First version

The first version of the program was a variety with a musical background that aired live, with phone calls to dedication and other song numbers, where Papi was assisted by Formula 3 and by imitator Gigi Vigliani, who performed in some comic sketches. The program also took part in a musical ensemble called Saraband, and an audience of about a hundred people, called "choir", who were the outline of the set design.

This formula soon proved to be a fiasco, recording low television ratings, so the authors, after just one month of transmission, decided to implement a drastic change in the format, while maintaining the same title, which referred to the variety of shows offered in a chaotic way and noisy from the cast of the broadcast in its first version.

Second version

The program was thus transformed into a quiz with a musical theme, inspired by the historical Italian program by Mario Riva, Il Musichiere (broadcast from 1957 to 1960 on Programma Nazionale); as the famous program, also Sarabanda was based on the NBC format Name That Tune, created by Harry Salter in 1952 and present in many countries of the world, where competitors challenged themselves by answering questions of musical culture and, above all, guessing the titles of the reasons heard in the various games, in order to win the title of champion and, at the same time, win the final prize money. The quiz was divided into several elimination games, in number proportional to the number of participants (initially three, then four or even five in the last editions). Some of the games were modified or replaced by others during the seasons, while the final game remained unchanged. The melodies that were made to listen to the competitors were the arranged MIDI versions of the original songs (although in the first three episodes the bases were prepared by Saraband), while in the most recent edition were proposed in the MP3 version. Following this change of format, the Formula 3 and Gigi Vigliani were excluded from the cast of the transmission while both the chorus and the Saraband remained.

With this new formula the program found the popularity and success, so as to put in serious difficulty the programs of other networks broadcast at the same time, including the 8:00 pm edition of the TG1 and TG5 news programs.

Games in the Scala e vinci version

The competitors competing in each episode in this version were seven, each equipped with a small monitor on the station. The jackpot took shape during the episode based on the progress of the following games:

Il gioco delle notine (The game of notines) The competitors, one by one, had to choose a Notina (which through gestures could give indications or mislead), which extracted from a pocket of the miniskirt a CD on which was depicted a figure which was associated with a question of a musical nature; a song fragment, who was the first to be booked and answered correctly, passed the turn and helped to increase the prize money of the number corresponding to the one shown on the CD. In the event of a wrong answer, the competitor could no longer answer the question, allowing others to make a reservation. Among the seven CDs to choose from there was a special, called "jolly" on which there was the logo of the program instead of the figure: whoever found it automatically passed the turn and increased the jackpot of 3,000 euros. The last competitor still in the race was eliminated.

Titolo nascosto (Hidden title) It was necessary to guess the title of a song of which only the number of words was known. After discovering a word, Papi offered a sum to his liking to accumulate at the prize money in case of identification of the title. The more words were discovered, the more the figure diminished. Those who booked and gave the exact title, passed the turn and raised the prize money of the amount offered by Papi, in case of wrong answer, the competitor could no longer try to guess, allowing others to book. The last competitor still in the race was eliminated.

Nota stonata (Note out of tune) A series of individual questions of musical culture were asked by the host, to which the five remaining competitors had to answer "yes" or "no", where the two mistakes were eliminated. When there were three competitors (two from February 6, 2004) the Notines were taking place, each affirming something true regarding the music world, only two (then only one) claimed something false. Who among the competitors still in the race identified the false statement (and therefore the Notata stonata) was qualified to the final game, who was booked when the statement was true was eliminated. It was possible that the Notines took over even if the number of competitors had not been reached, in fact after a certain amount of time and after a certain number of questions a siren was triggered that ended the series of questions.

