”WOP” power: Italian musician takes back the slur

Monday May 24 14:45 p.m. zoomata staff

Maybe it had to happen, like when blacks re-appropriated the word “nigger,” but WOP as a term of pride may not go down well with everyone of Italian descent.
Italian singer Gennaro Della Volpe, stage name Raiz, calls his new solo effort “WOP,” after the disparaging term used for Italians.

“I’m 100% WOP,” Della Volpe, who sings in a mix of Neapolitan dialect and English, told Italian media. “It’s all about being a global citizen.”

Origins of the slang term are unclear, it is said to come from dialectal “guappo” (or thug) or to mean “without papers” referring to illegal Italian immigrants. Della Volpe evidently prefers to use it as a spin-off from this last meaning.

Interesting to see what the Italian American cousins will have to say about his declaration of WOPishness, since organizations have been lobbying so hard to remove offensive Italian stereotypes from everything from the Sopranos to spaghetti sauce commercials.
Time for a WOP Power movement??1999-2004 zoomata.com
This is an original news story. Please use contact form for reprint info.

Italy Crowns Miss Secessionist — Sans Leader Umberto Bossi

posted Mon March 22 13:24 pm zoomata staff

The show must go on, but the Miss Padania beauty pageant in Milan without Northern League political leader Umberto Bossi was even more of a sorry spectacle than usual.

Bossi, 62 , was hospitalized following a March 11 heart attack and a subsequent media blackout raised further concerns about his chances for a full recovery. The forced smiles of politicians sitting in the first rows of the sixth edition of Miss Padania showed just how lost they feel without the passionate man who declared the north of Italy the Federal Republic of Padania in 1996.

Party leader Bossi was undoubtedly the star of the previous year’s edition, the first to be broadcast on a national network, filling in gaps in the proceedings by making jokes and patting backs like an accomplished TV host playing to a crowd of adoring fans. He was not mentioned during the course of the pageant this year, but cheers of “Bossi! Bossi! Bossi!” broke out from the crowd of over 5,000 people during the final ceremony. Northern League senator Roberto Calderoli announced that there will be no celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the Lega in April without Bossi.

Bossi got the idea for the beauty pageant, which requires at least five years of residence in Northern Italy, as an anti-Miss Italy contest with over 1,000 young women vying for the title in its inaugural 1998 edition. The feisty leader was fond of his creation — one of his last public appearances was on a talk show where he was flanked by two Miss Padania contestants.

When the crown, which looks disturbingly like a spray of spoons, finally went on the winner late Saturday night it seemed an afterthought. 17-year-old Alice Graci — that’s just a two-letter difference from last year’s winner, Alice Grassi — had already won the title of Miss Charme and flailed about trying to put on the second sash. Graci, a tall girl with a mane of teased reddish hair, was neither the most popular nor the most articulate of the 78 contestants; host Emanuela Folliero had to ask the audience to applaud her. Several jury members complained to Italian media that organizers forgot to pick up their voting ballots.

The pageant is typically a mix of whole-hearted pride in everything Northern Italian and pulchritude displayed in dubious taste — this year, however, organizers preferred to emphasize words like ‘solidarity’ ‘friendship’ and ‘fun.’
Contestants wore demure sarongs over bikini bottoms, paraded in vintage wedding dresses instead of evening gowns and the usually comical talent segment was skipped altogether. ?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Italian ‘Priests’ in Calendar Are Models

posted Tue Mar. 2 18:59 pm by Nicole Martinelli

Surprise, surprise: an Italian calendar purporting to feature handsome young priests as pin-ups that made the rounds of the international press is a hoax.

The gorgeous men brooding in old-fashioned clerical outfits in “Calendario Romano 2004″ are, well, just actors and models. It took a disgruntled January, that’s actor Yuri Antonosante, to expose the truth behind a story that sparked debate over the role of priests in modern times.

“I was dressed in priest’s clothes without being told what the shoot was for,” 23-year-old Antonosante told Italian media. “It certainly hasn’t done me any good. Every time I go on a casting call they ask, ‘Father, what are you doing here?’

It was a timely gimmick in the competitive Italian calendar market, where just featuring surgically-enhanced starlets in provocative poses is no longer enough.
Photographer Piero Pazzi upped the ante with his sexy men of the cloth after another rival photographer got the bright idea of featuring nearly-naked women with stigmas in a mother of a calendar called “Madonnas.”

The closest these priestly poseurs get to the holy cloth is with one former altar boy turned model, the rest of the hunks in the Calendario were models or students dressed up in rented holy gear.

