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FEDERICA PELLEGRINI, PRIDE OF ITALY

Federica Pellegrini was born in Mirano on the 5^th August 1988. Her fame started in 2004 at the Athens Olympics: she has been the first female swimmer to break the 4.00 minutes in the 400 m freestyle. The amazing thing is that she was only 16 years old.

From this moment she began her climb to the success and she currently holds 1 world record, 3 European records and 10 national records. At the Rio Olimpic Games in 2016 she was also the standard-bearer of Italy because she was considered the best athlete. Today it’s the same: many people consider her a “hero” because, even if she is old (30) for competitions, she is still the best .

Her private life has created a lot of gossip in Italy: she has been in a relationship with Filippo Magnini, the best swimmer of the Italian team, in fact he was also the captain, they split up a lot of times. Now he is in a relationship with Giorgia Palmas but Federica doesn’t seem so hurt.

She is a champion in a swimming pool and an elegant model on a catwalk. This is because fashion is another of her hobbies. Important stylist and famous brands, such as Juked and Raffaello D’ Angela, want her in their runway shows. Her best runway show was on the 23^rd September 2017, after her victory at the World Championship. In Italy people say: “she is the pride of Italy, she is not only a swimmer but also an emblem of femininity.”

Should I say something else? Federica is a real talent.

Noemi Scuto

LONDON: CITY OF EMOTIONS

London has always offered many cultural attractions, mostly museums. Everyone is attracted by these receptacles of knowledge. The web site “TripAdvisor” thinks the British Museum is the best museum in this city. In fact galleries and finds make this structure the flagship.

Then we have the National Gallery, with masterpieces through which each tourist is guided by timely indications.

Other important museums are the National Portrait Gallery, the Natural History Museum and Madame Tussauds. The first one displays portraits of different periods: from the Tudor dynasty to the contemporary age. The second one, located in a building of neogothic style, was created by the owner of the British Museum collections. It is divided into four sectors.

The last but certainly not least is the Madame Tussauds, also known the wax museum.

Its name is easily intuitive, given the enormous quantity of wax reproductions of famous characters. No shortage of cinematographic icons, like Iron Man, King Kong, Spider Man and others. Even the royal family is depicted.

Furthermore London boasts many parks, real “open-air museums”, in which it’s relaxing spending a day with friends or relatives. You can admire lakes with swans and ducks, a thick vegetation and endless grassy fields in this places. Even the children have fun thanks to slides and swings. Not to mention the pubs and nightclubs that crowd the City, teeming with teenagers at night.

The landscape is spectacular in the eyes of the visitors, as the views visible from the Sky Garden and Primerose Hill.

What to say then? London is a multi-faceted city in which you get never bored. “In London there is everything that this life can offer.” (Samuel Johnson)

Vittorio Branciforti

The Shape of Water

“The Shape of Water” is an American fantasy drama film, it is set in Baltimore in 1962, directed by Gulliermo del Toro.

Because of the dark atmosphere, full of cold colours, the amazing photography, and above all the theme, this movie won 4 Oscars, one of them for the best film. The story is about Elisa,a dumb custodian at high security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured amphibian humanoid creature.

An opening voice, beloging to her neighbour, Giles, establishes the fable-like tone, setting the story a long time ago, in a small city near the coast, but far from everything else.

The main actress Sally Hawkins is sublime interpreting the orphan Elisa Esposito, dumb since the day she was found “by the river, in the water”. Elisa lives above the Orpheum cinema and Giles is an artist  jobless and bald, who spends his days watching TV shows and dreaming of the waiter of the bakery “Dixie Doug’s Pie Emporium”.

When the laboratory, where Elisa works with the funny and talkative Zelda, appropriates of an amphibious creature from Amazon, Dr. Hoffstetler wants to study this amazing creature, worshipped as a god by the people who live there. On the contrary, the agent Strickland, the antagonist, doesn’t approve Hoffstetler’s good intention, and he wants to destroy him. So the doctor and Elisa, with Zelda and Giles’ help, try to free the humanoid to save his life.

All these scenes are “immersed” in the atmosphere of the Cold War, so we have a lot of scenes in Russian and many characters are politically relevant. The creature’s friends decide to take him to Elisa’s house, they recreate the necessary habitat in a simple bath to keep him alive. At this point of the story, Elisa and the monster show us how they are deep down similar: both can’t speak and so they are often not understood and it is like they are in another world when they are together. The two characters fall in love and live an important intimate and romantic moment, in which we can understand how much they need each other.