Scala musicale (Musical scale) It consisted of guessing the title of the fragments of eight songs (the first seven represented graphically by the musical notes, while the eighth from the jackpot). The competitor, in case he won the prize, could choose to double it by listening to a ninth song. In case he had not guessed it would have lost the entire sum won (the doubling was never attempted by any competitor). There were also two aid to complete the climb, usable in case of error or uncertainty by the competitor but only usable after having guessed the remaining songs (in the version with two competitors the first who could benefit from the aid was the one with less seconds) . Initially they were the option (they were affected five seconds of the song in question and then were given five titles of songs or the same author or very similar, of which only one was correct) and the change (they were made to listen to seven seconds of another song instead of the changed one). The latter was then replaced by a second option from February 6, 2004. The time available was 50 seconds, which flowed backwards and could be stopped by booking. It was not allowed to say "step" and listen to the songs more than once. In the beginning this game involved two competitors, who made the first mistake or did not know the answer and had exhausted the aid or did not exploit properly a help was eliminated and could not continue climbing leaving the title of champion to the opponent, while in the case both had guessed the eight songs the prize money and the title of champion went to those who had more seconds and only he could try to double it. The finalists were then reduced to one from 6 February, which automatically became the champion. In the version to a competitor, the aid was immediately usable, without having to wait to guess all the remaining song fragments.

Games in the Super Sarabanda - Il torneo dei campioni version

Super Sarabanda - Il torneo dei campioni (Super Sarabanda - The Champions Tournament) was a tournament in which the contestants were among the strongest champions in the program's history. This tournament was divided into two phases: the first, which lasted 12 episodes, saw four champions compete against each other, of which only two could take points; at the end of this first phase, the seven champions who had scored the most points and a fished out among the excluded, moved on to the second phase. The second phase lasted 8 episodes and saw the remaining champions compete in direct matches, starting from the quarter-finals and then moving on to the semi-finals until the two finals between the two remaining champions. To win the tournament you had to win both finals, otherwise in the case of a final won a head playoff was necessary. The prize money for the winner was €250,000. The games were only two:

Terzetti: involved four champions together and consisted of guessing three sequential motifs, those guessing earned one point, the wrong guy gave the opportunity to others to book and respond. Those who reached two points qualified for 7 × 30.

7 × 30

In the two finals the 10 × 50, a similar version of the 7 × 30, was used instead.

Spareggione: was played to the best of the three reasons (therefore the winner was the one who first guessed two).

Games in the Special 2017

The tournament was structured on three episodes, broadcast on Tuesday every week. The first two episodes saw four historical champions of the program compete against four new competitors (a total of eight historic champions and eight new competitors were involved). The winners of the first two episodes qualified directly for the final phase, while the third and final finalist was the winner of the third episode, contested among ten of the fourteen eliminated from the previous two episodes. The final phase was played at the end of the third episode.

Among the games there were the returns of the Spaccasecondo, the Pentagramma (with the rules used until the fourth edition) and the Sessanta secondi (used only in the final episode to decree the two finalists) while they were confirmed both the Asta musicale that the 7 × 30. In some cases the classic Spareggio with a dry pattern was also used. Change of name instead for the Spareggione, become Spaccaduello (used only in the final episode to select five of the ten best competitors of the previous two episodes). Three new games:

La materia (Matter): A reason was made to listen to the five competitors, the first to book and give the correct answer could choose one of the eight subjects available. If the competitor did not guess the reason, another competitor could be booked until the correct answer was given. The chosen subject consisted of three questions to which the competitor had to answer in thirty seconds. In the case of a wrong answer even to only one of the questions or time expired, the competitor was eliminated. The first two competitors to make mistakes (or alternatively the last remaining in the race) were eliminated. Competitors who answered the three questions correctly qualified for the next game.

La scommessa (The bet): The three remaining competitors had to bet on the driver's proposals how many reasons (from a minimum of one to a maximum of five) would have been able to guess. The motives lasted four seconds, after which the competitor had to give the title; in case of a wrong answer or no reply, the next reason was passed. The two competitors who, by booking, had bet to guess the highest number of reasons and who in turn would have won their bet, or they would have guessed as many reasons as they had expected to guess, qualify to 7x30.

Duello (Duel): He saw the two competitors who risked the elimination competing, involving them together and consisted in the guessing of the trio of songs (three motifs placed in sequence). The Duel was played at the best of five trio to guess, so he won, who first guessed three trio. In case of error or time expired the point was assigned to the opponent. This game was proposed after the Spaccasecondo, the Pentagramma and the Asta Musicale.