Perhaps not content with sales of the calendar, which retails for eight euro in newsstands, Pazzi has decided to come clean and produce next year’s calendar with the real deal. The official website makes an “appeal to clergymen, priests and members of religious orders” who would like to model in the 2005 version. Amen.

Italy Crowns Coolest Granny

zoomata.com staff posted:Fri Sept.19 10:24 am Carpina Zuccarina was crowned Italy’s favorite granny, after a summer-long contest that saw almost 200 wisecracking women over 65 compete for the title.
Her winning moves? She beat the competition by dancing a tarantella barefoot.

Zuccarina, 72, took the cardboard crown of TV show "Velone" dry-eyed, no doubt already thinking of how she might divvy up the 250,000 euro prize among her 11 children and 21 grandchildren. Show creator Antonio Ricci called the prize money ‘a violent boost to the average pension.’
This is likely the case for Zuccarina, who at age 10 moved from province of Avellino (Campania) to Tuscany to work in the fields and never had time to learn to read or write.

The money was certainly compensation for having to twirl around the stage in a public piazza to last year’s disco hits while a graphic displayed name, age, height and weight to the nation. "Velone" was low-budget summer TV fare at best: a 20-minute pseudo-talent contest for women over 65 that kicked off with a recycled theme song from last years’ version — a contest for young go-go dancers for popular satirical show "Strip the News." It was an immediate hit, causing the competition on state television RAI to be canceled early and beating an evening of the youthful beauties in the stale Miss Italia contest.

"It was the most fun I’ve had in my whole life," Zuccarina, recently widowed, told news agency ANSA. "After giving gifts to all of my kin, I’d really like to visit Florence and Siena, I’ve never been." Zuccarina, short gray hair, bright blue eyes framed by black brows, didn’t let the emotion of the moment overtake her. Dressed in black and white, she waved to the audience in Milan with only the briefest of smiles.

No hard feelings for the runners-up – -Domenica Moncini, 84, Fedora De Pra’ Girardi, 91, and Tommasina Communara, 70, they split a consolation prize of 50,000 euro.©1999-2003 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingual journalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Italian Co. Seeks Ideal Breast — for Champagne Glass

An Italian sparkling wine company has set out to find the perfect breast — to serve as a mold for a new champagne glass.

Family-run winery Pittaro is running a contest with twelve finalists demurely covered in semi-strategic grape leaves to promote a spumante. The one voted as having the ‘ideal breast’ will see her curves immortalized in Murano glass for these mammary-inspired limited edition goblets.

Fearing backlash for pushing taste boundaries in ergonomic design, family member Patrizia Pittaro was quick to declare her support for the contest, one that she feels women won’t find degrading. In a country where leading news magazines compete using naked women to illustrate cover stories, the publicity stunt has failed to raise much dust so far.

"Not really what you’d call good taste, OK, but offensive, not really" Irene Galviani, a 43-year-old teacher and self-defined ‘neo-feminist,’ told zoomata. "There’s nothing offensive to me about the shape of women’s breasts, it’s just a marketing ploy."

The contest is the brainchild of photographer Gianfranco Angelico Benvenuto, whose other noteworthy projects include a calendar of naked housewives. Benvenuto said the selection of the finalists was tough work — the rules imposed a strict silicone ban.

Over the centuries, legends tell of champagne cups molded on famous breasts — namely Marie Antoine, Madame du Pompadour, Madame du Barry and the Empress Josephine. All false — the basic champagne glass predates the famous Frenchwomen, so an Italian may be the first to actually become a mold.©1999-2003 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingual journalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Italian TV: Dancing Grannies, not Sexy Girls

A program featuring high-kicking grannies accidentally flashing their panties was served up as an alternative to the usual sexy ‘garnish girls’ gracing Italian TV programs.

“Velone” is low-budget summer TV fare at best: a 20-minute pseudo-talent contest for women over 65 that kicks off with a recycled theme song from last years’ version — a contest for young go-go dancers for popular satirical show “Strip the News.”

These senior citizens won’t be replacing skimpily-clad dancing girls anytime soon — they’re competing for a 250,000 euro prize that show creator Antonio Ricci calls ‘a violent boost to the average pension.’ It’s certainly compensation for having to twirl around the stage in a public piazza to last year’s disco hits while a graphic displays name, age, height and weight to the nation.

