The 24th edition of the Latin Grammys took place on Thursday in Seville. It was the first time the awards left the United States. A flood of music stars singing in Spanish visited the Congress and Exhibition Palace in the Andalusian capital. These were the keys to the awards.
You win. “Long live women,” said Natalia Lafourcade from the stage with one of her awards in her hands. “Long live women,” shouted Nathy Peluso a few moments later as she accepted her award. You were a Latin Grammy winner. They took home the top prizes: Karol G won Album of the Year for Tomorrow will be nice; Natalia Lafourcade achieved record of the year with “Of all the Flowers”; and Shakira, Song of the Year (along with Bizarrap) from BZRP Music Sessions 52. Three women, three awards each. Only Bizarrap could equalize. Rosalía did not win any awards, she was only nominated for one, but she was the one who shone the most on stage with her version of the song “Se nos roto en amor” that made Rocío Jurado popular.
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The greed of urban music. If the urban genre (hip-hop reggaeton, trap, corridos tumbados and derivatives) was missing something to confirm its imperial rule, it was a gala like this. 80% of the performances belonged to this style, and many of the main awards too: Karol G, Shakira, Bizarrap… We shouldn’t even call it an urban genre, but simply pop. All of those mentioned are pop stars. The anti-urbanites can get angry all they want, but they won’t be able to deny that we are witnessing a musical revolution that is as big (or bigger) than punk, disco music or grunge at the time. Time will tell whether it leaves such a big mark.
Without play Perreo costs a little more. The big open problem in urban music is finding solvent singers. When some of these artists play in a conventional and open mic context, they become unhinged. Shakira is committed to reggaeton and that’s no problem because her voice can withstand anything thrown at her. This is not the case for some who performed in Seville, such as Peso Pluma, Rauw Alejandro, Milo J or Sebastián Yatra. Either they work with a singing teacher, or they use autotune or playback, which isn’t enough to lock them up either. This is just pop, remember.
Featherweight appearance with Eslabón Armado at the gala. Kevin Winter (Getty Images for Latin Recording)
More tabloid press than music press. In Spain there are no Goyas of music and that is a shame for the music industry, which is almost always disorganized and waging a civil war. It must be a lack of habit, but when some international awards came here, the musicians decided to stay at home and tweet. And in the absence of musical feathers, Seville was full of popular press, which went into ecstasy with the supposed messages from the stage between Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro. Will better times come? Hopefully…
Where is the flamenco? Niña Pastori proclaimed it: “Flamenco is the most beautiful music there is.” Also Antonio Banderas: “Andalusia is a pentagram on which you can write the song of your life.” And even David Bisbal: “Flamenco is the Spanish music, most listened to in the world.” Definitely well-intentioned messages full of platitudes. A unique opportunity to offer a good flamenco proposal was missed, taking advantage of the fact that the Latin Grammys were held in Seville and coincided with International Flamenco Day, November 16th. The flamenco suggestions were redirected to surrounding events, such as Carmen Linares’ participation in other venues or the number of nominees for the flamenco category in the pre-gala. Where were the young people innovating the genre or the veterans still in form? In their homes, they were probably angry at what they saw.
Only for the high-end Seville. Sevilla didn’t feel the loss of the Grammys. “We don’t hear about the Grammys in town. It’s like a normal week. “There were parties everywhere in five-star hotels and some luxury restaurants, but there was no real impact on the city’s businesses.” The speaker is Lucas Tebas, a 52-year-old Sevillian who runs a business in the center of the city a bar and a cheese shop combined. It is a general opinion about the economic impact on medium and small businesses in Seville. The Latin Grammys passed through the Andalusian capital, but only the high end was noticed in the industry.
What’s wrong with you, Alejandro? Alejandro Sanz seems strange. The singer from Madrid always moved comfortably behind the scenes of the Latin Grammys, a ceremony that brought him 24 awards, making him the Spanish artist with the most awards. But it wasn’t his night. It had one of the most outstanding moments of the evening (third place after Rosalía’s performance and the award for Shakira and Bizarrap), but it left a measured atmosphere. He appeared with dyed white hair and glasses perched strangely on the tip of his nose. He said a few sentences and became irritated: “We repeat.” And it was repeated. Maybe he didn’t know they were already live, but it was strange. He then performed the well-known “Heart I Parted with Reluctance.”
Where are the Spaniards? It was not a night of euphoria for Spanish artists. Twenty were nominated for the award and only three won: Niña Pastori for Flamenco Album, Quevedo for Urban Song (along with Bizarrap) and Marcos Vidal for Christian Album. “I dedicate it to God,” is the truism of Vidal, who was born in Germany in 1965 but has lived in Spain since childhood. We can also count Nathy Peluso, although Argentinians would demand their share since the sensational artist has dual citizenship. Peluso was very happy with her gramophone for the best music video for the song You’re great.
Niña Pastori with her gramophone during the album Flamenco. José Manuel Vidal (EFE)
Pablo Alborán’s bad star. “Before I wrote the speeches on paper, but after a few years in which I have not received any awards, I no longer prepare anything,” said Pablo Alborán before the gala. The man from Malaga saved himself. Alborán left another gala empty-handed. He has been nominated up to 28 times and was in the categories of Spaniards with the most opportunities on Thursday, with up to five presences. In the end you will get it…
The happiest person at the Grammys. Without a doubt it was Laura Pausini. They gave him the Person of the Year award, one of those awards that are given out weeks before. So the Italian moved to Seville with her husband, daughter and parents for a week and spread happiness wherever she went. He also hit the record for red carpet interviews: up to 33. “I have sore cheekbones from smiling for three days. This morning I woke up with this face [mostrando una sonrisa gigante]” he said on that red carpet. The Italian will never forget this November 2023.
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