Marco Balich: “I was the DJ at De Michelis parties. In Turin, I kept Peter Gabriel and Yoko Ono away”

Unable to be categorized Marco Balicimaster of ceremonies 16 Olympic and Paralympic Games, 13 regional games from the Pan American Games to the Asian Games, the Qatar World Cup.

Not to mention he organized tours for Pink Floyd, U2 and the Rolling Stones and created Video clips by Jovanotti and Laura Pausini. Separated father Four children aged between 19 and 22 (Pilar, twins Zeno and Anita, and eldest daughter Lola), he defines himself this way: “In the past there were patrons and managers like David Zadeh. I like to realize very complex things, from the Mexican Bicentennial to Dolce & Gabbana Fashion Week, things that have a huge emotional impact on millions of people.”

What kind of child is he?
“Lucky. If you’re born in Venice, you’re surrounded by beauty; the rich live next to the poor, there’s no driver to take you to school; between the art biennale and the film festival, the Redeemer Festival and the Carnival, you’re always in the scene of the birth of culture. Even the simplest people can give you more mature opinions than any rich person in San Francisco.”

What did he play as a child?
«I played football or basketball with my friends at the camp, and I also practiced fencing. When I was 17, I went to Chicago to study for a year. I had just finished Marco Polo High School, and I preferred to be a DJ at parties at De Michelis. ”

His parents?
“My father was a lawyer for two generations and had no great ambitions. My mother was an English teacher at Ca’ Foscari and she let everyone down.”
Arrigo Cipriani tells Aldo Cazzullo that he wants you to be mayor of Venice.
“I love my city, it should be the world center for art. I would make everything run on electricity and hydrogen by 2030. Airbnb should have roofs so that young people can return to live there.”

Still got tickets?
“I am in favor of curbing tourist overcrowding. I would follow the Swiss model, with a single entry fee of perhaps €20, valid all year round.”

But he already has the program!
“I don’t think I’m psychologically ready for political compromise, but I haven’t closed the door yet.”

Use the right side or the left side?
«Does the label still exist? I would say it is for those who love the city. It is our responsibility to protect it and indeed restart it. When I was a child, there were shoemakers, artisans and a hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants. Today I see masks selling for 2 euros and my heart breaks. “

He “signed” the Tree of Life at the 2015 Expo.
“They slaughtered me.”

“If it was a circus, Moira Orfe would have done a better job,” said Sgarbi.
“I hate know-it-alls. When I heard the proposal to impose restrictions on the San Siro, I thought about the stupidity of those who only talk about the stadium but never set foot inside. So why must La Scala have good seats, but not the stadium? We won the tender for the Real Madrid project.”

His Balich Wonder Studio is now celebrating its 10th anniversary. What are you most proud of?
“An industry has been created in Milan that was previously the privilege of studios in New York, Los Angeles and London. I am proud to see so many of “my” people become super managers abroad.”

What’s your catchphrase?
“It’s better to be the last team in the strongest tournament than to be the first team in the yard”.

How much will you pay?
«In 2022, 320 million. The following year, the numbers are lower because of the war. 240 people are employed between Milan, Dubai and Riyadh. We have just sold 51% to Banijay, the world leader in TV formats. ”

You watched an Indian wedding at Borgo Egnazia, where the G7 will be held.
“After the ceremony at the Turin Olympics, the father of the bride called me and I refused. He insisted. I angered him: at any cost? We are very happy”.

And the price is…?
“…18 million.”

What if the Milan-Cortina ceremony offers you the opportunity?
“Whoever does it, I think he should talk about how lucky we are to call Italy home and about protecting nature. Tell young people who Garibaldi was, who the partisans were, who are the heroes of our history.”

A museum we missed?
«One about fashion. But above all, Italy lacks the ability to work as a team. He organized not one wine fair, but four!

Design is an exception.
“Part of the credit goes to the various governments, Fedelegno and those who wanted to bring it together. Design is an integral part of Milan’s tradition.”

The most beautiful ceremony?
“Every Olympic ceremony is a masterpiece of a country’s culture and identity. I found the one in Athens in 2004 to be great, and the one we had in Rio in 2016 to be great…”

Special Event?
“Inauguration of the bell tower in Piazza San Marco in Venice: they gave us very little money and at midnight more than 15,000 Venetians came crying”.

Are emotions the thermometer of success?
“If you make them cry, you touch their heart and their stomach.”

It can be said that it has excited hundreds of millions of people.
“The Summer Olympics have 2 billion and 700,000 people attending after the opening ceremony, while the Winter Olympics have 23,000 people attending”.

The one with Danny Boyle and the Queen and James Bond?
“Beautiful. He managed to nail British humor. The gag was spot on, but it didn’t work for us.”

Beijing 2008: Zhang Yimou’s Flying Torchbearer?
«This did not impress me at all. I remember at the beginning, the volunteers’ drums were all military, with the same hairstyle, the same height, the same expressions: effectively representing Chinese culture. »

Would you like to make a movie like Boyle and Zhang?
“I’d rather be mayor if I could.”

But in August he will be the “director” of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” at the Verona Arena.
«The composer began working on the works in 1724 and finished them in 1725. This will be an opportunity for a new generation, who only knew the music from the waiting rooms, to rediscover it. With the help of the young violinist Giovanni Andrea Zanon, we will create a very powerful three-dimensional immersive performance. ”

Like The Last Judgment, an “immersive” performance of the Sistine Chapel.
«According to Siae data, this was the most viewed in 2018 and 2019. Mayor Virginia Raggi snubbed us and the Pope came to see it. ”

Organizing for an emergency?
«Turin 2006: Yoko Ono and Peter Gabriel on the same stage, but not together. He didn’t want to talk to her because he thought she was responsible for the breakup of the Beatles. ”

A “cultural” event?
«At the Asian Games in Turkmenistan, they banned alcohol. Imagine: 900 British, American, French, Italian technicians…”

What did she do?
“I went to the interior minister. I said if they don’t lift the ban, we won’t have the ceremony.”