Maria De Filippi (born 5 December 1961) is an Italian television host and the owner of the television production company ''Fascino PGT''. She is regarded as one of the most popular presenters in Italy.

Biography

De Filippi was born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, but grew up in

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

where her family moved when she was ten years old. Until his death in 2023, she was married to talk show host

Maurizio Costanzo Maurizio Costanzo (28 August 1938 – 24 February 2023) was an Italian television host, journalist, screenwriter, and film director. Biography Costanzo began his career as a journalist, first as a contributing writer to '' Paese Sera'' and the ...

, with whom she had an adopted son.

Career

She has hosted numerous talk shows (mostly trashic) broadcast by

Mediaset Mediaset S.p.A. is an Italian mass media and television production and distribution company that is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE – MediaForEurope (the original ...

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a ...

such as ''Uomini e donne'' and ''C'e posta per te''. From 1993 until the present day (2024), she has hosted on Canale 5 the

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

''Amici'' (before was a simply talk show) which changed its name in 2002 to ''

Amici di Maria De Filippi ''Amici di Maria De Filippi'' known simply as ''Amici'' and known until 2003 as ''Saranno famosi'' is an Italian talent show. Created by Maria De Filippi, the show began in 2001 and has since aired annually. The show is produced by Fascino P.G.T ...

''. Similar to the American series ''Fame'', it features a school with groups of aspiring young singers and dancers, divided in teams, who compete against the other, performing live before an audience, and a panel of judges and instructors. Albanian-born dancer

Kledi Kadiu Kledi Kadiu (born 7 April 1974) also known simple as Kledi, is an Albanian-born naturalized Italian dancer, choreographer, dance teacher and television personality. He is a regular dancer on the popular talent show A talent show or talen ...

was a regular performer on the programme. In 2001 she hosted

Telegatto Telegatto (a composition of ''television'' and ''gatto'', meaning "cat", after the trophy, which is a small statue representing a cat), was an Italian television award first conceived in 1971 following the contest ''Gran Premio internazionale de ...

with Gerry Scotti. Since 2009, she has been one of

Italia's Got Talent ''Italia's Got Talent'' is the Italian version of the international ''Got Talent'' series. The pilot episode was aired on 12 December 2009 on Canale 5 and it was seen by 5.3 million people. After this episode, Mediaset decided to hold on this s ...

's judges and producers.

Marco Carta Marco Carta (born 21 May 1985) is an Italian singer. To date, he has sold more than 245,000 albums and 60,000 singles. Biography and career Early life and victory to ''Amici'' Marco Carta was born in Cagliari, Sardinia, in 1985. In 2007, he ...

, Valerio Scanu and

Emma Marrone Emmanuela "Emma" Marrone (; born 25 May 1984), known professionally as simply Emma, is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. After working with several bands, she won the Italian talent show ''Amici di Maria De Filippi'' in March 2010, and ...

, three singers whose careers were launched through ''Amici'', all subsequently went on to win first place in the prestigious

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...

in 2009, 2010, and 2012 respectively. Among the TV shows supported by Maria de Filippi and Fascino PGT's productions, there are: Amici, Uomini e donne, C'è posta per te, Italia's Got Talent, Coca-Cola Summer Festival, Temptation Island, Tú sí que vales, Pequeños gigantes, Maurizio Costanzo Show, L'intervista, Selfie – Le cose cambiano, House Party e Ultima fermata.

Filmography

Television programmes

Awards

*1995 –

''Intrattenimento con ospiti'' for ''Amici'' *1996 – Telegatto ''Intrattenimento con ospiti'' for ''Amici di sera'' *1997 – Telegatto ''Personaggio femminile dell'anno'' *1998 – Telegatto ''Intrattenimento con ospiti'' for ''Accadde domani'' *2000 – Telegatto ''Miglior talk show'' for ''C'è posta per te'' *2001 – Telegatto ''Miglior talk show'' for ''C'è posta per te'' *2002 – Telegatto ''Miglior reality show'' for ''Saranno famosi'' *2002 – Telegatto ''Trasmissione dell'anno'' for ''Saranno famosi'' *2003 – Telegatto ''Miglior reality show'' for ''

'' *2003 – Telegatto ''Personaggio femminile dell'anno'' *2008 – Telegatto ''TeleRatto Speciale di Amianto'' for ''

'' *2011 – Wind Music Award ''Premio Speciale "Arena di Verona"'' *2021 – Seat Music Award ''Premio Speciale''

References

External links

Official webpage

Homepage of ''Amici'' TV show
* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Filippi, Maria 1961 births Italian television presenters Italian women television presenters Living people Mass media people from Milan