We can also see where the relation between the humanoid and Giles becomes closer in a really funny but also deep moment.

“The Shape of Water” is, without any doubt, a film that everybody has to see, because it teaches how two very different creatures can be essential to reach a deep self-consciousness.

Alice Vassallo

HISTORY OF RAP

Music is a way to relax, to spend time, to socialize and it is also helpful while studying.

There are many musical genres, and every people listen to music according to their passion and mood.

One of the most popular genres is rap, that in the last few years it has spread all over the world.

Rap is based on the capacity of rappers to sing on a beat. One of the most important qualities of a rapper is to have a good flow. Flow is characterized by the rhythm and the rhymes of the song and it is the base of everything.

The “golden age” of this genre goes back to the early 1990’s, and it is the period when hip-hop went through its most drastic transformation.

There are a lot of kinds of rap, for example the “gangsta rap” whose precursor is considered the song “6n’ da morning” by Ice T.

The first step to success was made in 1992 with the publication of “The chronic” by Dr. Dre.

One of the symbols of the most recent history is Eminem, who has become a cultural icon since 2002 when he won the “Academy Award”. He obtained a great success with his film “8 Mille”, too. Its soundtrack by 50 Cent made him famous, and in 2002 he published his first album, that has sold million of copies.

Stefano Cuius Iuculano

MTV VMAs 2018: nominations and top 10 iconic moments

One of the most important awards in the USA, one of the most followed music ceremonies all over the world, the most loved event by young people is the MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards), airing live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday, August 20th at 9.00 p.m. EDT/PDT on MTV. A red carpet will precede the show.

Every year the VMA ceremony takes place before the end of summer. The first one was in 1984. Every year different singers host them and there are always many performances. For example, Katy Perry hosted them and Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Logic -and so on- performed last year. This year we don’t know yet who will host, but the performers are: Backstreet Boys, Millie Bobby Brown, Common, DJ Khaled, G-Eazy, Gucci Mane, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart, Keegan-Michael Key, Kyle, Lenny Kravitz, Lil Uzi Vert, Blake Lively, Shay Mitchell, Olivia Munn, Rita Ora, Liam Payne, Bebe Rexha, Amandla Stenberg and Teyana Taylor.

The VMAs are divided into different nominations. Fans can vote on line for eight of them and follow the show in streaming.The most important category is the “Video of the Year”; won by Kendrick Lamar with “HUMBLE” last year. Cardi B received the highest number of nominations (in 10 categories), the Carters (Beyoncé and JAY-Z) follow her with 8, and Childish Gambino and Drake with 7 each. In addition, there is also a special award: “Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award”. This is a lifetime achievement prize to recognize accomplishments in music and films. Last year Pink won it and this year Jennifer Lopez will receive it.

Here are the most important categories:

Video of the Year:

-Ariana Grande – “No Tears Left to Cry”

-Bruno Mars – “Finesse (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B]

-Camila Cabello – “Havana” [ft. Young Thug]

-The Carters – “APES**T”

-Childish Gambino – “This Is America”

-Drake – “God's Plan”

Artist of the Year:

-Ariana Grande
-Bruno Mars
-CamilaCabello
-Cardi B
-Drake
-Post Malone

Song of the Year:

-Bruno Mars – “Finesse (Remix)” [ft. Cardi B]
-CamilaCabello – “Havana” [ft. Young Thug]
-Drake – “God's Plan”
-DuaLipa – “New Rules”
-Ed Sheeran – “Perfect”
-Post Malone – “rockstar” [ft. 21 Savage]

However, the VMAs are usually iconic. Every year singers try to do their best. Speeches and performances can become memorable!

So let’s see what moments are considered the craziest ones:

1)           Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift (2009)

2)           Britney's python performance (2001)

3)           Lady Gaga wears a meat dress (2009)

4)           Beyonce announces her pregnancy during the performance (2011)

5)           Nicki Minaj calls out Miley Cyrus, saying “Miley, what’s good?” (2015)

6)           Miley Cyrus twerks on Robin Thicke (2013)

7)           Madonna and Britney's kiss (2003)

8)           Taylor says “shut the f**k up” during 1D’s acceptance speech (2013)

9)           Michael Jackson accepts the “artist of the millennium” award, which does not exist (2002)

10)        Lady Gaga bleeds on stage (2009)

Now go and vote for your favourite artists and watch the show on MTV or in streaming! Who will win? Stay tuned.

Giacomo Grimaldi