One year after his death, Italy remembers Pippo Baudo
Rai is dedicating an entire day of programming to the host, and Militello is hosting a memorial Mass
Rome – One year after the death of Pippo Baudo, public television and his hometown in Sicily are honoring the man who shaped Italian entertainment for decades. Baudo died on August 16, 2025, at the age of 89. To mark the anniversary, Rai has dedicated its Sunday programming across multiple channels to his memory.
Rai 1„s evening programming will focus on the show “Stasera… Pippo Baudo,„ which brings together archival footage from six decades. This will be followed by a special from the news department. Rai 3 will air an episode of “Blob” titled “SuperPippo” in the early evening, Rai Storia will feature episodes from the 1970s, and Rai Cultura will broadcast a biographical portrait. Even Teletext commemorates the date on its almanac page.
In Militello in Val di Catania, where Baudo was born on June 7, 1936, and was laid to rest in August 2025, a memorial Mass will be held in the late afternoon at the Church of Santa Maria della Stella. A book about his life had already been presented there in early August. Not far from the Teatro Tempio, where he made his first stage appearances as a teenager, a mural by the artist Salvo Ligama has recently been installed in memory of the TV host.
Baudo had studied law but never practiced it. In the mid-1960s, he made his television debut with the music show „Settevoci,“ followed by „Canzonissima,“ „Luna Park,“ „Fantastico,“ and „Domenica In.“ He hosted the Sanremo Festival thirteen times, beginning in 1968; starting in 1994, he also served as the event’s artistic director. No other host has come close to matching that number.
His self-image was summed up in three words: „L’ho inventato io“—I invented that. The phrase was less a boast than a statement of fact. Through his shows, artists were brought into the spotlight who later built entire careers on that foundation, including Lorella Cuccarini, Laura Pausini, Andrea Bocelli, Eros Ramazzotti, and Gianluca Grignani.
His daughter Tiziana marked the anniversary with a personal letter. In it, she recalls swimming competitions in Sardinia, breakfasts in Militello with fresh ricotta and hand-picked oranges, and the number seven as the family’s lucky number, which also gave its name to his office number. On special occasions, her father would write long, very heartfelt letters.
Friends and colleagues also spoke out. Carlo Conti, himself a multiple-time Sanremo host, described Baudo as the very embodiment of television and explained that a piece of him was in every festival. Conti had dedicated the most recent edition to the memory of his role model. In Militello, the commemorative events are being held under the theme that the town and its most famous son are inseparable.