Genesis

In May 1997, when Giorgio Gori, after abandoning the role of director of Canale 5 and taking over the reins of Italia 1, decided to renew the program schedules for the 1997-1998 television season with the aim of strengthening the youth target to which he addressed and at the same time give her a new identity, proposing new formats to be entrusted to familiar faces of the Mediaset group. One of these was Sarabanda, who had the intention to repeat the successes obtained by Karaoke, conducted by Fiorello, a program broadcast up to two years earlier on the same network and in the same time slot, taking advantage of the musical tradition. The transmission was entrusted to Enrico Papi (at the time known paparazzo and conductor of gossip and gossip reports), which, on the imposition of the same Gori, left the world of gossip (except then return in 2003 with Papirazzo) and completely revolutionized his look to conduct this new program.

Sarabanda (1997)

The first version of the program, whose first episode ever aired on September 8, 1997, at 7:45 pm, was based on the performance of musical pieces at the request of viewers, comedy moments and games. The songs were performed by Papi, Saraband (directed by Paolo Fantozzi) and Formula 3 (which will release a record with some of the performances performed at Sarabanda), while Gigi Vigliani performed in imitations for the comic part. The show also included a group of 130 boys and girls, called "coro" (choir), whose members sang and danced. The purpose of the transmission was that one song "pull" the other, trying to recreate the atmosphere of a rowdy party (i.e. a sarabanda, hence the name of the program). The lack of satisfactory listening (the average share data dropped to 4.39%) first led to a decrease in duration (from 55 to 45 minutes), then to a radical change in the format. The last of the episodes of this variety version, aired on October 11, 1997.

Sarabanda - il gioco della musica (1997-2002)

The transmission, transformed into a musical quiz, left on October 13, 1997, with the first edition, inheriting all the cast of the previous version but without the Formula 3 and Gigi Vigliani. Due to the failure of the variety version that preceded it, the program started quietly and then underwent a gradual increase in audience ratings over time and a greater interest of viewers. A few months after the start, the subtitle was added to the transmission logo, the game of music often mentioned by the conductor during the episodes, in which the 3 competitors competed in the various games. In this first edition, on October 27, 1997, the three historical singers of Saraband made their debut: Massimo Facchini said Mapo, Letizia Liberati and Loredana Maiuri (the latter already present in the transmission since the debut). One of the reasons why the program enjoyed an excellent listening was the prize money, which between February and March 1998 was the highest ever made available by a television quiz in Italy as well as numerous spectacular, curious or comic moments that surrounded the moment of the real quiz.

Given the good results obtained with this format, the program also continued during the months of June, July and partly in August and September with a short dedicated edition. So a new scenery was created, in combination with the summer season. This edition of the summer of 1998 left immediately after the conclusion of the first edition and ended immediately before the start of the second, going on pause for three weeks, from 3 to 22 August, after almost eleven months of consecutive programming of the broadcast. After the brief interruption, the broadcast resumed increasing the number of competitors from 3 to 4. In the second edition the study was renewed and the first great champions appeared, while on May 13, 1999, it came to celebrate the 500th overall episode. In these first editions, some of the choir boys used to perform in rotation singing and animating one of the songs evoked by the Pentagram game.

The third edition debuted with the graphics of some games renewed and the first bizarre competitors. Thanks to excellent listening, with a significant increase especially during the period of presence of the champion Antonietta Palladino, from April 2, 2000, the airing of the episodes covered the entire week, including Sunday. In the episode of Sunday, the last thirty seconds of transmission were dedicated to the funniest moments of the week just ended. On May 15, 2000, as part of the ceremony of the Gran Premio internazionale dello Spettacolo (broadcast the following day on Canale 5), Sarabanda was awarded the Telegatto as the best musical transmission, a prize that marks the consecration of the program. In this edition and for the first part of the following, between January and May and again between May and December 2000 the prize pool was (at the time) the highest ever made available by an Italian television program.

The fourth edition is remembered for the great prize money won, the readmission of some former champions of past editions and the achievement of the milestone of the thousand episodes in the quiz version March 28, 2001, in addition to the introduction of a corps de ballet that joined the choir. This period (third and fourth edition) was the most successful of the program, touching very high average listening points. Immediately after the conclusion of the fourth edition, from 17 June to 1 July 2001, a collection of 15 episodes was broadcast among the best of the edition just ended, called Le più belle di Sarabanda.

