British screen idol Orlando Bloom is to make a guest appearance at Italy's top song festival as part of efforts to restore some of the event's flagging appeal for TV viewers.
The English actor, who shot to fame as the elf prince Legolas in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, will arrive on stage at the Sanremo festival on Friday evening, organisers said.
The announcement came after viewing figures showed that the song contest's share of the television audience was about 10% lower than last year on both the first two nights. Every year the Sanremo event, a five-day extravaganza of Italian pop and glitz, is the focus of relentless attention from the media and viewing figures are scrutinised mercilessly.
Bloom, 31, an idol for teenagers all over Europe and America, is an almost guaranteed magnet for trendy young Italians who often accuse Sanremo of being staid and old-fashioned.
As well being frequently declared one of the world's most desirable men in women's magazines, he is also one of the busiest and most sought-after actors in the film industry.
The star has been seen most recently on Italian cinema screens in Cameron Crowe's Elizabeth Town, a film in which he is a suicidal but dashing inventor who falls in love with a chirpy air hostess.
Sanremo organisers did not reveal how much they are paying Bloom for his presence on the penultimate night.
Despite the song contest's poor initial viewing figures, the head of the state RAI-1 channel which broadcasts it refused to despair, noting that the audience still managed a peak of 13 million on Tuesday.
"This is still a figure which justifies broadcasting it on television," Fabrizio Del Noce said.
Meanwhile, show host Giorgio Panariello said he regretted none of his decisions about the format and
presentation, criticised in the press as limp. "It may be the worst Sanremo ever, but it's also the most courageous," he said defiantly, referring to his chosen approach of letting his guests and female co-presenters take much of the limelight.
In a bid to hype up the 2006 event, Panariello has also called in big names in Italian fashion such as Giorgio Armani and Valentino to put on mini fashion shows between songs. One of his key goals was to have select foreign guests who would be open to electrifying interviews and surprise stunts that would thrill and entertain.
This failed singularly on the opening night when John Travolta appeared and did little more than massage his interviewer's foot before rushing off to catch an 11 pm plane.
The Hollywood star was rumoured to have been paid about 400,000 euros for his 20-minute slot - a fee which outraged some critics of the show and RAI.
