La Carrà del quotidiano. Forme di una celebrità tv 'banale' nelle trasmissioni dei primi anni Novanta

Much of the critic and journalistic production on Raffaella Carrà has been focusing on the most exceptional, “revolutionary” and spectacular aspects of such a figure, as well as on the festive dimension of her career and business. This contribution aims to draw attention to another portion of her TV experience - and public persona - characterised by a greater closeness to the audience, an everydayness leading to the construction and consolidation of an apparently “banal”, yet crucial, model of celebrity. The article addresses two case histories from the first part of the nineties: Raidue’s Raffaella venerdì, sabato e domenica (Raidue, 1990, then renamed Ricomincio da due and broadcasted until spring 1991) and the first season of Carràmba che sorpresa (Raiuno, 1995), which paved the way to the adoption of emotainment formats in Italy. In the first show, Carrà returns to the public service after the unsuccessful Fininvest experiment, with a daytime programme featuring a blend of journalism, games and music. In the second example, back in prime time, and in the midst of a decade of "triumphant generalism", Carrà seems to normalise the special festive appointment within the schedule. It is especially in Carràmba, indeed, that the tension between ordinary and exceptional, normality and singularity becomes evident, in a new televisual style. Thanks to original archival research, combined with an investigation of the productive and distributive vicissitudes and an analysis of a multitude of press sources, this article identifies the main traits at the basis of “another half of Carrà”, differently unique, yet equally meaningful.