The fifth edition is marked by many changes, such as the change of the producer from Corrado Grego to Lino Tatalo (who brought the program to a new course), the increase in the duration of the program from 45 minutes to an hour and therefore also of the number of competitors and games (from 4 to 5), the return to the weekly strip of 6 episodes (on Sunday was no longer on the air), the graphics of the games completely changed, the involvement of viewers from home through phone games with jackpots at dedicated to them (only in this edition) and the presentation of the competitors, who entered the studio (the latter slightly renewed) one at a time presented by the tenant, while before they were present at the station since the beginning of the program. The management of Saraband passed to Massimo Idà. The beginning of this edition suffered a decline in ratings due above all to the concomitance with the September 11 attacks; to attract viewers, from this edition on, it was not uncommon for certain challenges to be prolonged across different advertising blocks, thus creating a certain suspense, or postponing the final game to the next day. It was then with the arrival of Valentina Locchi that the listeners had a strong rise: the maximum point of listening reached in an episode of the transmission was recorded on 6 May 2002 when 8,794,000 viewers (share of 31.50%) followed the final part of the episode that saw its elimination. Given the very high ratings and to protect Canale 5, Mediaset's flagship network, towards the end of the edition, from May 17, 2002, it was unexpectedly decided to bring the program to an early start from 8.00pm to 7.40pm, keeping the duration unchanged of an hour, returning to the usual start time from 22 May but being shortened by 20 minutes in the final part, suppressing a game and making the competitors fall from 5 to 4. This fact and the controversy with, creator of Striscia la notizia, probably contributed to the resignation of the then director of the network, Stefano Magnaghi, which was replaced by Luca Tiraboschi, director of Italia 1 until 2014.

Sarabanda (2002-2004)

After a long summer break, the program resumed with the sixth edition and many new features: the studio's scenography was completely modified making it bigger, conceived a short initial acronym (absent in previous editions) played and sung by Saraband (already appeared during the previous edition returning from advertising and the end of the episodes), updated the graphics of the games and finally the restyling of the logo of the program that replaced the present one since the variety version, also eliminating the subtitle "the game of music". From October 21, 2002, the transmission returned to the duration of one hour restoring the game deleted the previous edition and reporting the number of competitors to 5. This edition was the last of the most followed, especially during the period of presence of Gabriele Sbattella; in his last episode, that of 19 February 2003, where he was eliminated by Diego Canciani, the program obtained a record listening for the ordinary episodes, excluding the special: 5.849.000 spectators with a share of 20.30%, even if it is due to the second half of this edition the beginning of the descending parable of the broadcast culminated with the crisis of listening to the next edition. The program, in fact, oriented more on the show and the figure of the champion, focusing on its particularities, sometimes giving space to some competitors who became protagonists with curtains or performances. In this context the quiz was often put in the background to favor these moments. Given the new exploits of plays, Sarabanda was again shortened in the final part from March 13, 2003, this time of 15 minutes, suppressing a game and returning to 4 competitors.

For the seventh edition he changed the direction passing from Giuliana Baroncelli to Maurizio Spagliardi, while the transmission moved to Cinecittà, leaving the Elios studios from where it had always been recorded. From the end of October 2003 an audience of spectators was added, with whom Papi interacted from time to time. This season saw dizzying figures drop dramatically, due to the resounding success of Affari tuoi, broadcast on Rai 1 and conducted by Paolo Bonolis, in constant struggle with Striscia la notizia. From December 10, 2003, the duration returned to an hour, bringing the competitors back to 5. From January 2, 2004 the weekly strip of episodes was shortened, going on air only from Monday to Friday. The authors, to stem the decline in the share, tried to revolutionize the program in February 2004, changing all aspects of the game. The last episode of the classic editions aired on January 30, 2004.

