The best gift, if you consider the limited time available to prepare it (just a month, with the Christmas holidays in between). But “Ornella senza fine” was a perfect event regardless, full of that heart and touch that only Fabio Fazio is able to give to the public.

The show aired on Nove contained in less than three hours the greatest successes, quotes, jokes and anecdotes of the Milanese artist who passed away in November. A simple, effective, essential, compact and free from useless mess. All seasoned by the owner of the house, that Fazio who – as mentioned – like few others knows how to cultivate the memory, returning it to those at home with care, respect and charm.

“It’s an evening that I hope will remain in the memory of those who are watching us,” he said in recent days. A mission definitely accomplished, which will provide the Discovery channel with ‘display case’ material, while at the same time making RAI bite its hands which, on the contrary, has not managed to celebrate Raffaella Carrà in four years and who knows how long it will take to do the same thing with Pippo Baudo.

Fazio is no stranger to certain tasks. In 2024 it was even Mediaset who hired him to honor the figure of Maurizio Costanzo. Without forgetting the program set up in 2011 entirely focused on Enzo Jannacci, with the latter alive and present. The result was an unforgettable party.

Just as “Ornella” was an endless party. Despite moments of obvious emotion, Fazio focused the program on smiles. Vanoni was recalled by privileging irony, her passions and even her defects, avoiding the risk of a rhetorical holy card that would have irritated both her and the spectators.

Everyone answered the call

Everyone answered the call: Mengoni, Mahmood, Morandi, Noemi, Gabbani, Annalisa, Emma, ​​Mannoia, Fresu, Toquinho, Bertè, Diodato, Arisa, Sangiorgi, Elisa, Ayane, Raffaele. And they were joined by other traveling companions, such as Paolo Rossi, Enzo Iacchetti, Angela Finocchiaro, Enrico Bertolino, Maria Amelia Monti, Cochi Ponzoni and Paolo Jannacci, connected by the Piccolo theater in Milan, where, in the green area in front, the Municipality of Milan inaugurated live a flowerbed named after Vanoni.

“Ornella senza fine” highlighted for the umpteenth time Fazio’s television writing ability, which knows how to embrace nostalgia with the perfect balance between high and pop. A talent that is missing from a Rai which will probably have felt legitimate embarrassment in admiring a public service job handed over to the competition.

Fazio also reiterated that his four active festivals were not at all random. Creative and at times revolutionary, despite the disastrous and unfortunate outcome of 2014, his editions have always conveyed a strong aesthetic and authorial cleanliness. And it’s not crazy to imagine Sunday’s as an alternative and excellent evening of Sanremo covers.

At “Ornella senza fine” no one said ‘no’. There were no refusals, defections, renunciations. Certainly thanks to the value of the protagonist. However, we think that another appointment, perhaps organized in another way, would have received a colder reception.

To make good TV you need ideas and credibility. Fazio has once again demonstrated that he possesses both.