“You see a good host standing up and live”. Antonella Clerici loves to repeat it, who borrowed the rule from the great Pippo Baudo. What is missing from “Belve” are both aspects, for a program that is perpetually performed while sitting, on very high stools, and above all in a recorded version.

In the first case there is little to complain about. On the other hand, we are talking about a format that makes face-to-face its meaning of existence. However, the situation is different due to the absence of live broadcast, which makes the broadcast something isolated, secluded and terribly pre-packaged.

The renunciation of the live performance is almost ostentatious and claimed. In this regard, it would be enough to note the management of the previews, with the guests’ declarations which are strategically disseminated forty-eight hours in advance, without the fear of burning the product or canceling the wait.

However, the underlying question remains, namely the limits of a management that takes action in the event of emergencies and that is not called upon to manage the unexpected, because at most it controls it.

The releases

Take the history of unsigned releases. Elettra Lamborghini began, Massimo Ferrero continued. Generally, obstacles arise due to unwelcome questions, or due to a performance that does not conform to what was imagined and hoped for. So here is the request for cuts, omissions and exhausting negotiations to agree on what to air.

Not to mention the guests organized and discarded because the guests were not considered performing. Those who suffered the consequences were Anna Pettinelli and Federica Brignone, who regularly recorded, were evidently paid, but who never admired the result on video.

The Brignone case

As far as the skier is concerned, according to Fanpage’s reconstruction, the interview would have been boring for long stretches: “The champion – wrote Andrea Parrella in recent days – would have asked the presenter for some cuts relating to passages that would not have satisfied her and her staff. A request promptly rejected by Fagnani and his production. Only at that point, by mutual agreement, the parties decided to reach an agreement: no signing of the release and interview cancelled”.

An unexpected event that would not have occurred live where what you cook ends up at the table, without the possibility of throwing everything in the bin. If some time ago we defined “Belve” as a “Sunday In with money”, at least one aspect should be corrected, given that Mara Venier chats live every Sunday, risking much more than Fagnani.

The gaffe with Shiva

In short, scissors and ad hoc editing, where every dead moment disappears, would not exist if “Belve” adapted to the thrill of the red light. And there wouldn’t even be sensational gaffes like the one involving Shiva, convicted in first instance to 3 years and 6 months for a fight that took place in 2023 in San Benedetto del Tronto. The sentence arrived a few hours before the broadcast of the interview (obviously recorded), which however referred to an affair known for three years which Fagnani had not mentioned in the slightest.

A live “Belve” would therefore allow us to better weigh the quality of the interviewee, the interviewer and the interview itself. True, the theme could expand to “La Confessione”, “Verissimo”, “Ciao Maschio”, but it is equally undeniable that, to date, there are no live experiences of Fagnani. Indeed, yes, one: “Seconda Linea”, a sensational flop for Rai 2 which he hosted in 2020 for a few episodes together with Alessandro Giuli. And which for strange reasons is only blamed on the current Minister.