Florence (Italy), April 21 (IANS/AKI) American cable network MTV has decided to film its low-brow hit reality show ‘Jersey Shore’ in the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance – Florence.
The Tuscan city that spawned artistic masterpieces by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Dante Alighieri will provide the backdrop for alcohol-fuelled sexual escapades of Italian-American reality-television stars Paul ‘Pauly D’ DelVecchio, Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi and Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino.
‘Florence was chosen because ‘it’s young, walkable, fashionable, and beautiful in springtime’ … and, by the way, riddled with alcohol-guzzling clubgoers,’ American gossip website TMZ.com said, citing an unnamed source close to the television show.
Jersey Shore made its debut in the US on MTV in 2009. The first season tracked the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore. The second followed them wintering in Miami Beach.
The show’s hit status has not silenced critics who say the loud-mouthed, promiscuous and heavy-drinking big-haired women and their macho male cohorts creates a bad and misleading image of Italian Americans.
The show may have to tone down the antics if filming is to go ahead in Florence, to prevent the city from being branded as a drinking hot spot, according to the New York Post.
Mayor Matteo Renzi has drafted a set of rules that the cast will have to abide by including a ban on filming them in bars or clubs that serve alcohol, the report said.
–IANS/AKI
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