The Ballandi Group was established in the 1960s when Bibi Ballandi, who was not even 20 then, began working with his father Iso, one of the greatest impresarios of the time. Initially the Ballandis continued to be impresarios and to promote several very popular singers and bands, including Caterina Caselli, Little Tony, Nicola di Bari, Camaleonti, Equipe 84, Lucio Dalla, Gianni Morandi, etc.
In the early 1970s the impresarioship evolved into management of great artists. Ballandi, driven by Bibi and his father Iso, developed into the point of reference for personalities like Ornella Vanoni, Lucio Dalla, Fabrizio De André, Pooh, Francesco De Gregori, Ron, Loredana Bertè, Renato Zero.
By the late 1970s, Ballandi had become a leading presence in the organization of mega concerts, hosted in sports stadiums and city squares; the pair organized several “legendary” tours, including: Dalla-De Gregori (“Banana Republic”), Vanoni-Paoli, Renato Zero, Fabrizio De André, Pierangelo Bertoli, Roberto Vecchioni, Matia Bazar.

In 1983, Ballandi finally realized a project that they had been nurturing for a while: the creation of the first, real multimedia club, and “Bandiera Gialla” opened on the Rimini hillsides, playing 1960s music. In no time it boomed into a lifestyle phenomenon, the Adriatic Riviera’s “fun factory” and the “Bandiera Gialla” container launched trends and legends (after the 1960s, came “Bulli pupe e rock'n roll”, “Vorrei la pelle nera”, “Quando calienta el sol”, “Bimbe bamba rock e samba”), later becoming the venue for several successful TV shows, including Gianni Minà’s “Blitz”, Red Ronnie’s “Be Bop a Lula”, Pupi Avati’s “Hamburger Serenade”, and many other TV specials (“Bravo”, “Tutto di Tutto”, “Festivalbar” and “Piccoli Fans”, etc). Ballandi then co-organized with the magazine “TV Sorrisi and Canzoni” various seasons of “Vota la Voce”. “Bandiera Gialla” was one of Europe’s most copied formats.

As the 1980s drew to an end, there was another professional watershed: Ballandi started working more closely with RAI TV and exploited many years of experience by becoming a full-time TV production unit, which it had been on and off over the years. The variety show “Stasera mi butto” was a whopping success for three TV summers (1990 – 1991 – 1992), then it handed over to “Beato tra le donne”, in 1994 and 1995, introducing compere Paolo Bonolis to the general public. The lucky series “Piacere RAI Uno” (1989 – 1991) enjoyed similar success.

In 1994, Ballandi came up with another concept: a New Year’s Eve show, live from Italy’s city squares, and this format is still RAI Uno’s unique terrain. The first event was christened “La Notte degli Angeli” (New Year’s Eve 1994 special, live on RAI Uno).

In 1995, the productions included: “Taxi” (concept by Lucio Dalla, RAI Tre), “Ruvido Show” (RAI Uno), “Polvere di Stelle” (special from Teatro Verdi, Salerno, RAI Due), “Tutti i colori del cielo” (special from San Patrignano, RAI Due), and the first of three shows of “Te voglio bene assaje” (special from Naples presented by Isabella Rossellini, guest star Lucio Dalla, on RAI Uno, during the first Telecom international summit), “Mezzanotte, Angeli in Piazza” (live from Piazza del Popolo, Rome and Piazza Plebiscito in Naples, New Year’s Eve 1995, RAI Uno).

In 1996, Ballandi was busier still on the TV front with its production of: “Pavarotti & Friends” (live from Modena, RAI Uno), “Su le mani” (a RAI Uno TV variety with Carlo Conti and Giorgio Panariello), “Te voglio bene assaje” (special from Naples, guest star Antonello Venditti, on RAI Uno during the second Telecom international summit), “Mezzanotte: Angeli in Piazza” (live from Rome, Genoa, Catania and Bologna, New Year’s Eve 1996, RAI Uno).

In 1997, the Ballandi Group produced the following TV shows: “La Zanzara d’oro” (showcasing new comics, presented by Loretta Goggi and Enzo Iachetti, live on RAI Uno, from Bologna’s Teatro delle Celebrazioni); “I fanatici del libro” (a filler for RAI Due during the Turin Book Show, hosted by Albertino); “Tra mare e stelle” (special from Riccione, partnering LegAmbiente and RAI Tre); “Va ora in onda” (summer TV variety show on RAI Uno, with Carlo Conti and Giorgio Panariello, directed by Paolo Beldì); “Te voglio bene assaje” (special from Naples, guest star Zucchero, on RAI Uno, during the third Telecom international summit).

