Total uncertainty reigns over the program of the New Year's Eve concert scheduled at Rome's Circus Maximus, and organized by the capital's municipality together with radio station RDS. The billboard presented last week had included live performances by Mahmood, Mara Sattei and Tony Effe, as well as a DJ set. A few days ago, however, after pressure received from female members of the Democratic Party, the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, also of the Democrats, excluded Tony Effe, controversial rapper and author of often sexist and violent lyrics. The decision sparked a long series of controversies related to the risk of censorship. Yesterday, the situation finally escalated when the other two artists who were scheduled to perform - Mahmood and Mara Sattei - announced that they would not participate. "I waited until the last hoping for a different decision, but I consider Tony Effe's exclusion a form of censorship. Therefore, I choose not to participate in the Capital's New Year's Eve," Mahmood wrote in a story on Instagram, stressing the importance of ensuring freedom of expression for all art forms. Mara Sattei also announced her absence through social media, "I do not find it correct to prevent an artist from performing, depriving him of his freedom of expression," she said.