Non è la Rai ('It's not Rai') is an Italian variety television series that aired from 9 September 1991 to 30 June 1995. Initially broadcast by Canale 5, it was moved to Italia 1 in January 1993. The show was presented by Enrica Bonaccorti in its first season, Paolo Bonolis in the second and Ambra Angiolini in the third and fourth.
Produced by Gianni Boncompagni, the show was broadcast every day in the afternoon, starring 100 girls between 14 and 22 years old who sang, danced and presented some telephone competitions. The show created scandal in Italy due to the girls' age and some political declarations by Angiolini, who was 17 years old in 1994. The show was presented by Enrica Bonaccorti in its first season, Paolo Bonolis in the second and Ambra Angiolini in the third and fourth.
From the show came many Italian television, music and theatre stars such as Angiolini, Pamela Petrarolo, Claudia Gerini, Romina Mondello, Nicole Grimaudo, Antonella Elia, Yvonne Sciò, Alessia Merz, Alessia Mancini, Antonella Mosetti, Emanuela Panatta, Laura Freddi, Miriana Trevisan, Gloria Scotti, Cristina Quaranta, Sabrina Impacciatore, Barbara Lelli and Letizia Catinari.
The program was rebroadcast on the Happy Channel on satellite TV some years after its end and in the digital channel Mediaset Extra from 2011.
History First edition The program was created in 1991 and the first edition aired throughout the 1991/1992 season on Canale 5 starting on 9 September at 12:40, immediately after Il pranzo è servito, hosted by Enrica Bonaccorti with the participation of Antonella Elia and Yvonne Sciò. The program marked the debut of director Gianni Boncompagni (who had already directed Bonaccorti in Pronto, chi gioca?) on the television networks of the Fininvest group. Regarding the title, he denied any polemical intent and stated that he had been inspired by the song No, non è la BBC from his old radio program Alto gradimento.
The set design of the variety show represented the four seasons (one for each side of the studio, with a swimming pool placed on the summer side) and was enriched by the presence of a large group of girls, initially about eighty, almost all of whom came from the editions of Domenica in directed by the same director in previous years. At first they were relegated to the role of chorus or at most performed small musical interludes and dance routines between one game and another, such as the contest More contro Bionde in which two small groups composed of some of them, precisely brunettes and blondes (captained respectively by Yvonne Sciò and Antonella Elia), competed in songs and choreographies. During the first phase of the program some girls were highlighted and were given the opportunity to perform by interpreting some songs or medleys using their own voice, in playback, namely Elena Moretti, Sabrina Marinangeli, Valentina Ducros and, occasionally, the trio of twin sisters Desi, Monia and Tania Medda. Finally, the cast was completed by two child assistants: Martina Melli, who remained for the entire season, and Micaela Ilardo, who instead left the program after a few months.
Another distinctive element of the studio was the aforementioned swimming pool, where some telephone games took place and where some girls, during the episode, dived and bathed; starting from the third edition, however, it was used less and less until it remained only as a mere scenic decoration in the fourth and final edition, also due to protests concerning the clothing worn by the girls (in the case of the pool scenes they were in swimsuits).
A few months after the start of the broadcast, some changes were made to the structure of the show: Yvonne Sciò, who initially hosted a section dedicated to children, left the program to devote herself exclusively to cinema, while Antonella Elia and Miriana Trevisan were entrusted with animating the Cruciverbone (also a game already used by Boncompagni in the editions of Domenica in he directed), in which the viewer at home, on the phone with Bonaccorti, had to fill in horizontal and vertical words by answering the questions asked. Later the authors decided to highlight other girls, who thus increasingly became the central characters of the program, as happened with Laura Freddi, who was brought to the public's attention because of her resemblance to actress Kim Basinger and who was made to perform a chaste striptease inspired by the one performed by Basinger in the famous film 9½ Weeks. Freddi later replaced the Elia-Trevisan pair during the Cruciverbone segment. At the same time, Francesca Pettinelli, Claudia Gerini, Antonella Elia and Freddi herself were given the opportunity to perform by interpreting some songs or medleys using their own voice in playback, unlike other girls who were given the same opportunity but were dubbed by some backing vocalists because they did not excel in singing.
Much of the show consisted of telephone games, which often accompanied the moments of telepromotions; among the most remembered games was that of Sette e mezzo, with Antonella Elia assisted by Martina Melli, during which 40 girls held as many playing cards with which the contestant at home had to attempt to win. Other girls were also given speaking roles to assist Bonaccorti in some telephone games: Giorgia Ghezzi in the game Il soprannome di Giorgia, and Anne May Montonen in the game linked to the sponsor of a fruit juice brand. Trevisan herself had the opportunity to host the game of Sette e mezzo in some episodes in which Elia was absent because she was busy with rehearsals for the 1992 edition of the Telegatti.
