Mediagallery:

Maurizio “Mauro” Coruzzi, better known by his stage name of the drag queen Platinette, is a radio host, TV host, television personality, writer, and singer. Active as a journalist, TV author, and radio host since the seventies, he gained notoriety with the public in the late nineties when, discovered by Maurizio Costanzo, he participated in numerous episodes of the Maurizio Costanzo Show, where he stood out not only because he always appeared on TV as a drag queen in extravagant outfits and platinum wigs, but also for the sharp humor and boldness with which he spoke during the show.
In the 2000s, in addition to continuing his radio career by hosting the morning show Radio DeeJay Platinissima, he also participated in numerous TV programs both as a host, like in “Bisturi! Nessuno è perfetto,” and as a recurring guest, judge, or commentator on “Amici di Maria De Filippi,” “Buona Domenica,” “Pomeriggio Cinque.”

Throughout his career, he has also published several books and recorded two albums, making it to the stage of the Sanremo Festival twice, in 2012 as a guest of Matia Bazar and in 2015 as a contestant alongside Grazia Di Michele.

The Beginnings

Born to a farming family that moved to Parma, he graduated from the Istituto Magistrale presenting a thesis on “Gli Indifferenti” by Alberto Moravia and bringing music as a supplementary subject, proposing to the examination board a song by Roberto Vecchioni “L’uomo che si gioca il cielo a dadi”.
He enrolled in the newly established DAMS of Bologna (modern letters/entertainment); he left in the 3rd year to work as a radio host at the first Italian free radio, Radio Parma (1975), of which he became artistic director until 1985. In the seventies, he was part of the singing collective in drag Le Pumitrozzole, a group that performed at events, discos, and dance parties. In 1986, he was in the choirs of the album by the Italian singer-songwriter and friend Giuni Russo, Giuni with the Pumitrozzole, the first Italian homosexual militant theater group.

Upon arriving in Milan, he became a television author and worked on two editions of Festivalbar and Rock caffè, broadcast on Rai Due and hosted by Benedetta Mazzini. In 1997 he hosted the special for the Sanremo Festival “Sanremo in aria” on Rai Due with La Pina from radio Deejay.

Popularity

Active as a radio host since the seventies on some regional broadcasters, and after a brief period on the unfortunate radio network Station One, from January 1999 he hosted a show titled Platinews, airing on Radio DeeJay from 6 to 8 AM.
Noticed by Maurizio Costanzo, he achieved television success with participation in the Maurizio Costanzo Show, where he distinguished himself always strictly as a Drag Queen, and for the frankness with which he expressed himself within the show.

Platinette was the first to reach a large audience in Italy and the first to pave the way for other similar characters in the world of mainstream music and entertainment.

Also in 1999, he released for P-NUTS “Platinette da viva – vol.1”, an album composed of eighteen covers of songs that had been hits over the last thirty years; the first single from the album was “Una per tutti”, a transgender version of “Uno per tutte” by Tony Renis.

From 2000, “Casa Platinette” was renamed “Platinissima”, a show that aired continuously until 2012, while in 2001, on the emerging television channel La 7 he hosted the satirical program “Fascia protetta”; also in 2001, he hosted a talk show dedicated to Big Brother on Stream.

In May 2002, he published the humorous book “Finocchie”, which playfully tackles the theme of homosexuality. His second autobiographical book is titled “Tutto di me”.

In February 2003, he performed in a humorous play titled “Bigodini”, alongside Benedetta Mazzini. During the same period, he collaborated with “Buona Domenica”, confirmed also in the following years.

2004 opened with him hosting “Bisturi! Nessuno è perfetto”, a prime time show on Italia Uno co-hosted with Irene Pivetti.