Sarabanda - Scala & vinci (2004)

With the loss of interest from the public, the quiz was revived with a totally renewed formula, called Sarabanda - Scala & vinci, from February 2, 2004. There was no longer the trio Mapo, Letizia and Loredana, replaced by four girls called Bollicine: Simona Buccheri, Valentina Cesetti, Anna Montieri and Mariangela Argentino (with the last three, who only a few months before had participated in the second edition of the talent Popstars), while the body of dance had been replaced by seven girls (the Notines), who animated some of the new games, the boys of the choir went to form the audience of spectators and finally the authors were renamed "garanti" (guarantors). Saraband continued to be present regularly. The studio, the scenery, the graphics and the logo had been changed, the acronym was changed, both graphically and musically (Hey Ya! of the OutKast were used first, then In the Shadows by The Rasmus). The melodies proposed were no longer in the MIDI version but were fragments of original songs. In this new version the game was made less rigid than the previous one, allowing the competitors to think more calmly to the answer.

The only competitor to win the jackpot in ordinary episodes of this new version was Umberto Mari, who won €18,000, while in the only special episode aired (the first ever of this new version) David Guarnieri won €16,000. On February 20, 2004, following the poor results, the program was initially suspended for five weeks, on the decision of the same conductor, who was planning to alternate it with a new program that turned out to be 3, 2, 1 Baila; the alternation did not occur and therefore Sarabanda was canceled after six and a half years of presence in the palimpsests.

Super Sarabanda - Il torneo dei campioni (2005)

The program was resumed just over a year later, from March 14, 2005, under the name of Super Sarabande - The Champions Tournament in view of a series of special episodes with the most significant champions in the history of the program. The studio and the scenography changed again, the graphics were renewed, the audience continued to be present but the members were no longer the boys of the choir (which was eliminated from the program), while some girls and boys were introduced who acted as valets, replacing the Notines. They also returned Mapo and Letizia, but not Loredana, along with all the Saraband. The acronym and logo used between 2002 and 2004 also came back, but with slight modifications due to the new name of the program. The direction was entrusted to Lorenzo Lorenzini. The realization of the program saw a co-participation between Videotime and Duck On Line s.r.l.

This short version was structured as a tournament divided into two phases: the first, which lasted 12 episodes, saw facing four samples on the spot, of which only two could take points; at the end of this first phase, the seven champions who had scored the most points and a fished out among the excluded, moved on to the second phase. The second phase lasted 8 episodes and saw the remaining champions compete in direct matches, starting from the quarter-finals and then moving on to the semi-finals until the two finals between the two remaining champions. To win the tournament you had to win both finals, otherwise in the case of a final won a head playoff was necessary. The winner was Giulio de Pascale, who defeated Antonietta Palladino in both finals, winning €250,000 in prize money.

The episodes were broadcast from Monday to Friday and lasted just 20 minutes, from 8.45 pm to 9.15 pm (with the sole exception of the second final which aired on April 10, 2005, on Sunday, from 7:55 pm to 8pm: 25). These episodes constituted the swan song of the editions by Enrico Papi.

Sarabanda (2009)

From June 8, 2009, after more than four years, the quiz was re-proposed on Canale 5 during the pre-summer time, replacing, for the summer period, Chi vuol essere milionario?. The management was entrusted to Teo Mammucari with the participation of Belén Rodríguez. The program was aired from Monday to Friday (only in the first week was also broadcast on Saturday) and the episodes returned to be recorded in the Elios studios. In this edition the production passed to Endemol Italia. Of the old version only the director Massimo Idà, the chorister Letizia Liberati, the ballerina Valentina Simeone, the costume designer Maria Sabato, the author Alfredo Morabito and the executive producer Lino Tatalo remained. The audience remained and Saraband (whose members were almost all new), the choir was not recalled in the cast while the ballet was restored, albeit with only four dancers.

The first part of the program, from 6:50 pm to 7:00 pm, took the name of Quasi Sarabanda in which the competitors presented themselves and the first game took place. Some news about the editions of Papi, in addition to the new scenery, the study, the logo and the graphics of the games, were the presence of a sort of gazebo in the middle of the study and a pool in which Belén dived at the end of the episode. In addition, viewers from home are involved through a musical question that could be answered by text message or phone call and win a small amount of money in the form of a shopping card. The acronym was the song Move the Move by Sasà Flauto, sung by Belén Rodríguez and a chorus of voices.

