Santo Cilauro
Encyclopedia
Santo Cilauro is an Australia
n television
and feature film
producer
, screenwriter
, actor
, author
, comedian
and cameraman, a co-founder of The D-Generation
. Known as the weatherman in Frontline
, he is also an author and former radio presenter on the Triple M Network, and achieved worldwide fame with the viral video
Elektronik Supersonik.
, Australia
and was a law student at Melbourne University in the early 1980s.
and Tom Gleisner
in comedy theatre productions and tours. One of the co-founders of The D-Generation, Santo wrote for, and performed in, the troupe's show during its 1986-1987 run on ABC
TV
(which also led to the album The Satanic Sketches). Cilauro continued as a member of the D-Gen when the team hosted their Breakfast Show show on Triple M radio (1986–1992), appearing as the simple-minded "Wayne from St. Albans" and "Gino Tagliatoni" amongst other roles. Santo was a writer/performer on the D-Generation's 1992-1993 sketch comedy The Late Show
, appearing on such segments as Graham & the Colonel, The Oz Brothers and Jeff & Terry Bailey (with Rob Sitch), as well as performing in countless other sketches and filming the popular segment Shitscared.
After the second and last season of The Late Show, Cilauro starred as Stix in the 1994 ABC cop show satire Funky Squad
, which he also co-created and served as one of the writer/producer/directors. He went on to help set up the Working Dog
production company and was one of the writer/producer/directors of Frontline (1994–1997), in which he also had a recurring onscreen role as weatherman Geoffrey Salter. Since then, Cilauro co-wrote Working Dog's films popular film The Castle (1997) and The Dish
(2000) and appeared as a regular member (and occasional host) of the 1998-2003 Network Ten
programme The Panel (he also did occasional sports correspondence for Ten during the 1998 soccer World Cup). Cilauro has been an executive producer of several Working Dog productions, including The Panel, A River Somewhere
(1997–1998), and All Aussie Adventures
(2001–2002). He played the Head of Market Research, Theo Tsolakis, on The Hollowmen
(2008), a series which Cilauro co-wrote and co-produced. Cilauro also played IT technician Griffin on the Shaun Micallef
sitcom Welcher & Welcher
(2003) and K2 on the 1996 Working Dog radio sketch Johnny Swank
.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup
, he hosted a nightly comedy/variety show called Santo, Sam and Ed's Cup Fever
! live from Melbourne alongside Ed Kavalee
and Sam Pang
.
and Tom Gleisner
, co-author of the Jetlag Travel Guides to Molvanîa
, Phaic Tăn
and San Sombrèro
. He also created the popular Internet phenomenon character Zladko "ZLAD!" Vladcik, a Molvanîan pop idol
style musician.
and Synthpop
, described as “a melodic fusion combining hot disco rhythms with cold war rhetoric”. Zlad! is featured in a mullet
, bushy mustache, and silver spacesuit and is supported by a female keytar
ist and background vocalist with pink hair. His lyrics are often in spoken word or badly sung, not to mention full of grammatical errors, reversed semantic units, and meta-reference
s to thick Slavic accents. For example the song opens with: "Hey baby, wake up from your asleep. We have arrived onto the future and the whole world is become elektronik, supersonik." It also carries a heavy sexual undertone.
"Elektronik Supersonik" was claimed to have been Molvania's entry into the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. However, Vladcik was arrested at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport
and immediately deported for "recreational drug" usage. Upon his return, Vladcik apologised to everyone in Molvania for letting them down, especially his family, his friends and his dealer.
"Elektronik Supersonik" was featured in an ad campaign for Mountain Dew MDX
and also Virgin Mobile.
As with "Elektronik Supersonik" the year earlier, "I Am the Antipope" was to be Molvania's entry into the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, and like its predecessor, it was denied entry with a terse statement of "Satanism has no place at Eurovision." Vladcik insisted that the song was not an attack on Christianity, but instead a light-hearted ballad recounting the short reign of little-known Beelzebub the First, the only Vicar of Christ
to have been crucified at the stake. "In Molvania, this is one of our most loved children’s stories", Vladcik claimed, while speaking backwards
through a hooded translator.
supporter, he often name-dropped the club in his sketches; he recently wrote a chapter of the Collingwood supporter's book, "The Barrackers Are Shouting".
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and cameraman, a co-founder of The D-Generation
The D-Generation
The D-Generation was a popular and influential Australian TV sketch comedy show, produced and broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for two series, between 1986 and 1987...
. Known as the weatherman in Frontline
Frontline (Australian TV series)
Frontline is an Australian comedy television series which satirised Australian television current affairs programmes and reporting. It ran for three series of 13 half-hour episodes and was broadcast on ABC TV in 1994, 1995 and 1997.-Production:...
, he is also an author and former radio presenter on the Triple M Network, and achieved worldwide fame with the viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
Elektronik Supersonik.
Early life
Cilauro was born in 1961 in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and was a law student at Melbourne University in the early 1980s.
