5 reasons to venerate Manuel Agnelli, and his "strategies" ...
He is the leader of Afterhours, one of the few local bands - also known overseas - that have managed to bring alternative rock to a wide audience and to demonstrate how the Italian language, which has always been subservient to pop songwriting, had rock potential.
He is an artist aware of the historical moment in which he lives, who knows how to recognize the right means to remind his interlocutors, old and above all new, that Italian music needs something different from the umpteenth Venditti; although today it is incorrect to talk about music alternative or counterculture as in the "70s and" 80s, those of the Velvet Underground and their "After Hours".
But how did he go from elite musician to national-popular character?
Her hair has certainly played a fundamental role. If you envy her and can't afford the X Factor hairstylists, don't despair ... this simple trick is enough:
Seriously, here are in our opinion the secrets of its charm commercial...
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Long black hair (he dyes it, but the result doesn't change), nail, provocative t-shirt, opinionated look. If we add to these ingredients the answers in tone and that touch of evil from which they are seasoned, here is the mix that drives everyone crazy. A certain rock star brazenness, combined with that "irritating outsider attitude, gives the leader of the Afterhours an undeniable sex appeal, which thanks to X Factor the television audience is also realizing.
The fans of the most popular talent show of the moment, accustomed to the discreet charm and tenderness of a Mika or an Alvaro Soler, are gradually converting to the dark side, only partially hinted at by Morgan and Piero Pelù (without forgetting the shy irreverence of Elio).
Clarifying its position from the outset - "I'll be an X Factor salesman, but at least I don't sing like Venditti" -, Manuel turned out to be a spontaneous and sincere character and perhaps this is his advantage over the former judges of the show and the secret of the explosion of his fanbase.
It has a flawless look
Manuel Agnelli has taste. Musical, artistic, aesthetic.The outfits he shows off and, above all, the way he wears them make him an indisputable master of elegance.
Of course, the hand of Armani and Francesca Risi is perceptible, but those who have seen the Afterhours on stages all over Italy - including the Sanremo one - know well how much their class has distant origins.
Rock, glamor, chic. Whether you are wearing a Ramones-style leather jacket or a designer suit, you are always the ideal companion for an exclusive party or for an even more off-limits event: Christmas dinner at your parents' home. If you decline the invitation, you have only one alternative: Cristiano Godano of Marlene Kuntz, worthy heir to Nick Cave and his indestructible charm.
In short, it is no coincidence that Emporio Armani has chosen Manuel as the testimonial of its new collection, where the velvet, wool and chenille jackets, embellished with dynamic graphics and vintage embroidery, are the protagonists.
Speak only when he has something (sincere) to say
Honest, direct and incisive, which (in most cases) is synonymous with ruthless.
"I'll be obnoxious and arrogant", he had declared even before "starting the" X Factor adventure, and that's what the Afterhours frontman likes. For their fans, accustomed to raw and deployed lyrics, this is certainly nothing new.
"You're ancient, c *** o, I saw this at the Festivalbar of the 80s."', "you are worth nothing", "you are emotionally impaled", "but have your friends ever heard you sing?", "it's your nonconformist conformism that I just can't stand", are just some of Manuel's verdicts during the year of his X Factor debut.
And we also remember the reactions of the public: "it takes 171626 Alvaro Soler to make a Manuel Agnelli" tweeted Lucarelli, or: "I immediately want a #manuelagnelli to keep in the bag that suggests what to say to people" a new (or historic) fan was asking.
In short, after so many unnatural expressions and jokes recited in an unconvincing way, X Factor finally summons someone who knows his stuff and, above all, what he is talking about.
Are talent shows the future of music? Then it is right that the talent scouts are real musicians (and maybe even pure and frank people).
Here are some of the Facebook pages created specifically to collect his pearls!
He has the intelligence to be modern
It comes from the underground scene but is now on TV, in a program broadcast first by Rai and then by Sky. If he was criticized for the choice of Afterhours to participate in Sanremo (2009 edition), imagine the reactions of the fans of a lifetime in front of the news that he would be the new judge of a show mainstream like X Factor.
In short, is Manuel alternative or pop? Perhaps it is simply current. Mtv no longer exists, the music market follows completely different logics than a few years ago, music (like everything else) has landed online and aspiring musicians have to follow new iter that, alas, do not exclude talent shows.
There will also be little of indie, but if talents are among the few channels today with which it is possible to reach an audience, why not exploit them? It would be a bit like rejecting technology in 2017 and giving up the smartphone, making life more complicated.
Today being indie no longer means proposing innovative forms and contents (in spite of the homologation imposed by the big labels), but only self-producing through the infinite means that anyone has at their disposal and, perhaps, getting to "fill" the arenas. Does it make sense to remain attached to a "label that no longer has the original meaning?
TV is a medium like any other to express a thought and, in Manuel's case, to try to give space to those who have something original, and above all a personality and an artistic "identity, to propose. This is what Afterhours had. already done with "The country is real", a project that involved several emerging Italian rock, and perhaps the fans of all time should be proud of it.
... after all, he's a good guy
And now that you have started printing posters of Manuel to wallpaper the room with, we want to be as bad as he taught us and reveal something you may not know (or didn't want to investigate): Manuel is married and has a 9-year-old daughter. years.
The stylist we mentioned earlier, Francesca Risi, is his wife - although he prefers to call her partner - and the mother of their Emma, a curious little girl with a talent for drawing.
No groupies and adventures as a seasoned rock star, our Manuel enjoys 51 years in the company of his better half known in the bookstore, as in the best romantic films debtor of Notting Hill. They are a very reserved couple - a good sign - and this does not allow us to further satisfy your thirst for gossip ... we only know that she loves literature, that she has an aesthetic sense and that she knows how to choose, outfits, furnishings and men!
P.s. the other woman you will see at his side in these shots is Benedetta Mazzini, daughter of Mina and protagonist of the video for "Now it's easy", born from the collaboration between the two artists.
"I want a superficial thought that makes the skin beautiful" Manuel sang in "Are you afraid of the dark?", and perhaps he is finally getting what he was asking for (and which is not so superficial).
