The years go by even in the golden world of television, except, perhaps, for her. With a flick of her perfectly coifed blonde hair and a smile fixed on her face Raffaella Carrà is queen of the screen once more, at the helm of this year's San Remo Song Festival. It's the first time that she has been asked to present the Festival in a career that spans variety shows, lottery prize draws, dance routines and chart-topping songs. One thing is sure: Raffaella is sure to steal the show! Not difficult, one may say, as the songs in the running for the contest are notoriously mediocre (San Remo, let us not forget, was the role model for the Eurovision Song Contest and other similar fiascos). But Raffaella transcends all that. For Italians she's much more than a presenter, she's a national institution where thousands of pigeons may perch to do their daily needs but none destroy the brickwork of the facade.

You can read more about the life and music of Raffaella Pelloni at http://www.raffaella-carra.de and http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/9011 .
Here, instead, are the words from the lady's mouth. (Taken from an interview published in 'La Repubblica' newspaper.)

"Beautiful women don't last long on television unless they have inner qualities (…) Television is full of beautiful, intelligent women who are afraid to use their brains, to fix objectives for themselves. It's such a pity because they'll never last."

What about the songs? You don't want to know about the songs...

What are Raffaella's hidden qualities? Why is she still at the top after 30 years?

"When I perform live it's like going into a bull ring - as the bull. You're inevitably going to sacrificed in order to satisfy the bloodthirsty crowds. I always allow myself the luxury of failure."

In the increasingly perfect world of television the luxury of failure is perhaps the secret of Raffaella Carrà's success. It's what makes her human after all.

Exclusive Interview
Journalists the world over dream of getting a scoop, an exclusive interview, a lead article screaming 'news' from the front page. So imagine the delight of Italiaplease's roving reporter when he bumped into the legendary Raffaella Carrà.