Wisecracking host Teo Mammucari, who regularly got the better of sexy young babes, fared worse with the four over-aged 65 contestants. They stole his lines, interrupted his jokes, ignored his cues — and the winner of the first episode, 72-year-old Gugliemina Bianchi who improvised a samba in a lacy white getup, grabbed his bum.

The debut on leading commercial channel Canale 5, owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset company, came shortly after state TV director Lucia Annuziata announced a ‘anti-bimbo’ decree for the RAI. So what’s the “dignified” alternative to senior shenanigans? Flagship state network RAI uno offers a no-budget random telephone call quiz show that would probably better suit radio, hosted by Sunday variety-show matron Mara Venier. Not surprisingly, Velone topped “cold phone call” in ratings — with 21.19% share compared to 17.54% for RAI uno

At the tail end of “Velone” a bit of pulchritude had to be thrown in for good measure, though, with two 20-something women competing to become “Good Evening Girls” or nearly-extinct announcers. A blonde with a plunging neckline and a brunette with an exposed midriff tripped through announcements about upcoming programs with relative success — a jury of mostly tabloid journalists gave Miss Bellybutton the thumbs up.

The Italian viewing public is in for a long, hot summer — both programs are on six nights a week right before prime time until September. ?1999-2004 zoomata.com

This is an original news story. Play nice. Please use contact form for reprint/reuse info.
Related resources:
The Dark Heart of Italy
British author Tobias Jones calls Italy “the country feminism forgot” in his take on today’s Bel Paese — calculating that the average Italian watches about four hours of soft-porn a day.

Garnish Girls Get Expensive Good-by

Italians Launch Nepotism: the Game Show

Miss Over 40, beauty without age–but with plastic surgery?

Italy: Sicily Sings Its Own Praise

zoomata staff
posted Thu 10 July 8:56 am

Sicily is the first Italian region to blow its own horn with a specially-composed anthem. This ode to Sicily sings of a ‘triangle of peace’ and the ‘honest sun that never sets’ — in a land that seems destined to make headlines for arrivals of boat people, the Mafia and severe drought.

The debut of “Madreterra” (Motherland) sparked a predictable debate. Italy has never been a nation of flag-wavers, only recently politicians realized that technically the country has no national anthem — in an apparent oversight the de facto anthem the ‘Inno Mameli’ (Mameli Hymn) was never set down as official. Sicilians aren’t too enthusiastic about this celebration of their land; when it was played for the first time in public recently the new anthem got more jeers than cheers.

“The insults weren’t for the song so much as a political protest,” said hymn composer Vincenzo Spampinato. “Despite the problems we have, Sicily should no longer be considered a conquered place but a place that conquerors the heart.” Locals weren’t pleased that regional president Salvatore Cuffaro, under investigation for Mafia ties and on stage during the performance, had spent their money on a new ditty.

Sicily isn’t the only region of Italy getting a song to glorify it — politicians in Tuscany also have one in the works. In the land of Dante, considered the father of the modern Italian language, regional councilors announced plans to ask longtime Tuscan transplant Sting to write it. Though it wouldn’t be the first time the British singer warbled a bit in Italian, the motion also said that perhaps Tuscan schoolchildren could sing along in an effort to make it at least comprehensible for the locals. ?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Italian TV: Dancing Grannies, not Sexy Girls

A program featuring high-kicking grannies accidentally flashing their panties was served up as an alternative to the usual sexy ‘garnish girls’ gracing Italian TV programs.

“Velone” is low-budget summer TV fare at best: a 20-minute pseudo-talent contest for women over 65 that kicks off with a recycled theme song from last years’ version — a contest for young go-go dancers for popular satirical show “Strip the News.”

These senior citizens won’t be replacing skimpily-clad dancing girls anytime soon — they’re competing for a 250,000 euro prize that show creator Antonio Ricci calls ‘a violent boost to the average pension.’ It’s certainly compensation for having to twirl around the stage in a public piazza to last year’s disco hits while a graphic displays name, age, height and weight to the nation.

Wisecracking host Teo Mammucari, who regularly got the better of sexy young babes, fared worse with the four over-aged 65 contestants. They stole his lines, interrupted his jokes, ignored his cues — and the winner of the first episode, 72-year-old Gugliemina Bianchi who improvised a samba in a lacy white getup, grabbed his bum.

