# Amadeus (presenter)

Amedeo Umberto Rita Sebastiani (born 4 September 1962), known professionally as Amadeus (pronounced), is an Italian television host and radio presenter.

## Life and career

Born in Ravenna to Sicilian parents, Sebastiani grew up in Verona. He started his career in 1979 as a deejay for a small radio station in Verona after a successful audition.
One day in 1985, Sebastiani spent six hours outside a hotel to lend Vittorio Salvetti, Italian television producer, a VHS with his audition. Salvetti then got him in touch with talent scout Claudio Cecchetto, to which Sebastiani recorded and sent a demo cassette. The talent scout gave him a chance in 1986 and made him debut for Radio DeeJay with the stage name "Amadeus", basing it off of Rock Me Amadeus, 1985 single by Falco. Over the next two years he became one of the main radio presenters for Radio Capital Music Network, where he co-hosted many programmes with Luca Laurenti among mang others. He made his television debut in 1988, appearing in the Radio DeeJay spin-off DeeJay Television on Italia 1.
His debut on a Rai network was in 1999 as a quality juror for Sanremo Music Festival 1999. In September of that year he became the host of Domenica In for the next season. In October 2000, Quiz Show premiered on Rai 1 with him as the host. The game later rebranded to L'eredità, which he kept hosting until he briefly quit Rai in 2006.
During his career, Amadeus hosted several high-profile programmes, both for Rai and Mediaset, including five editions of Festivalbar, four seasons of L'eredità, the Sanremo Music Festival (2020 to 2024), L'anno che verrà, and several early evening quiz shows.

### Personal life

Between 1993 and 2007, Sebastiani was married to Marisa Di Martino. They have a daughter, Alice Vittoria, born in 1997.
In 2003, after separating from his first wife, Sebastiani began a relationship with the showgirl Giovanna Civitillo, whom he had met while working at L'eredità.
In January 2009, Sebastiani and Giovanna had a son, José Alberto, named after José Mourinho, who at the time was coaching Inter Milan – the team Sebastiani supports. The couple married later that year.

## Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988–1989 | 1, 2, 3 Jovanotti | Co-host | Musical programme |
| 1989–1990 | Deejay Beach | Presenter | Musical programme (seasons 3–4) |
| 1993 | Festivalbar 1993 | Co-host | Annual music festival |
| 1994 | Festivalbar 1994 | Presenter | Annual music festival |
| 1995 | Festivalbar 1995 | Presenter | Annual music festival |
| 1995–1996 | Buona Domenica | Co-host | Variety show (season 8) |
| 1996 | Festivalbar 1996 | Presenter | Annual music festival |
| 1996–1997 | Campioni di ballo | Presenter | Talent show (season 2) |
| 1997 | Festivalbar 1997 | Presenter | Annual music festival |
| 1997 | Matricole | Co-host | Docuseries (season 1) |
| 1998 | Il Quizzone | Presenter | Game show (season 5) |
| 1998 | Meteore – Alla ricerca delle stelle perdute | Co-host | Variety show (season 1) |
| 1999 | Festa di classe | Presenter | Variety show |
| 1999–2000 | Domenica in | Presenter | Variety show (season 24) |
| 2000 | In bocca al lupo! | Presenter | Game show (season 3) |
| 2000–2002 | Quiz Show | Presenter | Game show |
| 2001 | Castrocaro Music Festival 2001 | Presenter | Annual music festival |
| 2002 | Azzardo | Presenter | Game show (season 1) |
| 2002–2006 | L'eredità | Presenter | Game show (seasons 1–4) |
| 2003 | La partita del cuore | Presenter | Annual charity sports event |
| 2003 | Miss Italia nel Mondo | Presenter | Annual beauty contest |
| 2004 | Music Farm | Presenter | Talent/reality show (season 1) |
| 2006 | Formula segreta | Presenter | Game show |
| 2007–2008 | 1 contro 100 | Presenter | Game show |
| 2007–2008 | Canta e vinci | Co-host | Game show |
| 2009 | Fiore e Tinelli | Himself | TV series (episode "Quiz in famiglia") |
| 2009–2016 | Mezzogiorno in famiglia | Presenter | Variety show (seasons 17–23) |
| 2010 | Cuore di mamma | Presenter | Reality show |
| 2013 | Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo | Contestant | Talent show |
| 2013 | Tale e quale show | Contestant | Talent show (season 3) |
| 2014–2017 | Reazione a catena | Presenter | Game show (seasons 8–11) |
| 2014; 2016 | Colors | Presenter | Game show |
| 2015 | Techetechetè | Guest | Archive footage/variety show |
| 2015–2018 | Stasera tutto è possibile | Presenter | Game show (seasons 1–4) |
| 2015–2023 | L'anno che verrà | Presenter | New Year's Eve special (8 specials) |
| 2016 | Sanremo Giovani | Judge | Annual music festival |
| 2016–2017 | Music Quiz | Presenter | Game show |
| 2017–2023 | Soliti ignoti – Il ritorno | Presenter | Game show (seasons 6–12) |
| 2018–2019 | Ora o mai più | Presenter | Talent show |
| 2019 | Ballata per Genova | Co-host | Special |
| 2019–2024 | Sanremo Giovani | Presenter | Talent show |
| 2020 | Sanremo Music Festival 2020 | Presenter and artistic director | Annual music festival |
| 2021 | Sanremo Music Festival 2021 | Presenter and artistic director | Annual music festival |
| 2021–2023 | Arena Suzuki | Presenter | Music variety show |
| 2022 | Sanremo Music Festival 2022 | Presenter and artistic director | Annual music festival |
| 2022 | Affari tuoi – Formato famiglia | Presenter | Game show |
| 2023 | Sanremo Music Festival 2023 | Presenter and artistic director | Annual music festival |
| 2023–2024 | Affari tuoi | Presenter | Game show (season 15-16) |
| 2024 | Sanremo Music Festival 2024 | Presenter and artistic director | Annual music festival |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Laura non c'è | Doctor | Feature film debut |
| 2003 | Il pranzo della domenica | Himself | Cameo appearance |
| 2023 | Wish | Valentino | Italian voice-over |