Addio Raffa

Raffaella Carrà, la Raffa nazionale, is no more. La più amata degli Italiani (The most beloved among Italians), as the TV news called her yesterday, has passed away and with her a piece of Italian history and folk culture.

Raffaella Carrà was a showgirl, sex symbol and gay icon, but above all soubrette, a term that originally referred to a frisky little singer, but which in the Italian TV world, partly thanks to Raffaella herself, has grown into a mix of actress, prima ballerina, singer and presenter.

Raffaella Carrà and Italian television

She was it all at once and was therefore pre-eminently the embodiment of the variety, those afternoon and evening programs of popular music, slick interviews, simple jokes and dashing dance mariekes on which the Italian television seemed to hold the patent for decades.

But she was much more than that. Italian media cite British newspaper for struggle The Guardian, who described her a few years ago as 'a culture icon who gave Europe the pleasure of sex'.

A somewhat exaggerated statement, which may say more about English eroticism than about Raffaella, but it does indicate how big her hair is impact has been, certainly on Italian society.

Raffaella Pelloni, who early in her career named herself after the futuristic painter Carlo Carrà (her first name could remain, because it was the same as Raphael's), was born in 1943 in Bologna.

She started in the 60s on the then up-and-coming TV and got supporting roles in some of the many films that were shown in Italy at the time, such as Von Ryan's Express (1965) in which she appeared with Frank Sinatra.

Very song

Her success came in the 70s, with the song program Very song where she immediately caused a scandal by appearing in a costume that exposed her belly button.

In Italy at that time, where the Church and Christian Democracy still had complete control, such an indecent act of indecency led to indignant and furious reactions from bishops and respectable citizens, but the Betimes and Carrà, who, in addition to being a singer, also had a good trained dancer, was allowed to stay from the RAI.

And things turned out well for the Vatican, so that Cardinal Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, also devoted a sweet tweet to her after her death.

Sensual entertainment

Raffaella Carrà quickly became a symbol of sensual entertainment through the black-and-white screen. With her pony haircut, super tight tops and leggings, blonde, slim and sinuous (sharp would be the Dutch translation, but the Italian word sounds so much more lascivious), she became every Italian man's secret dream.

And then the lyrics. A far l'amore comincia your (Let's do it and you start, as a very free translation): well, who would say no to that.

Who does not know the challenging Mi piace hm hm, the salutation of tuka tuka, which again caused tumult in 1971 because during the song Raffa and various men touched each other in several places of the body, albeit just not there.

It's very beautiful too La mia vita è una roulette / E i numeri tu li sai / Il mio corpo è una moquette / Dove tu ti addormenterai: My life is a roulette/And you know the numbers/My body is a carpet/On which you will fall asleep (Tanti Auguri, 1978).

For the conservative-bigotte Italy at the time, that was a bit of a swallow, but it was a sign that also in Italy the times they are changing.

Professional and versatile

But unlike many of her followers, Carrà always remained discreet and never vulgar and, despite her tight outfit, she radiated cheerfulness rather than horniness. (Compare the house version of A far l'amore comincia your in the movie La Grande Bellezza but agree with the original.)

That, in addition to her professionalism and versatility, is also the reason why Raffaella Carrà has never disappeared from the screen.

Anyone who has watched Italian TV since the 80s has come across the programs she has presented, formulas for success for the whole family with consistently high ratings: Fantastico, Pronto, Raffaella?, Carramba, Domenica In, Il Salotto di Raffaella Carra. 

And so on until You begin to tell in 2019 at RAI 3. With a presentation of the Festival of Sanremo in between and for four years Hello Raffaella in Spain, where it is also immensely popular, as in Latin America.

In addition to President Mattarella, Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez therefore sent a message of mourning to the world: Raffaella Carrrà has inspired us.

gay icon

Meanwhile, Raffaella, who has had two long-term relationships with her managers but found the marriage unnecessary, has also become a heroine within the gay community.

Her music is played at Gay Prides all over the world, in 2017 in Madrid she was proclaimed a global gay icon and in 2006 her friend Tiziano Ferro made her the hilarious song E Raffaella è mia.

She herself said in an interview in 2018: 'Already at canzonissimo I found many guys on the staff who were gay. And I've always wondered how it is possible that there is a gap between these people and parents, friends and society.'

A still topical question in today's Italy where a law against gay violence has been blocked for months by parliamentary obstruction, conservative media and Vatican interference.