will be presented by popular show host Fabio Fazio, assisted by the unusual combination of Italian Nobel medicine prize winner Renato Dulbecco and French supermodel Laetitia Casta.

More than 1,000 journalists are expected, representing more than 400 newspapers, radio and television stations, especially from Japan, South Korea and Latin America.

�For RAI San Remo represents a powerful image booster, and advertising revenue of around four billion lire (2.1 million euros, 2.3 million dollars),� a channel official said, adding however that production costs were also very high.

The Sipra advertising agency which acts for RAI doubles the price of the most profitable spots during the festival, which includes an evening talk show, �San Remo Notte�, with interviews in the streets or the dressing rooms of the performers.

Traders all along the coast benefit from the financial fall-out, which the resort�s deputy mayor Antonio Bissolotti said varied between 40 billion and 50 billion lire.

Apart from the contract of exclusivity signed with RAI, hotels, restaurants, bars, the casino, department stores and florists all cash in from the visitors who swell the town�s 60,000 population by nearly a quarter of a million.

For the record industry, whose annual turnover is some 350 million euros, San Remo also means up to 30 percent of their business for some firms, said the head of the Italian musical industry federation, Enzo Mazza.

�The festival does not sell as many discs as in the past�, he said, �because the peaks now occur at Christmas and in the summer.�

Some record producers invest some 50 percent of their budget and six months work in San Remo, thanks to the festival rule that the 28 competitors in the classes for new talent and experienced artists peform at least one song for the first time.

The festival is also a magnet for talent scouts, who in the recent past have discovered such home-grown stars as Laura Pausini, Nek, Andrea Bocelli and Eros Ramazzotti, Mazza said.

The week of XXth century

23/02/1886 - Charles M. Hall completed his invention of aluminum. He produced it using electricity; and just in time for wrapping the 20th century�s lunch sandwiches, too!

23/02/1939 - On this date in 1939, Walt Disney won an Oscar for the film, �Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs� at the Academy Award ceremonies that were held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Disney actually received one Oscar statuette and seven miniature ones for his work � ... which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field,� according to press accounts that day.

24/02/1918 - Born out of World War I, Estonia became an independent republic today. Within two decades it would lose this independence with absorption into the Soviet Union.

24/02/1925 - A thermit was used for the first time. It was used to break a 250,000-ton ice jam that had clogged the St. Lawrence River near Waddington, NY. Why was it called a thermit? Becauth ith wath tho cold that peopleth couldn�th thay �ith breaker�, we thimk.

24/02/1938 - The first nylon bristle toothbrush was made in Arlington, NJ. It was the first time that nylon yarn had been used commercially. Two years later, nylon hosiery was introduced. A tip: Never brush your teeth with your nylon hosiery. You are most welcome.

24/02/1942 - Everett Heseman got permanent possession of the Hollingworth- Kugler Trophy for dog racing after winning the American Dog Derby for the third time. Don�t ask us, we just write this stuff. Maybe the judges thought the dog would bite them if they tried to take the trophy away... Our crack research staff is still trying to determine if Everett Heseman was the dog�s name or its owner. As always, we�ll get back to you.

25/02/1836 - Samuel Colt was sure as shootin� this day, as he received a patent for what became his now famous pistol, the Colt 45.

25/02/1873 - Enrico Caruso (opera singer: tenor)

25/02/1966 - Nancy Sinatra was high-stepping this day with a gold record award for the hit, �These Boots Are Made For Walkin��. When she cracked open the wooden framed award to check out the gold disk inside, she heard �Pink Shoe Laces� by Dodie Stevens. Nancy was reported to have been incensed.