Rainbow Tour in Rome – Today 10 years ago
It was quite a cold night in Rome on December 20 1996. Madonna was in town to present Evita along with co-star Antonio Banderas and his wife Melanie Griffith. Her spoke person, Liz Rosenberg, was in Rome as well. At around 7 pm, the fans that gathered outsite M’s hotel, above the famous Spanish Steps, started to move towards Piazza in Lucina, where the Italian premiere of Evita was to be held, at the Etoile cinema. A red carpet was put in front of the cinema, and personalities started to arrive while hundreds of people especially fans and turists enjoyed the parade.
Supermodel Claudia Schiffer arrived with fashion designer Valentino. Antonio Banderas with Melanie. Many local and fashion personalities such as the Ambassador of Argentina in Rome and the Fendi sisters also paraded on the Red Carpet while the instrumental track of the film’s closing credits was playing endlessly.
Madonna was expected to appear at 10 pm, but then her arrival had to be delayed for more than an hour as activists from a left wing political party started shouting slogans against her and the film, mainly accusing Madonna of being a “bitch defaming Evita’s memory for money”.
But the fans didn’t give up and waited till the Queen Of Pop showed on the Red Carpet in all her glory. With Liz at her side, showing her where to stop, smile and wave, she looked amazing and was almost glowing. The aura that surrounded her that night was unique and impressive.
Those 2 minutes out there in the cold of Piazza in Lucina were really worth the waiting.
Madonna then entered the cinema, stayed there for a short introduction of the film and when the light went off she left the house to go back to her Hotel. As a souvenir of that special night, here’s a look at a free press magazine of the time, Trova Roma.