Acting and production work
Cilauro started collaborating with Rob SitchRob Sitch
Robert Ian Sitch , is an Australian director, producer, screenwriter, actor and comedian.-Early life:Sitch attended St Kevin's College and graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Melbourne, where he resided at Trinity College. He worked at the Royal Womans Hospital...
and Tom Gleisner
Tom Gleisner
Tom Gleisner is an Australian director, producer, writer, comedian, occasional actor and author. He was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne, Australia.-Television, radio and film:...
in comedy theatre productions and tours. One of the co-founders of The D-Generation, Santo wrote for, and performed in, the troupe's show during its 1986-1987 run on ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
TV
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
(which also led to the album The Satanic Sketches). Cilauro continued as a member of the D-Gen when the team hosted their Breakfast Show show on Triple M radio (1986–1992), appearing as the simple-minded "Wayne from St. Albans" and "Gino Tagliatoni" amongst other roles. Santo was a writer/performer on the D-Generation's 1992-1993 sketch comedy The Late Show
The Late Show (Australian TV series)
The Late Show was a popular Australian comedy show, which ran for two seasons on ABC from 18 July 1992 to 30 October 1993.-Cast:The Late Show has its roots in the 1980s comedy group, The D-Generation...
, appearing on such segments as Graham & the Colonel, The Oz Brothers and Jeff & Terry Bailey (with Rob Sitch), as well as performing in countless other sketches and filming the popular segment Shitscared.
After the second and last season of The Late Show, Cilauro starred as Stix in the 1994 ABC cop show satire Funky Squad
Funky Squad
Funky Squad was a short-lived 1995 Australian comedy television series which satirised '70s-era U.S. police television dramas, such as The Mod Squad. Only 7 half-hour episodes were produced, which were broadcast on the ABC...
, which he also co-created and served as one of the writer/producer/directors. He went on to help set up the Working Dog
Working Dog Productions
Working Dog Productions is a small film and television production company based in Melbourne, Australia. It was originally known as Frontline Television Productions Pty Ltd...
production company and was one of the writer/producer/directors of Frontline (1994–1997), in which he also had a recurring onscreen role as weatherman Geoffrey Salter. Since then, Cilauro co-wrote Working Dog's films popular film The Castle (1997) and The Dish
The Dish
The Dish is a 2000 Australian film that tells the story of how the Parkes Observatory was used to relay the live television of man's first steps on the moon, during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969...
(2000) and appeared as a regular member (and occasional host) of the 1998-2003 Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
programme The Panel (he also did occasional sports correspondence for Ten during the 1998 soccer World Cup). Cilauro has been an executive producer of several Working Dog productions, including The Panel, A River Somewhere
A River Somewhere
A River Somewhere was an Australian documentary television series originally broadcast by ABC TV in 1997 and 1998. It was produced by Working Dog Productions, and was hosted by Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch...
(1997–1998), and All Aussie Adventures
All Aussie Adventures
All Aussie Adventures is an Australian mockumentary television series that parodied the travel-adventure genre. Glenn Robbins plays Russell Coight, a survival and wildlife expert who charts his disastrous travels through Australia, spreading misinformation and causing accidents...
(2001–2002). He played the Head of Market Research, Theo Tsolakis, on The Hollowmen
The Hollowmen
The Hollowmen is an Australian television comedy series set in the offices of the Central Policy Unit, a fictional political advisory unit personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him get re-elected. Their brief is long term vision; to stop worrying about tomorrow's headlines, and focus on...
(2008), a series which Cilauro co-wrote and co-produced. Cilauro also played IT technician Griffin on the Shaun Micallef
Shaun Micallef
Shaun Patrick Micallef is an Australian actor, comedian and writer. After ten years of working in insurance law as a solicitor in Adelaide, Micallef moved to Melbourne to pursue a full-time comedy career in 1993...
sitcom Welcher & Welcher
Welcher & Welcher
Welcher & Welcher was an Australian sitcom written by and starring Shaun Micallef which aired on the ABC in 2003. The show revolved around a husband and wife run law firm.-Regular Cast:...
(2003) and K2 on the 1996 Working Dog radio sketch Johnny Swank
Johnny Swank
Johnny Swank was the name of a radio comedy serial produced by Working Dog Productions in 1996 for Australia's Austereo radio network. The show was created by members of the The D-Generation...
.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
, he hosted a nightly comedy/variety show called Santo, Sam and Ed's Cup Fever
Santo, Sam and Ed’s Cup Fever
Santo, Sam and Ed's Cup Fever was an association football themed comedy television show in Australia on SBS. The show was produced by Working Dog Productions. The nightly panel-style show aired for the duration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The show's hosts were Santo Cilauro, Sam Pang and Ed...
! live from Melbourne alongside Ed Kavalee
Ed Kavalee
Edward Robert Kavalee is an Australian actor and radio host. He is currently co-host of a comedy program on the Nine Network, The Joy of Sets, with Tony Martin....
and Sam Pang
Sam Pang
Sam Pang is a Chinese Australian radio and television host, writer and producer.-Career:A former Collingwood Football Club under 19s member, Pang turned to radio hosting at an age of 18 at the urging of his friends to do so. He co-hosted Triple R's Breakfasters program for 5 years.He then began...
