EU pays £1m to train Italian TV showgirls at 'school for bimbos':
A "school for soubrettes" that teaches young Italian women the not-so-subtle skills needed to become television game show hostesses and showgirls has opened near Naples backed by generous European Union funding.I guess I'm just a lowbrow Yank that can't appreciate the intricacies of Euro culture and government support of the "arts".
The programme at the First Tel School has prompted a political storm over the EU's willingness to put £1 million into what critics say is a "course for bimbos".
There has been no shortage of interest from potential pupils, however, given that Italy's television networks are awash with programmes featuring scantily clad female assistants. About 1,200 women - and a handful of young men - applied for the 97 places on the eight-month course when it was advertised in the summer.
Under the terms of the EU grant, students must be at least 18, unemployed, and come from the Campania region - renowned throughout Italy for the beauty of its women. They will be taught diction, show presenting, make-up, singing, dancing, acting, and the history of cinema and theatre.
Dino Giordano, one of the school's founders, said it was aimed at equipping students for a wider career than that pursued by mere bimbos. "They are being thrown in the deep end but it will give them a head start in show business," he said last week. Some pupils, though, seem to have less ambitious objectives. "I want to be famous, rich and marry a footballer," declared Simona Toto, a diminuitive blonde.
