After winning solo twice, the ceremony at Teatro Mercadante in Naples had a surprising finale: after confirming the third place to Ciro Salvo and 50 Kalò in Naples, there was no second place. On the screen, a white, empty image appeared. The bewilderment, among the 500 people in the audience, only lasted a few seconds because Luciano Pignataro, one of the curators, together with Barbara Guerra and Albert Sapere, explained the mystery:

«There’s no second place because we have two establishments at number one: Pepe in grani and Masianelli». That is to say Franco Pepe and Francesco Martucci, from the town of Caserta itself.

The two men, who were already on stage, like Ciro Salvo and all the other winners of the continental list, had different reactions. Martucci burst into an understandable joy, as if he had scored in the world cup finals. Pepe, who’s used to first places, being the piazzaiolo whom all the world loves and respects, had the sad expression of the cyclist who’s been caught up at the very end. They shook hands and hugged, because that’s what professionals do, in public, but it was clear he wasn’t satisfied.

I understand myself two shared first places when there’s a stopwatch or a grading mechanism, regardless of the judges’ opinion. It’s harder to understand when the question is about choosing between two people. In that case, a jury should be able to express a judgement that separates the two competitors, finding something small that will justify the first place given to one, and the second to the other. In Hollywood, they always say “the winner is…”, never “the winners are…”.

Read more

Paolo Marchi
source: https://www.identitagolose.it/news/?id=208

Leggi il testo integrale nel link FONTE (qui sopra)