.
Zladko Vladcik
Cilauro was, with Rob SitchRob Sitch
Robert Ian Sitch , is an Australian director, producer, screenwriter, actor and comedian.-Early life:Sitch attended St Kevin's College and graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Melbourne, where he resided at Trinity College. He worked at the Royal Womans Hospital...
and Tom Gleisner
Tom Gleisner
Tom Gleisner is an Australian director, producer, writer, comedian, occasional actor and author. He was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne, Australia.-Television, radio and film:...
, co-author of the Jetlag Travel Guides to Molvanîa
Molvanîa
Molvanîa: a Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry is a book parodying travel guidebooks. The guide describes the fictional country Molvanîa, in Eastern Europe, a nation described as "the birthplace of the whooping cough" and "owner of Europe's oldest nuclear reactor"...
, Phaic Tăn
Phaic Tan
Phaic Tăn is a parody travel guidebook examining imaginary country Phaic Tăn. The book's full title is Phaic Tăn: Sunstroke on a Shoestring and was written by Australians Tom Gleisner, Santo Cilauro, and Rob Sitch...
and San Sombrèro
San Sombrèro
San Sombrèro is a parody travel guide book examining the eponymous fictional country, described as the birthplace of tinted sunglasses and sequins...
. He also created the popular Internet phenomenon character Zladko "ZLAD!" Vladcik, a Molvanîan pop idol
Pop Idol
Pop Idol is a British television series which debuted on ITV on 6 October 2001. The show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast - one in 2001-02 and a second in 2003...
style musician.
Elektronik Supersonik
"Elektronik Supersonik" is a kitschy, over-the-top combination of Italo discoItalo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...
and Synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
, described as “a melodic fusion combining hot disco rhythms with cold war rhetoric”. Zlad! is featured in a mullet
Mullet (haircut)
The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. . The mullet began to appear in popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not become generally well-known until the early 1980s...
, bushy mustache, and silver spacesuit and is supported by a female keytar
Keytar
A keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands...
ist and background vocalist with pink hair. His lyrics are often in spoken word or badly sung, not to mention full of grammatical errors, reversed semantic units, and meta-reference
Meta-reference
Metareference, a metafiction technique, is a situation in a work of fiction whereby characters display an awareness that they are in such a work, such as a film, television show or book. Sometimes it may even just be a form of editing or film-making technique that comments on the...
s to thick Slavic accents. For example the song opens with: "Hey baby, wake up from your asleep. We have arrived onto the future and the whole world is become elektronik, supersonik." It also carries a heavy sexual undertone.
"Elektronik Supersonik" was claimed to have been Molvania's entry into the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. However, Vladcik was arrested at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport
Atatürk International Airport
Atatürk International Airport is the major international airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Opened in 1924 and located in Yeşilköy, on the European side of the city, it is west of the city centre. In 1980, the airport was renamed to Atatürk International Airport in honor of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the...
and immediately deported for "recreational drug" usage. Upon his return, Vladcik apologised to everyone in Molvania for letting them down, especially his family, his friends and his dealer.
"Elektronik Supersonik" was featured in an ad campaign for Mountain Dew MDX
Mountain Dew MDX
Mountain Dew MDX was an energy drink manufactured and distributed by PepsiCo under the Mountain Dew brand. It was introduced in 2005 as PepsiCo's second attempt to market an energy soda. Josta, the first energy drink introduced by a major soft drink company from 1995 to 1999. "Power Pack" is the...
and also Virgin Mobile.
I Am the Anti-Pope
"I am the Anti-Pope" is another one of Zlad's songs. Although it is much less nonsensical it is also still meant to be zany and comedic in nature, featuring lines such as "But here comes White Horseman, defender of god! Exposing to everyone his powerful rod!"As with "Elektronik Supersonik" the year earlier, "I Am the Antipope" was to be Molvania's entry into the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, and like its predecessor, it was denied entry with a terse statement of "Satanism has no place at Eurovision." Vladcik insisted that the song was not an attack on Christianity, but instead a light-hearted ballad recounting the short reign of little-known Beelzebub the First, the only Vicar of Christ
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
to have been crucified at the stake. "In Molvania, this is one of our most loved children’s stories", Vladcik claimed, while speaking backwards
Phonetic reversal
Phonetic reversal is the process of reversing the phonemes of a word or phrase. When the reversal is identical to the original, the word or phrase is called a phonetic palindrome. Phonetic reversal is not entirely identical to backmasking, which is specifically the reversal of recorded sound...
through a hooded translator.
Charity work
Cilauro is a noted supporter and active participant of charities. Athletes as Role Models Tour (ARMTour) is an example where he organized a group of Australian sports people and celebrities to travel to remote communities as a way of promoting education and healthy lifestyles to Australia's indigenous youth.Personal life
As a passionate CollingwoodCollingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
supporter, he often name-dropped the club in his sketches; he recently wrote a chapter of the Collingwood supporter's book, "The Barrackers Are Shouting".
External links
- Vodafone lifts indigenous kids up to the stars Cilauro's work with ARMTour
- Interview : Web Wombat DVD Channel