The Town: Didi Wagner tells how she stays calm in the 10 hours a day she is on live TV

“I’m where I need to be” and other self-assertive mantras like that are on the mind of Didi Wagner, 47, before going live on The Town and other festivals whose coverage she has anchored on TV. A stamped face of musical events shown by Multishow, the presenter has a whole ritual before going on air. It’s not just sitting in the high chair and looking at the teleprompter.

Last Monday afternoon (4), with her voice still tired, Didi talked to the F5 by phone to talk about the first edition of Roberto Medina’s festival in São Paulo and about the rush behind the more than 10 hours a day that was live last weekend. “It’s a lot of hours, yes, but I’m happy, because we delivered a good transmission, which was very challenging, with an absurd technology demand that engineering dominates so well”, she praises.

Since 2011, when he was in charge of broadcasting Rock in Rio, in a quick count, there are more than 15 festivals that have had Didi’s comments. In addition to the positive phrases, the presenter does yoga exercises focused on breathing —she does practical classes twice a week— to enter the air confident and serene. “I’m at an intermediate to advanced level, and I already do some complicated exercises. I’m a bit-Didi-inha”, she says, between laughs, making a pun on her own name.

For The Town, the preparation also included three afternoons of workshops with producers and the team, in order to delve into the career details of the main attractions, in addition to a face-to-face meeting, with the right to rehearsal at the Interlagos Circuit, in the south zone. from São Paulo, where the festival is taking place. There were even simulated interviews, so that she and the reporters placed in front of the stages were well prepared.

In this preparation, it is worth talking about everything to be ready for any type of situation. On the first weekend of The Town, for example, reporter Guilherme Guedes caught the attention of social networks for saying that there was “loud screaming” during Luísa Sonza’s participation in Demi Lovato’s show. On social networks, Guedes shared opinions: there were people criticizing him, but others taking the comment with good laughs.

“I sympathize with him, because setting a personal tone that wasn’t critical, it was just an analysis. The volume on the Skyline stage was really loud. He didn’t criticize, and you can’t just be complimentary all the time, if you don’t get a very impartial presentation. It’s a subjective opinion”, defends Didi.

In all these years of broadcasts, the also presenter of Lugar Incomum, Multishow’s travel program that is going on a hiatus and should return in 2024, collects some stories. One of the most striking for her is even a chat with Alok at Rock in Rio 2022, seconds before he entered the stage. While Didi was apprehensive, the DJ exuded tranquility, even with the countdown running on the screen.

The unusual moment, of course, became a meme. “It’s a consumer dream of any presenter to become a meme, I threw it to the universe and it happened (laughs)”, she recalls, who still praises a drawing version of the moment, produced by illustrator Rafaella Tuma. “What won everyone over was the animation she did.”

On a personal level, while anticipation heats up for the second weekend of The Town, waiting for the Foo Fighters (“Dave Grohl’s ability to [vocalista] of regeneration in the face of life’s sad situations”), Didi is calm. In June, she separated from her husband Fred Wagner, after 24 years of marriage. “Everything is fine, my daughters are companions and everything is great between me and Fred . We just needed this time, I don’t know which way things will go…”