There were four competitors in the race, one of which was replaced by the champion after being eliminated in the first game. The prize money started from 50,000 euros, a figure from which it would have started again in case of victory. The current champion of the last episode conducted by Papi was not called (although he had repeatedly stated in 2004 in case of return of the transmission), so he left completely with new competitors.

In this edition the only competitor to complete the 7 × 30 was Elena Gliaschera, from Moncalieri, who won 72,000 euros. The regular bets ended on 1 August, while from 3 until 21 August 15 episodes were repeated in reply, pending the start of the tournament at the end of the month. On August 24, the Tournament of Champions began, which saw protagonists all the champions of the edition and the best challengers which lasted the whole week, including Saturday and Sunday. The final aired on August 30 and saw Stefania Rumagnoli as winner, who won the prize money of 100,000 euros.

Sarabanda (2017)

After almost eight years of absence, the program is back on air live for three special episodes in prime time on Italia 1 starting from June 13, 2017, with the conduct of the historic presenter of the quiz, Enrico Papi after more than twelve years from his last episode. As for the cast, the presences of Saraband (whose only return is that of the drummer Liano Chiappa), of the ballet and the audience, have been confirmed while about twenty people have been added on the model of the old choir. There were the returns of the two historical authors Nicola De Feo and Pietro Gorini, to which were added Massimiliano Novaresi, Marco Pantaleo, Gian Luca Belardi and Alessandro Santucci, while the direction was entrusted to Sergio Colabona. The production of the program was by RTI with the participation of EndemolShine Italy.

Numerous innovations, including live television (just like when the broadcast was still a variety) and the radio: the broadcast went on air at the same time also on Radio 105, radio partner official program, where Daniele Battaglia, Alan Caligiuri and Matteo Lotti have commented live on every episode of the 105 Take Away radio program in a station set up in the same studio where the program was broadcast. Alongside the Saraband in the performance of some songs there were also resident DJ Marnik. The program also aired in high definition on Italia 1 HD and for the first time in 16:9 format (previously it has always aired in 4:3). The study from where the program was broadcast is the historic Teatro 1 of the Elios Studios, renewed with a new set design. Also new is the transmission logo, game graphics and backing tracks in the new MP3 format. The acronym was Mooseca, the first single by Papi, which takes its name from the famous distortion of the word musica (music) used by the conductor in the first editions of the program to kick off the Saraband to the performance of a song. Another novelty is the Social Room, which has seen two young people (Francesco and Riccardo), with whom Papi has often connected to interact with social networks, through the hashtag #Sarabanda, on the progress of the episode and to send in wave some memes. Further introduction were the imitations in which Enrico Papi was delighted for the part of entertainment. The first part of the program, lasting about ten minutes, acted as a preview with a short monologue by Papi and took the name of Sarà Banda. The beginning of the program was anticipated by six short episodes entitled Provini Sarabanda, lasting about five minutes, airing between 5 and 12 June, in the late afternoon on Italia 1, where some "pills" were aired. casting new competitors to be selected to challenge historic champions. On the 20th of June, in the time slot of the access prime time, a two-minute episode was aired, which soon summarized the first episode of this new edition.

The tournament was structured on three episodes, broadcast on Tuesday every week. The first two episodes saw four historical champions of the program compete against four new competitors (a total of eight historic champions and eight new competitors were involved). The winners of the first two episodes qualified directly for the final phase, while the third and final finalist was the winner of the third episode, contested among ten of the fourteen eliminated from the previous two episodes. The final phase was played at the end of the third episode and saw one of the new competitors win, Fabrizio Micò.

First stage

Classification

The Antonio De Ponte case

On March 9, 1998, a competitor of Naples, Antonio De Ponte, won the sum of 425 million lire, completing the 7×30 in his debut episode. It was then learned, through some reports of the public in Striscia la notizia, that he made an accurate service and unmasked it, that he had taken part from 17 to 19 November 1997, that is a little less than four months before, to Ciao Mara, Canale 5 program conducted by Mara Venier, (also winning on that occasion, 20 million lire) and in contravention of the Mediaset business rule that prevented a competitor from a quiz from returning to compete in another by 12 o'clock months. As a result, in the episode of March 18, 1998 was announced the disqualification (albeit when it had lost the title as a champion already 8 episodes) and the withdrawal of the sum won, which was up for grabs in what was the first special episode in prime time of the quiz, which aired on 8 April 1998. On 17 April 2001, the judge Antonio Macrì of the Court of Rome condemned Mediaset to the return to De Ponte of the sum won plus the legal interest following his appeal, confirming the sentence issued on June 27, 2000.

