Useful Notes / Silvio Berlusconi

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A successful and bragging media mogul who went into politics and won multiple non-consecutive terms. Does this remind you of anyone? Well, this guy did it first.

Silvio Berlusconi (29 September 1936 - 12 June 2023) came from a middle-class Italian family from Milan, but grew his wealth by forming his Fininvest group. In the 1970s he bought a small TV company called TeleMilano, which he grew massively by leveraging his political network to let him launch it nationwide.

His main success in launching his first network came in 1980, when he used some serious Loophole Abuse to create an unofficial national TV network. Originally only RAI was allowed to broadcast nationally, yet Berlusconi took advantage of a court decision that let small local networks broadcast, by simultaneously distributing pre-recorded programmes across them all. He then consolidated them into Canale 5, using political connections to ensure the government didn't oppose what he was doing. Therefore, he managed to give himself a monopoly on private TV channels. He bought two other channels, Italia 1 and Rete 4 from other influential families.

Taking advantage of looser TV regulations outside of Italy, Berlusconi launched similar networks in France, Germany and Spain. Only the latter of those, Telecinco, is still going.

In the 1990s he launched a political career, being elected in 1994 and serving as Prime Minister three times. Taking advantage of a series of corruption scandals affecting the traditional parties, he offered something different as well as his three (very popular) TV networks offering him free advertising. His party won the most votes, but his coalition fell apart the very next year, and he lost the elections in 1996.

Nonetheless, he got My Greatest Second Chance in 2001, constructing an alliance of right-wing parties. He famously put together a "Contract with the Italian People", promising not to stand in the 2006 elections if he didn't achieve four of his five main objectives. While some parties in his coalition admitted they hadn't achieved it, Berlusconi felt he'd done all five of them. Nonetheless, the 2006 elections gave the opposition a very small majority.

Nonetheless, the post-2006 coalition broke down quickly, and Berlusconi won the 2008 elections. His leadership was characterized by economic liberalization, infrastructure development, and strong opposition to the European Union’s fiscal constraints. However, his tenure was also marred by allegations of corruption, tax fraud, and conflicts of interest due to his vast business holdings. His television networks often promoted his political agenda, blurring the lines between journalism and propaganda. Critics accused him of undermining press freedom and using his media holdings to shape political narratives.

Throughout his career, Berlusconi faced numerous legal battles. He was accused of bribery, tax evasion, and abuse of office. One of the most notorious scandals was the "Bunga Bunga" parties, which involved allegations of underage prostitution. In 2013, he was convicted of tax fraud, resulting in a temporary ban from holding public office. Despite these legal challenges, he remained a dominant force in Italian politics.

On the social front, Berlusconi’s hammy personality and controversial remarks often made headlines. While he remained popular among a segment of the electorate, others viewed him as a symbol of the worst of businesspeople influencing politics. Nonetheless, Berlusconi retained a loyal following: even if he seemed to lose the premiership now and again, he was at least a constant in Italian politics, which is usually as calamitous as this page suggests.

Silvio Berlusconi remains one of the most controversial icons of Italy. He was seen as either a charismatic leader, who was one of the constants of Italian politics in a topsy-turvy era, or a criminal, who shouldn't have been anywhere near power with so many conflicts of interest. Nonetheless, his impact on modern-day Italy is undeniable in its ultimate downfall of government and incompetent, corrupt or outright criminal people (like Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini, Ignazio La Russa, Augusta Montarulli, Daniela Santanchè...).

Works featuring Silvio Berlusconi include:

• Berlusconi: Condemned to Win, a 2025 three-part film for ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series, examining how he used his ownership of AC Milan as the launching pad for his political career, and how that ownership affected Italian politics.
• The Caiman, a 2006 comedy-drama-satire focusing on Berlusconi's vicissitudes.
• Fantozzi In Heaven features Berlusconi as an angel in heaven tasked to supervise the dead. He's also bought all the ads slot in the heaven's TV (whose job is to help the dead contemplate), and the dead are so condemned to see Mediaset ads for all eternity.
• Ho Ammazzato Berlusconi, a 2008 comedy movie about a man accidentally killing Berlusconi in a car accident.
• Loro, a two-part 2018 film about Berlusconi and his intrinsic network, as well as the internal politics of keeping your place in his inner circle.
• Shooting Silvio: a 2006 dramatic film about a writer wanting to write a book named Shooting Silvio about eliminating Berlusconi. Unable to come up with any idea, he arrives at the conclusion that he has to kill Berlusconi for real.
• Viva Zapatero!, a 2005 documentary about the conflict with Berlusconi over a late-night TV political satire show broadcast on Rai 3.

Literature

• Chi Ha Ucciso Silvio Berlusconi: A novel about a young man joining a terrorist organization who plan to kill the, at the time, Italian prime minister: Berlusconi.

Magazines

• Private Eye published the "Robber Baron" strip about a serial offender and criminal called "Silvio".
  Radio Times: Classic Opera Buffooni, which opens with the Robber Baron Silvio cavorting in the Palazzo Fornicazione with a chorus of scantily clad nymphs who sing the chorus 'Money, Money, Money — We've come here for the Money'.

Music

• Mariano Apicella is famous for being Berlusconi's "minstrel". The two have worked together on at least three albums, with Apicella as the composer and Berlusconi as the lyricist. The album Napoli Nel Cuore (2006) also has a photo of a 16-year-old Berlusconi singing as the cover.
• "Quando c'era Silvio" by DJ Matrix and Matt Joe is about how Italy was a better place when he was alive, mostly focusing on his fortune and his love of women.
• Gerardo Carmine Gargiulo's 1988 song "A Silvio" is a critique song subtly masked as an ode to Berlusconi. The sequel song, "Quando c'era (torna) Berlusconi in Italy", released in 2011, is less subtle but equally sharp in its disdain for the man. The official videoclip of this second song has Gargiulo wearing a Berlusconi face mask or devil accessories. The Berlusconi mask is also sometimes worn by the girls dancing with him.
• "Meno male che Silvio c'è" is the official song for his election campaign for the 2008 election. He doesn't appear directly though.
• Stefano Rosso's 2004 song "E-mail al presidente" has Rosso impersonating Berlusconi at the end of the song. Other songs like "Mamma Jole" and "Mortacci" also mention him by calling him a dwarf.

TV series

• Berlusconi once went on Newsnight on The BBC. Cue Jeremy Paxman:
  Paxman: Is it true that you called Angela Merkel an unfuckable lard-arse?

Video Games

• Grezzo 2 doesn't feature Berlusconi directly but often discusses him. He turns up as a dishevelled fellow later on but the humour largely comes from constantly lampshading his role.
• Red World does include Berlusconi as a more traditional conservative.