The program continued, with a reduction of 30 minutes, starting at 13:20 immediately after the newly launched TG5 (from 13 January 1992), giving increasing importance to the girls, who thus became the real protagonists of the show to the detriment of the official host, who by the end of the season was relegated to hosting only some games. Bonaccorti herself, after not being confirmed as host for the following edition, announced a temporary retirement from television. In addition, the cast was characterized by the presence of only two men: the fake lifeguard Bob (real name Roberto Tron), who arrived on the program through participation in a televendita advertising a shoe brand and remained until the last season, and Davide Mengacci, who presented the mail segment.
At the end of the season, which concluded on 27 June, it became evident that the target audience of the broadcast, initially identified as housewives (Non è la Rai had initially been conceived as a Fininvest version of famous successful programs of the Rai such as Pronto, Raffaella? and Pronto, chi gioca?), had gradually shifted to a decidedly younger audience.
Several spin-offs were also derived during this edition, such as Primadonna, broadcast on Italia 1 in the early evening slot, hosted by Eva Robin's and Antonello Piroso with the participation of Claudia Gerini, which was interrupted after just two months due to low ratings, some prime-time specials, the New Year's Eve celebrations of Canale 5, and Bulli e pupe, hosted in prime time by Paolo Bonolis in the summer of 1992, in which several new girls were introduced (including Ambra Angiolini, Lucia Ocone, Annalisa Mandolini, Romina Mondello, Francesca Gollini, Emanuela Panatta, Daniela Giagheddu, Alessia Gioffi and Roberta Modigliani) who would then participate in the subsequent edition of the parent program; also during the summer of 1992 a "best of" of the just-concluded edition was broadcast, titled Non è la Rai estate and proposed on Canale 5 in the same time slot.
The theme song of the first edition, also reused for the first part of the second, particularly remained memorable. It had the same title as the program and was written by Cristiano Minellono and Gianni Boncompagni with music by Paolo Ormi.
Second edition On 14 September 1992 the second season began, hosted by Paolo Bonolis, who replaced Bonaccorti after the summer experience of Bulli e pupe. In addition to the presenter, the set design was also taken from the summer show and, instead of the four seasons, only summer was represented, characterized by a blue background, light-blue sky, sand, fake palm trees and a new swimming pool, much larger than the one of the previous year. The program returned to air on Canale 5, after a summer in which the channel had broadcast the best moments of the just-finished edition under the title Non è la Rai - Estate.
One of the main novelties was the initial participation in the program, in an active role, of the director and creator Boncompagni, who occupied a segment of the episode interacting with an improbable Cinderella played by a very young Riccardo Rossi in some comic sketches. Otherwise, the show continued following the model of the previous season, with many telephone games but leaving more space for the girls' singing performances. In this first phase of the program two girls were given the opportunity to host two telephone games linked to sponsors: Tiziana Sensi and a debuting Annalisa Mandolini.
On 16 November 1992 the broadcast was struck by a tragic event: one of the young protagonists of the program, Marina Musti, who had joined the cast only a few months earlier, was killed in a car accident while returning from a night at a disco with some friends. The broadcast did not air the following day nor on the day of her funeral as a sign of respect and to allow the girls to attend the funeral of their colleague.
On 11 January 1993 the program underwent a drastic change and moved to Italia 1, increasing its duration and occupying the time slot between 14:15 and 16:00, while before the change of channel the average share had been 17%, with peaks of about 3 million viewers.
The presence of Bonolis on screen, which among other things was attracting attention because at that time the host had begun a romantic relationship with Laura Freddi, one of the protagonists of the program, became, by choice of the director, increasingly limited: in the last months of the broadcast Bonolis was effectively confined to hosting only the spaces of some advertisements, and during the season some girls obtained the hosting of entire blocks of the program. Among them the most prominent were:
Ambra Angiolini, who, seated on a white armchair, hosted il gioco dello zainetto, in which the viewer who called had to guess ten objects contained in Ambra's backpack, remembering those already guessed by previous players; later she was also entrusted with il gioco dei cassetti musicali, assisted by Romina Mondello. Francesca Gollini, who presented both il gioco della metamorfosi, in which contestants had to understand into which character a photograph was transforming through morphing, and il gioco delle secchiate (initially linked to the sponsor Dietorelle) in which viewers had to choose which of four randomly selected girls should pull a handle at the top of which was placed a bucket, expecting either a shower of candies (later replaced by flowers) or, more frequently, icy water. Roberta Modigliani, who hosted a quiz on anagrams with living letters formed by about ten girls from the program (a game already proposed in the previous edition with Bonaccorti). Mary Patti – already Miss Linea Sprint Roma 1990 at the Miss Italia finals (as Maria Patti) – who, perched on a very high stool, played the role of the femme fatale while hosting il gioco del nome della nonna (whose answer, after months of attempts, turned out to be the improbable name "Mosqu").