Mediaset vs Einstein Multimedia

In May 2001, Mediaset and Einstein Multimedia found themselves in conflict with who actually was the real producer of the transmission. The case arose from a lawsuit initiated some time ago by Mediaset towards the same Einstein Multimedia, producer of Quiz Show, Rai 1 program, due to a suspected plagiarism against Chi vuol essere miliardario?, produced by Aran Endemol. The house of Roman production, irritated by the fact, came to the hypothesis of a possible transfer of the transmissions that contributed to realize for Mediaset, and therefore also Sarabanda, to other networks.

Telephone games not regular?

On January 14, 2002, the Codacons and the Italian Quizzistica Association, through a press release, raised some concerns regarding a preliminary game proposed between the end of December 2001 and the beginning of January 2002 and aimed at viewers from home, of which only some would have been selected (after having called the editorial office) to try to win a sum of money thanks to a telephone game on January 4, 2002. The choice of the three viewers who participated on January 4 was criticized: they were not selected on the basis of phone calls made in drafting and the correct answers provided regarding the preliminary game, but were chosen at random by telephone directories. It was also suspected that the phone calls sent were not true, since in all three cases the jackpot win failed for a while.

The Max case, the masked competitor

On May 26, 2002, Codacons and the Italian Quizzistica Association forwarded a complaint to the Telecommunications Authority against transmission due to the presence of a masked competitor (the champion Giulio de Pascale, who presented himself with the fictitious name Max) against whom they supported the fact that it led to the rights of competitors excluded from auditions because they were too well known and also that it was a ploy to raise the audience.

Sarabanda under investigation

On July 12, 2002, the broadcast ended under investigation (as well as other quizzes of other networks) due to a suspected violation of Article 4, Law 410/89 ( interventions in the gaming industry and clandestine betting to protect the correctness in the performance of competitive competitions ). The allegations were related to the fact that the transmission would never have asked for or obtained the authorization of the Ministry of Finance to exercise the role of quiz with prizes and also that the telephone numbers that the aspiring competitors composed to support the auditions were not regulations, i.e. that the cost of charging was too high and was going to contribute significantly to the growth of the jackpots at stake during the episodes. Also Enrico Papi was entered in the register of suspects because of the accusations due to the management of his personal internet site, through which, with a booking number, one could try to participate in the transmission. On March 28, 2007, the trial ended after the declaration of non-place to proceed due to prescription.

The Don Enzo case

On 12 February 2004 the defending champion Don Vincenzo Passante, known as Don Enzo, at the time known as having supported the auditions of Grande Fratello 4, left the post of champion without participating in his second episode by that, appearing only before the conclusion of the episode to explain the reason: the bishop of his city had not given him permission to participate in the program.

Belén and the Moige

In the 2009 edition the program was criticized by the Moige due to the filming related to the body of Belén Rodríguez, judged too explicit and considered mortifying for the female figure. The association declared Canale 5 "network out" of the month both in June and in July.

Doubts about the veracity of the program and technical problems

In the special edition of 2017, after the second of the three episodes, more comments on several posts on Facebook by Francesco Marrazzo, one of the new competitors, who had been eliminated, raised doubts about the spontaneity of the competitors in the race, widening the field also to veracity aspects of the game. However, the controversy was soon re-entered when Marrazzo later denied any doubt stating that there is no pre-established script in the program and that its elimination was regular.

The same edition, probably due to the fact of being broadcast live, has been affected by various technical problems: faulty buttons, missed starting of the musical bases to guess, incorrect graphics, not updated or not synchronized with the progress of the game, difficulty from the director to show replays and screens turned off. Sometimes it was necessary to resort to sending advertising to solve the most complex problems.