Wednesday, April 18, 2001: Alessandro Day!

The day started early. In order to be on time for our appointment with Eric Ghenassia, Alessandro's manager, we queued up in the daily traffic jam at 7.30 AM. The meeting went very well and from Wednesday, April 18, 2001 the Safinafanclub is officially acknowledged. Arrangements were made about the co-operation and ideas are being worked out by both sides at this moment.

In the evening we were one of the first to arrive at the Heineken Music Hall, armed with a considerable stack of fan club visiting cards. I cannot remember how many times we said "On behalf of the Safinafanclub I wish you a wonderful evening" but far too early we were out of cards…

The support act was the "Solis String Quartet", four string players who later turned out to be part of Alessandro's accompanying orchestra. What virtuosi musicians! Their CD "Metro" will be released shortly, keep an eye on it!

During the interval the members of the Safinafanclub met for the first time in the Planet Internet Lounge. Short, but nice. It felt good to see the faces that belong to the names.

Back in the auditorium the big moment was there at last. Alessandro was welcomed by a cheering crowd: that must have been a wonderful feeling. The concert was fantastic. Alessandro was in excellent voice and the sound was balanced a lot better than in The Hague last January. After "La Sete di Vivere" Alessandro took his jacket off (shouting from the audience) and after a beautiful instrumental piece by guitar player Daniele Bonaviri and percussionist Mario Distasio he came back dressed in a warm white sweater. Alessandro, believe me, it is not usually this cold in Holland in April!

Just like in The Hague Alessandro tried to come down from the stage while singing "Aria e Memoria". This time he could not make it down the stairs, for some fifty women came rushing at him, armed with flowers, cuddly toys and love letters… The diddle got extra attention. In The Hague Alessandro stood awkwardly holding the thing, and now he went through it again. Isn't that nice, Jolanda?

Chrissie Hynde was not present this time. Her part in the duet was sung by Rosella, a very talented chorister.

In spite of the fact that Alessandro sings "Luna" over twenty times a week (at least, that is what he said), he treated the audience to a pleasant encore. But still the crowd would not let him go and after consulting his pianist "We had no time to rehearse" he decided to sing the "second Italian national anthem" O Sole Mio. There was a party going on at the foot of the stage. Willeke had given a bunch of luminous plastic tulips to Eric Ghenassia and he was "conducting" the choir with it!

Alessandro wouldn't leave. He sat down on the edge of the stage handing out autographs and receiving even more cuddly toys, while the members of the orchestra had left long ago…

The "Meet & Greet" after the concert was hectic. We were waiting in the corridor while Robert ten Brinke, his "Big-Diet"-candidate and his camera-team were filming and while the radio-prize winners were receiving their rewards. When at last Eric triumphantly introduced us to Alessandro, he was exhausted, but he did want to know how many fan club members there were. "What? Forty? In such a short time? Fantastic!" He liked the tulips very much and he promised us to read the messages later. After talking to us a few minutes he went to his hotel for a well-earned rest.

When Alessandro had left we stayed for a while and talked to his mother. A charming lady, who is very proud of her successful son! She was also very interested in Willeke's T-shirt with a photograph of Alessandro. Luckily Willeke had another T-shirt and we gave it to her. She was very happy with it.

The next morning we sent a fax to the hotel on behalf of the fan club. Those among you who have watched TROS lunch TV on Friday, April 20, know that Alessandro has read this letter and that he has appreciated it. His reaction was heart-warming…