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Amadeus (presenter)

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Amadeus
Amadeus in 2023
Born
Amedeo Umberto Rita Sebastiani

4 September 1962 (1962-09-04) (age 62)
Ravenna, Italy
Occupations
  • Television presenter
  • radio presenter
  • disc jockey
Employer(s)
Spouses
Marisa Di Martino
(m. 1993; div. 2007)
Giovanna Civitillo
(m. 2009)
Children2

Amedeo Umberto Rita Sebastiani (born 4 September 1962), known professionally as Amadeus (pronounced [amaˈdɛus]), is an Italian television host and radio presenter.

Life and career

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Born in Ravenna to Sicilian parents, Sebastiani grew up in Verona.[1][2] He started his career in 1979 as a deejay for a small radio station in Verona after a successful audition.[2]

One day in 1985, Sebastiani spent six hours outside a hotel to lend Vittorio Salvetti, Italian television producer, a VHS with his audition. Salvetti then got him in touch with talent scout Claudio Cecchetto, to which Sebastiani recorded and sent a demo cassette. The talent scout gave him a chance in 1986 and made him debut for Radio DeeJay with the stage name "Amadeus", basing it off of Rock Me Amadeus, 1985 single by Falco.[3] Over the next two years he became one of the main radio presenters for Radio Capital Music Network, where he co-hosted many programmes with Luca Laurenti among mang others. He made his television debut in 1988, appearing in the Radio DeeJay spin-off DeeJay Television on Italia 1.

His debut on a Rai network was in 1999 as a quality juror for Sanremo Music Festival 1999. In September of that year he became the host of Domenica In for the next season. In October 2000, Quiz Show premiered on Rai 1 with him as the host. The game later rebranded to L'eredità, which he kept hosting until he briefly quit Rai in 2006.[4][5]

During his career, Amadeus hosted several high-profile programmes, both for Rai and Mediaset, including five editions of Festivalbar, four seasons of L'eredità, the Sanremo Music Festival (2020 to 2024), L'anno che verrà, and several early evening quiz shows.[1][2][6]

Personal life

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Between 1993 and 2007, Sebastiani was married to Marisa Di Martino. They have a daughter, Alice Vittoria, born in 1997.

In 2003, after separating from his first wife, he began a relationship with the showgirl Giovanna Civitillo,[7] whom he had met while working at L'eredità. In January 2009, the two had a son, José Alberto, named after José Mourinho, who at the time was coaching Inter Milan – the team Sebastiani supports. Later that year, the couple got married.[8]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1988–1989 1, 2, 3 Jovanotti Co-host Musical programme
1989–1990 Deejay Beach Presenter Musical programme (seasons 3–4)
1993 Festivalbar 1993 Co-host Annual music festival
1994 Festivalbar 1994 Presenter
1995 Festivalbar 1995
1995–1996 Buona Domenica Co-host Variety show (season 8)
1996 Festivalbar 1996 Presenter Annual music festival
1996–1997 Campioni di ballo Talent show (season 2)
1997 Festivalbar 1997 Annual music festival
Matricole Co-host Docuseries (season 1)
1998 Il Quizzone Presenter Game show (season 5)
Meteore – Alla ricerca delle stelle perdute Co-host Variety show (season 1)
1999 Festa di classe Presenter Variety show
1999–2000 Domenica in Variety show (season 24)
2000 In bocca al lupo! Game show (season 3)
2000–2002 Quiz Show Game show
2001 Castrocaro Music Festival 2001 Annual music festival
2002 Azzardo Game show (season 1)
2002–2006 L'eredità Game show (seasons 1–4)
2003 La partita del cuore Annual charity sports event
Miss Italia nel Mondo Annual beauty contest
2004 Music Farm Talent/reality show (season 1)
2006 Formula segreta Game show
2007–2008 1 contro 100
Canta e vinci Co-host
2009 Fiore e Tinelli Himself TV series (episode "Quiz in famiglia")
2009–2016 Mezzogiorno in famiglia Presenter Variety show (seasons 17–23)
2010 Cuore di mamma Reality show
2013 Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo Contestant Talent show
Tale e quale show Talent show (season 3)
2014–2017 Reazione a catena Presenter Game show (seasons 8–11)
2014; 2016 Colors Game show
2015 Techetechetè Guest Archive footage/variety show
2015–2018 Stasera tutto è possibile Presenter Game show (seasons 1–4)
2015–2023 L'anno che verrà New Year's Eve special (8 specials)
2016 Sanremo Giovani Judge Annual music festival
2016–2017 Music Quiz Presenter Game show
2017–2023 Soliti ignoti – Il ritorno Game show (seasons 6–12)
2018–2019 Ora o mai più Talent show
2019 Ballata per Genova Co-host Special
2019–2024 Sanremo Giovani Presenter Talent show
2020 Sanremo Music Festival 2020 Presenter and artistic director Annual music festival
2021 Sanremo Music Festival 2021
2021–2023 Arena Suzuki Presenter Music variety show
2022 Sanremo Music Festival 2022 Presenter and artistic director Annual music festival
Affari tuoi – Formato famiglia Presenter Game show
2023 Sanremo Music Festival 2023 Presenter and artistic director Annual music festival
2023–2024 Affari tuoi Presenter Game show (season 15-16)
2024 Sanremo Music Festival 2024 Presenter and artistic director Annual music festival

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1993 Laura non c'è Doctor Feature film debut
2003 Il pranzo della domenica Himself Cameo appearance
2023 Wish Valentino Italian voice-over

References

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  1. ^ a b Fulvio Abbate (15 December 2004). "Amadeus nel teatro domestico siciliano". La Repubblica. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Giorgio Dell'Arti, Massimo Parrini. Catalogo dei viventi. Marsilio, 2009. ISBN 9788831795999.
  3. ^ "People from Cecchetto - Video". RaiPlay (in Italian). Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Quiz show - Raiuno". 26 August 2014. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Carlo Conti story | L'eredità dal 2006 | Miss Italia-ascolti in calo". 3 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  6. ^ "RAIDUE: Festa di classe con Amadeus". Adnkronos. 18 March 1999. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  7. ^ Sanna, Andrea (16 November 2023). "Giovanna Civitillo racconta come Amadeus le ha chiesto di sposarla". Novella 2000 (in Italian). Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  8. ^ Alfano, Laura (4 July 2009). "Amadeus, a luglio si sposa e poi torna in Rai". Televisionando (in Italian). Retrieved 19 August 2023.
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Media related to Amadeus (television presenter) at Wikimedia Commons