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Italy Votes
April 13, 2008
So, we’ve been without a government for a while… normal for around these parts. Elections this weekend. While those of you in the States ponder over the “phone call in the night” ad… the two main candidates for prime minister here have “anthems”.
The first one is for Berlusconi. The chorus is “Thank goodness there’s Silvio.” Say no more. It’s even karaoke style so you can sign along.
The second one is for Walter Veltroni, current Rome mayor. Apparently he has an affinity for the Village People. Not to mention that his slogan is a total rip-off of Barack Obama (Yes we can).
Would you vote for either of these guys based on these ads? God help us.
Topics: Uncategorized |
April 13th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Oy veh!
April 13th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Six minutes and forty five seconds of my life, wasted. *sigh*
But, if I had to pick between the two ads, I would say the second one is better, only because of the beat!
Good to see you Shelley. Hope you have been doing well.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I guess if I had to choose, I would go for Veltroni. I like his message (heehee). Welcome back to the blogging world! I’ve missed you!
April 13th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Well I wouldn’t vote for either of them based on the ads, but I will be voting for someone based on an extreme dislike of the other (tomorrow, after crowds have thinned out)
April 13th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Welcome back, Shelley!
This was awesome. Do you think they actually cleared the rights to the Village People song? I used to put up a picture of VP singer Randy Jones (the one with the hardhat) as the graphic for web pages that were still “Under Construction”.
In the Berlusconi ad, I wondered why they were singing “Che forza SIDA” at the 1:14 mark. I guess that’s why everything is subtitled…
April 13th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
benvenuta!Couldn’t see ads, but isn’t anybody better than Berlusconi?
April 13th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I wondered if the election would coax you back online and was eager for your insight after reading this article in this morning’s LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-italy13apr13,0,4967271.story.
You’ve no idea how we’ve missed your voice out here, Shelley!
April 13th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Welcome back!!!! Can I tell you how incredibly missed you’ve been. Seriously. You don’t realize how enjoyable a blog is until it’s gone.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Yeah, I saw both those ads and could not get YMCA out of my head for 2 days.
Did you hear about how Berlusconi’s campaign may have illegally snagged something like 50,000 absentee votes with a little help from the Camorra?
Welcome back!
April 13th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Saw the ads-it’s like a skit from Sat. Night Live.Makes our political ads look good in comparison, which I would have thought was impossible. It is very scary!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Hi Shelley,
Welcome back! I really missed your blog and I’m so happy you’re back!!
The ads were hysterical. All I can say is, “Good luck!”
April 14th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Good to have you back!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Welcome back and thanks for a good laugh! I hope all is well with you. I’d love an update if you feel so inclined.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Masterpieces of political advertising, both.
I spent a while trying to figure out which one of the construction workers was better. I think I’m gonna have to go with Berlusconi’s - the wiping of sweat from his brow, the standing around while other guys haul planks around behind him - much more convincing. Still, you’d expect a little more from a media tycoon.
April 14th, 2008 at 6:53 am
well, I would expect anything from Berlusconi! I would say that this shows the degree of ‘americanization’ that the Italian elections has reached.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Welcome back!
I prefer ad #2 but that could be because I am not a fan of Mr. Hairplugs.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Welcome back Shelley! How have you been doing? Thought of you a couple of weeks ago b/c we were visiting Enzo in your neighborhood again with Chris’ family.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Welcome back Shelley.
I’ve never been big on politics. Not that I don’t care but it’s hard to keep up with all the antics. It must be, at best, entertaining in Italy.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:13 am
Welcome back Shelly! I just read about the results and all I can say is God Bless Italy.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I actually like to think of Obama’s campaign ripping off “Bob the Builder.”
“Can we build it?”
“Yes, we, can!”
Can you imagine if the US presidential candidates made videos like this? Some countries have all the fun…
April 16th, 2008 at 3:23 am
boh! really, wow.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:31 am
I hope neither of these videos swayed anyone to vote for them… I’ll bet they certainly swayed some people to NOT vote for them … or in extreme cases to never vote again:)
April 16th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
God help all of us anyway!
We live between Marrakech and Manhattan and both places have wonderful pluses and hideous negatives.
As regards politics - I suppose it keeps one sane to realise that it’s hard to think of a country with a government any one much likes
Mugabe?
Bush?
Absolute monarchs………..
Greetings
Salve!
April 16th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I’ll echo everyone else and say WELCOME BACK, Shelley. Your blog has been missed.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Questa volta gliele abbiamo anche suonate oltre che cantate …Forza Silvio!!!
April 17th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Glad your blogging again. I have followed your blog for a long time now (just never commented before). If it was just on the videos, I would vote for the first video since I am not a fan of disco at all, but thank goodness I would not vote just on the choice of videos as I would not have voted for Bush’s buddy, Berlusconi. I wonder if he paid all those people to be in that video?
April 17th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Nice to have you back Shelley, I hope everything is fine at home.
I’m really sad about the election results, I can only keep my fingers crossed for the future….and choose the country I want to go living in………..
May 1st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Regardless of the politics,it is hard to complain about a country that ’sings’ about its elections! Both of the ads changed my mood for the day.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:41 am
oh, so happy to have you back on the web !!!!
Sad story, these elections, as we know how it all ended (”here we go again” as the Economist would put it…)
May 8th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
That was a blast. Italians have a way with everyting. Thanks and glad to see you back