Supermodel Eva Herzigova will be the godmother of the Costa Concordia, the new flagship of the Costa fleet, which will be christened on July 7 in the Port of Rome (Civitavecchia) under the patronage of the Latium Regional Administration, the Provincial Administration of Rome, the Municipality of Rome and AltaRoma. The personification of beauty, charm and elegance, Eva Herzigova will be the star of the event when it reaches its climax: it will be her task to actually christen the Costa Concordia by breaking a bottle of champagne against the side of the ship in accordance with strict naval tradition. The Costa Concordia, the largest cruise ship flying the Italian flag (112,000 gross tonnage and total Guest capacity of 3780), is set to become another Italian Made symbol: she was built in the historic Italian Fincantieri shipyards in Sestri Ponente (Genoa), while her interiors have been decorated by some of Italy�s leading designers and feature works by top Italian artists. Two of the ship�s five restaurants will have menus devised by the Italian culinary innovator Ettore Bocchia, executive chef at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio and a Michelin restaurateur. The christening ceremony for the new Costa flagship will be a tribute to Made in Italy and the nation�s symbols, in particular the city of Rome, which will be celebrated in a show entitled �The Waters of Rome�. The artistic director of the performance is Valerio Festi. Fashion, which has always been associated with Italian style around the world thanks partly to catwalk queens like Eva Herzigova, will also be starring at the christening show under the patronage of AltaRoma and with the collaboration of the Italian fashion house Gattinoni. The Master of Ceremonies for the event will be Italian television personality Antonella Clerici, currently host of the Italian version of the hit gameshow Deal or No Deal. - Ends - About Eva Herzigova: Born in Litvinov, Czech Republic, Eva Herzigova began her modeling career at the age of 16 after taking part in a beauty contest in Prague. In a relatively short time she became a veritable fashion icon. Immortalized by the world�s top photographers, sought after by the best known fashion designers, and featured in a string of advertising campaigns, Eva has been part of the elite group of supermodels for many years. However, beauty is not her only quality and Eva is a woman of character with a wide range of interests who has been able to diversify her public image over the years. In 1994 she made her acting debut in the film Les Anges Gardiens directed by Jean-Marie Poir�, co-starring with Gerard Depardieu. She also had a role in Gil Brenton�s movie Just For The Time Being and won the best actress award at the New York Independent Film Festival. In 1998 she starred in another film, L�Amico del Cuore directed by Vincenzo Salemme. Recently, she appeared on screen as the wife of Picasso in Mick Davis� movie Modigliani, with Andy Garcia, and co-starred with singer Bryan Adams in Twisted Tango, presented at the Locarno International Film Festival. In 1998 she co-hosted the Sanremo Song Festival alongside Raimondo Vianello and Veronica Pivetti, while in 2004 she was one of the presenters at the �Gal� della Pubblicit��. Thanks to the moviemaking skills acquired in the course of a career spanning more than 15 years, Eva Herzigova decided to try her hand at scriptwriting and directing: the result was a short film called On Stage. More recently Eva has debuted as a fashion designer, creating her own line of swimsuits and beach wear. About Costa Cruises : Costa Cruises is an Italian cruise company and the market leader in Europe and South America. The company operates two distinct brands, AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises, which have a total of 14 ships in service and six under construction. All of the vessels fly the Italian flag and are deployed in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, the United Arab Emirates and the Far East. Costa Cruises has been certified by RINA (Italian Shipping Register) with the BEST4, an integrated system of voluntary certification of corporate compliance with the highest standards governing social accountability (SA 8000, issued in 2001), environment (UNI EN ISO 14001, 1996), safety (OHSAS 18001, 1999) and quality (UNI EN ISO 9001, 2000). Costa Cruises is also an official partner of the WWF for the protection of the marine eco regions of the Mediterranean, the Greater Antilles and Brazil. Costa Cruises is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc, the world�s largest cruise operator See the latest news at: www.rooster.co.uk/news Search, subscribe by news category, download photos and more For further information please contact: Ryan Levitt, Rooster: tel: 44 (0) 20 7559 6620 email: ryan.levitt@rooster.co.uk web: www.rooster.co.uk