The Ballandi Group was also identified as the point of reference by the Bologna curia and the Vatican to organize the Pope’s first great meeting with youth and youth music. Thus the show, called “In campo. L’uomo e lo sport verso il 2000” (live on RAI Uno from Bologna’s Stadio Dall’Ara, as part of the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress), took shape. Then there was the production year’s real winner, the show entitled “Sulla strada.… E sei rimasto qui”, organized as part of the 23rd National Eucharistic Congress for the vigil held in the presence of His Holiness Pope John Paul II: (live on RAI Uno from Bologna, with Bob Dylan, Adriano Celentano, Gianni Morandi, Lucio Dalla, Andrea Bocelli, Michel Petrucciani and many others, hosted by Milly Carlucci). Also in 1997, Ballandi produced RAI Uno’s traditional New Year’s Eve show, live from Assisi, bringing back the legendary couple of Dalla-De Gregori, as well as offering a “first” from 1997 Nobel prize-winner, Dario Fo, during a Venice link-up.

In 1998, a show for Canale 5 in support of Amnesty International, “Voci libere”, had Maurizio Costanzo realizing the news section, with the music section aired live from Rome’s Palaeur, with the participation of Antonello Venditti, Simple Minds and Khaled. Other 1998 productions were: a special for RAI Tre “Tra mare e stelle”, live from Riccione, in collaboration with LegAmbiente; a summer variety show for RAI Uno, “Cocco di mamma”, presented by Carlo Conti; the radio show for RadioDue RAI “Soci da spiaggia” (with Andrea Pellizzari and Fabio Volo, 60 broadcasts). The  Ballandi Group then created another great – non-TV – event: the “World Ducati Weekend”, repeated in 2000, which drew 30,000 Ducati fans from all over the world.

Picking up on the great potential of a format that had developed in France, and then spread across Europe, the Ballandi Group brought to Italy a music show called “Taratata”, thirteen dates with great music on RAI Uno (guests included Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Claudio Baglioni, Lucio Dalla, Carlos Santana, Lionel Richie, Vasco Rossi, Luciano Ligabue, Zucchero, Alanis Morissette). “Taratata” became the quintessential TV music programme.

Again, for New Year’s Eve 1998, the Ballandi Group was responsible for the production of “Mezzanotte: Angeli in Piazza”, the traditional New Year’s party on RAI Uno (and also on RAI Due), developed for the city squares of Turin, Rimini and Riccione, Bologna, Naples and Reggio Calabria, with Pooh, 883, Massimo Ranieri, Amii Stewart, Fausto Leali.

The Ballandi Group can be attributed with one of the biggest TV successes of recent years: in January 1999, Gianni Morandi presented his “C’era un ragazzo” show on RAI Uno, gluing viewers to their seats for five straight weeks.
From this show onwards, a style emerged and consolidated, mixing entertainment with a 1960s-style variety revival, and this became a trademark of the Ballandi team, leading to future successes with Celentano, Zero, Panariello, Fiorello.

Also in 1999, in March, RAI Uno once again hosted “Taratata”, repeating the success of the previous season with a ten-part music show. Ballandi was then entrusted with the creation of a TV show to contain the “David di Donatello” awards (presented by Carlo Conti and guests including Sophia Loren, Andrea Bocelli, Pino Daniele), which the company organized for three years (1999 and 2000 on RAI Uno; 2001 on RAI Due). In the summer of 1999, the Ballandi Group acquired its own TV studios, built inside the Mirabilandia (Ravenna) theme park, and installed with state-of-the-art technology and logistics. These studios were the venue of Jocelyn’s 1999, 2000 and 2001 variety shows, “Sette per Uno”, hosted for two years by Gigi Sabani and then entrusted to Tiberio Timperi and Ela Weber in 2001. In September 1999, “La sera dei miracoli” (live on RAI Uno, with Lino Banfi, Lucio Dalla, Franco Battiato, Gianni Morandi, Cecilia Gasdia, Nino D’Angelo), a great event hosted in the Gioia Tauro port district.

In October 1999, Ballandi masterminded the great TV return of Adriano Celentano: his “Francamente me ne infischio” knocked ratings sky high and the programme won the Golden Rose of Montreux.

Then the third season of “Taratata” came around, entrusted to Vincenzo Mollica with Natasha Stefanenko, and there was the organization of the mega celebrations for Ferrari’s return to the World Champions’ podium, a non-TV event with Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Lucio Dalla, Jamiroquai, and compere Gerry Scotti.

On 31 December 1999, the Ballandi Group then produced “Millennium. La notte del 2000”, a large-scale event aired by RAI, with live Mondovisione link-ups to eight city squares (The Vatican from St Peter’s Square IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II, Turin, Sanremo, Rimini, Naples, Reggio Calabria, Palermo, Bari) and artists that included the late lamented Giuseppe Sinopoli (who was the conductor of a concert in the presence of the Head of State, in Quirinal Square), Gianna Nannini, Claudio Baglioni (who sang for the Pope in St Peter’s Square), Pooh, Piero Pelù, Jovanotti, Lucio Dalla, Antonello Venditti, Al Bano.