The debut on leading commercial channel Canale 5, owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset company, came shortly after state TV director Lucia Annuziata announced a ‘anti-bimbo’ decree for the RAI. So what’s the “dignified” alternative to senior shenanigans? Flagship state network RAI uno offers a no-budget random telephone call quiz show that would probably better suit radio, hosted by Sunday variety-show matron Mara Venier. Not surprisingly, Velone topped “cold phone call” in ratings — with 21.19% share compared to 17.54% for RAI uno

At the tail end of “Velone” a bit of pulchritude had to be thrown in for good measure, though, with two 20-something women competing to become “Good Evening Girls” or nearly-extinct announcers. A blonde with a plunging neckline and a brunette with an exposed midriff tripped through announcements about upcoming programs with relative success — a jury of mostly tabloid journalists gave Miss Bellybutton the thumbs up.

The Italian viewing public is in for a long, hot summer — both programs are on six nights a week right before prime time until September.

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingual journalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Related resources:
The Dark Heart of Italy
British author Tobias Jones calls Italy “the country feminism forgot” in his take on today’s Bel Paese — calculating that the average Italian watches about four hours of soft-porn a day.

Garnish Girls Get Expensive Good-by

Italians Launch Nepotism: the Game Show

Miss Over 40, beauty without age–but with plastic surgery?

Sicilian Town Changes Name for Fame

Murder, Mafia, kidnapping — dirty business of all sorts — is the stuff most Sicilian towns would rather not be associated with, but one is renaming itself to do just that by taking on the moniker of a fictional town made popular by an Italian author.

Andrea Camilleri, 77, publishing sensation in Italy and abroad, had a long career as a theater director before turning his attention to gritty mysteries set in fictionalized Vig?ta. His urbane yet earthy police inspector Salvo Montalbano has starred in six books and numerous short stories that have sold over four million copies in Europe and have monopolized Italy’s best seller list since debuting in 1994.

The resulting popularity of all this ‘something rotten in Sicily’ is that Italians can’t do enough to honor Camilleri. After both the author and Luca Zingaretti, the actor who plays Montalbano in the hit TV movies, were knighted by President Ciampi in February 2003, the mayor of Camilleri’s birthplace got an idea: to add the name ‘Vigàta’ to the town of Porto Empedocle in the province of Agrigento.

Whether it will focalize literary tourism on the town remains to be seen. The writer admits he changed the town’s name to preserve the memory he had of it as a child — the current cement sprawl makes it incompatible with the images stark beauty portrayed in the books and, in fact, the TV series were filmed in more pristine Sicilian spots. ?1999-2003 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Related resources:
The Terra-Cotta Dog: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery
Of the three Montalbano books translated into English so far, this is the staff pick.

www.vigata.org
The official Camilleri fan club — tour Sicily with the author, explore the dialect, take a look at the movies, explore Sicilian recipes…

 

‘Whoretown’ Board Game

There’s no Park Place and there are no railroads to buy — but otherwise the board game created by a Italian prostitutes’ civil rights group about how women enter and stay in prostitution looks a lot like Monopoly.

At the roll of a dice, players in "Whoretown" find themselves a woman, most likely not of Italian nationality, faced with a series of difficult tasks — send her children to school, repay a debt, start a business, support a family. Along the way, instead of buying real estate or little plastic houses she’ll come up against police raids, gang wars, violent clients and depending on the outcome will earn or lose money. Who comes out on top? The player who manages to reach goals despite the perils — but the game’s end doesn’t necessarily liberate her from the sex trade.

The game based on the world’s oldest profession, to be launched in public March 22 to mark the 20-year anniversary of the group, was created to raise awareness about Italy’s prostitution problem. More than just a publicity stunt, the group plans to sell the game online at 34 euro.The Bel Paese’s sex market consists of an estimated 50,000-70,000 prostitutes, about 70% are illegal immigrants lured to the country with the promise of a job then forced into sex work, according to Eurispes data. The study reports almost half of all Italian men regularly frequent the so-called "fireflies" (lucciole), some 70% of these are married.

"Basically, it’s a learning tool," said Pia Covre cofounder of the organization."Because it lays bare the reality of prostitution and helps explain that life is often directed by random events. But it can also be fun, particularly in mixed company."

Embarrassing would-be johns into staying home has been the object of numerous schemes in recent years in Italy — including exorbitant fines, photographing clients and towing away cars parked in "suspect" zones. Most have created more brouhaha than change, because they conflict with Italy’s severe privacy law which, for example, doesn’t permit photographing drivers from the front for everyday traffic violations. In a concrete if controversial move, Northern League leader Umberto Bossi proposed government-regulated ‘Eros centers’ (apartments shared by a few prostitutes) last year that is still causing debate. ?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.