貝盧斯科尼獲評《滾石》年度搖滾之星
The Italian edition of Rolling Stone has named Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi its "rock star of the year," paying tribute to his "lifestyle worthy of the greatest rock star."
An illustration of a smiling Berlusconi, who weathered a summer of scandals over his relations with an 18-year-old underwear model and allegations he slept with a prostitute after a party, emblazons the cover of the Rolling Stone's December issue, against the backdrop of the Italian flag.
Carlo Antonelli, editor of Rolling Stone Italy, said the 73-year-old media mogul had been chosen unanimously by the magazine's editorial staff.
"This year the choice was unanimous, for his obvious merits due to a lifestyle for which the words 'rock and roll' fall short," Antonelli said in a statement.
"Rod Stewart, Brian Jones, Keith Richards in their prime were schoolboys compared to him."
It has been a turbulent year for billionaire Berlusconi, with his second wife Veronica Lario demanding a divorce in May after photographs emerged of Berlusconi attending the 18th birthday party of aspiring model Noemi Letizia.
Berlusconi, who had told his wife he going to a conference, has denied any "steamy affair."
Italy was subsequently convulsed, with the Italian church voicing its "mortification," when call girl Patrizia D'Addario in July alleged she had been paid to attend a party at Berlusconi's Rome mansion and had slept with the prime minister.
She even produced recordings of conversations with a man she said was Berlusconi. The prime minister has not directly commented but has publicly acknowledged he is "no saint."
In a book published on Tuesday, entitled "Take Your Pleasure, Prime Minister', D'Addario recounts an evening at Berlusconi's residence where he was surrounded by around 20 young women, many of whom seemed to know him well.
The scandals made front page news around the globe, but had only a moderate impact on Berlusconi's robust popularity ratings in Italy. Antonelli denied that his magazine had any political agenda behind its choice.
"We are far from favoring left or right ... Silvio Berlusconi's daily behavior, his furious vitality, his inimitable lifestyle have given him, especially this year, incredible international popularity," he said.
日前，意大利總理西爾維奧•貝盧斯科尼被《滾石》雜誌意大利版評爲“年度搖滾之星”，因爲其“生活作風堪比搖滾巨星”。
《滾石》雜誌十二月刊以貝盧斯科尼爲封面人物，封面上的貝盧斯科尼面帶微笑，背景是意大利國旗。今年夏天，貝盧斯科尼陷入一系列醜聞。據說他與一名18歲的內衣模特有染，並在一次派對後與一名妓女上牀。
《滾石》雜誌意大利版編輯卡洛•安東內利稱，這位73歲的媒體大亨是由雜誌的編輯們一致評選出來的。
安東內利在一份聲明中說：“今年大家的意見都很一致，因爲貝盧斯科尼的‘優勢’很明顯，他的生活作風用‘搖滾’二字都不足以形容。”
“與他相比，年輕的（搖滾歌星）洛•史都華、布賴恩•瓊斯、基思•理查茲都只能算小學生。”
對於身價過億的貝盧斯科尼總理來說，今年可謂“多事之秋”。今年五月，老貝參加超模諾埃米•萊蒂齊亞18歲生日派對的照片曝光後，其第二任妻子韋羅妮卡•拉里奧向他提出離婚。
之前，貝盧斯科尼向妻子謊稱是去該地出席某個會議，他否認與萊蒂齊亞存在任何“不正當關係”。
一波未平，一波又起。七月，一個名叫帕特里齊亞•達達里奧的應召女郎稱自己被招募參加貝盧斯科尼在羅馬別墅的派對，並與總理上了牀。貝氏性醜聞在意大利引起轟動，意大利教堂隨後提倡“禁慾”。
達達里奧還提供了與一個男人的桃色對話錄音，並稱此人正是貝盧斯科尼。總理先生並未對此作出正面迴應，但公開承認自己也非“聖人”。
在本週二出版的回憶錄《享樂吧，總理》一書中，達達里奧回憶了在貝盧斯科尼居所度過的一夜。據稱，當時，貝氏被約20個年輕女郎左右簇擁，其中很多人似乎對他已經很熟識。
儘管這些醜聞成爲世界各地媒體的頭條，但對貝盧斯科尼在意大利的高支持率卻沒造成多大影響。安東內利否認此次評選有任何政治意圖。
他說：“我們很中立……尤其在今年，貝盧斯科尼的日常言行，旺盛的精力和獨特的生活方式使他獲得了難以置信的國際知名度。”
Vocabulary:
weather：to bear up against and come safely（經受，捱過）
emblazon：to adorn (a surface) richly with prominent markings（用圖案、符號或文字醒目地裝飾）
mogul：an important, powerful, or influential person（顯要人物，有權勢的人）
fall short：to fail to reach a particular standard（不達標，不符合）
steamy: passionate or erotic（色情的，放縱的）
convulse：to cause to shake violently with laughter, anger, pain（震動，震撼）
