The first awards ceremony of Latin Grammy Week, and which was held for the first time outside the United States (more precisely, in the Andalusian capital, Seville), was a much less boisterous event than those that we have seen over the last few years in Las Vegas. But he was not deprived of emotional moments and widely recognized celebrities in the Ibero-American universe.
Being precisely the first ceremony of this kind to be held in this part of the world, it was natural that the star of the evening, whose central event took place between 6 in the afternoon and 9 at night in local time, was Ana Torroja, the Madrid singer who has transcended borders both for her work as a soloist and for her career leading the popular pop rock band Mecano, but whose presence aroused special interest among the local press and among fans (not too many, but sufficiently visible) who gathered at the doors of the Plaza España Theater, where the activity that practically officially began the week organized by the Latin Recording Academy took place, that is, the Special Awards, dedicated to celebrate the entire careers of great music figures.
At 5 pm local time, the parade of those designated began through a red carpet installed in the main patio of the cozy venue located in the most touristic point of the city, where open-air flamenco shows are constantly held, designed to attract to visitors and where, these days, a series of concerts with nominated artists is also presented.
There were some who did not pass by the small group of photographers, cameramen and reporters. If Torroja and his compatriot Carmen Linares did it, the Mexican Manuel Mijaresthe Cuban-American Arturo Sandoval, the Argentines from Soda Stereo, the Peruvian-American Alex Acuña and the Brazilian Simone, unlike what happened with the Argentine Gustavo Santaolalla and the Puerto Rican Wison Torres, who, however, received their recognitions inside the theater and offered long and emotional speeches.
On the carpet, and before the microphone of the Los Angeles Times en Español, Mijares specified that during the month of January he will celebrate 38 years of his career, which means that his dates are clear. And he already received them with a new album, “Mis caprices”, whose first single, “Dale luz”, will begin to be heard next week and which is number 33 in his discography.
Amid the different musical currents that capture the attention of youth these days, Mijares’ commercial but mature pop continues to have considerable success, which for him is due to the fact that romantic songs never go out of style.
“Love is the basis of everything, even if it is sometimes presented in different forms, as happens even in hip hop and reggaeton,” he commented. “And that also means there is a little space for me.”
“I never imagined it could last so long; “I feel very proud and very grateful to the Academy for having thought of me”
— Ana Torroja/Singer
The moment that the capital native had within the Sevillian theater was surprising both for him and for his followers due to the unexpected appearance of Emmanuel, the legendary singer-songwriter of ballads and rhythmic pop who made him known by including him as a backup singer in his group and who He offered some heartfelt words in honor of his outstanding disciple.
Ana Torroja as she walks the red carpet.
(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times in Spanish)
Emmanuel, who received the same award in 2021, spoke before the broadcast of a video of greetings to the night’s honoree in which Yuri, Gianmarco, Pandora and even Lucero, the ex-wife of the aforementioned, participated, who went so far as to point out that, For her, “Manuel has the best voice in the Spanish-speaking world.”
Torroja recognized how good he felt with the Musical Excellence Award that was awarded to him just at the moment when he was celebrating four decades of career. “I never imagined it could last so long; “I feel very proud and very grateful to the Academy for having thought of me,” she said.
Although what he practices falls broadly within the realms of pop, his style has always been particularly distinctive due to the elaboration and suggestive nature of his lyrics and, of course, the quality of his caressing voice. “I’ve never been afraid to try different things,” he told us. “I am lucky to have a very particular voice that unifies everything I do, even though I did not study singing initially but after I had started.”
“It’s hard to stay in this business, and that’s why I’m so excited to have gotten to where I am,” he continued. “I think there is one important thing, and it is knowing that you are not always going to be in a good moment; But if you are passionate about what you do, you have to keep doing it.”
Charly Alberti and Zeta Bosio, also honored.
(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times in Spanish)
“Sometimes you will be more successful, sometimes you will be less; For me, success is that, after 40 years, I can continue living from what I want to do,” he added, ruling out the possibility of a new Mecano meeting.
What he has not stopped doing are his own concerts. He has been on the “Volver” tour for almost three years, which began after the hardest stage of the pandemic, and which concludes with the end of this calendar. “Afterwards, I’ll have to start planning what’s next, although, at the moment, I don’t know where it’s going to go,” he commented.
The survivors of Soda Stereo, bassist Charly Alberti and drummer Zeta Bosio, were the youngest of the party. “This is not an award, but a recognition, and it has a special meaning because Soda never received a Latin Grammy, because we separated shortly before the first ceremony took place,” Alberti told us as she walked the red carpet.
“This speaks of all the effort that the three of us made, together, to be able to make people feel everything they feel; and, of course, it is inevitable that it makes us think of today’s great absentee, Gustavo [Cerati]”he added. “Ours was a great teamwork, with successes, with mistakes, with backward steps and with a lot of work, despite the fact that people sometimes believe that the life of musicians is easy.”
Torroja receives his award.
(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times in Spanish)
For his part, Bosio assured that, beyond the reputation of elegance displayed by his group, what the members of the trio did was developed completely on the basis of intuition, without any market plan. “Recently, they did a focus group in which we were defined as ‘Latin pride’, and that is something that will accompany us throughout our lives,” he stated.
Beyond what has been said, the arrival of Soda Stereo at the Special Awards marks a kind of coming of age and even proven seniority for rock in Spanish, a genre that could have regressed in mass tastes in the face of the unstoppable advance of the urban genre. , but which continues to be adored by Latinos from different parts of the world who are already of a certain age.
“The truth is that there are many kids who are turning to rock, and we notice it because we have more and more new fans,” said the bassist. “When we ask them if they have known us through their parents, they tell us no, that they met us in their group of friends. Furthermore, before, those who listened to rock did not listen to anything else, and now, tastes are much broader.”
Despite the irremediable absence of Cerati, Alberti and Bosio have kept the band present on stage over the last few years, which has sparked both positive and negative comments from fans. The first was a Cirque du Soleil show with the group’s music and the most recent has been a tour in which the bassist and drummer were accompanied by other singers and guitarists (sometimes virtually) and that, like the previous show, came to Los Angeles.
“It is likely that we will resume the tour to give it the conclusion it deserved, because the pandemic interrupted things quite a bit,” Bosio said. “We’ll see if we have other guests. In any case, in 2024 we have a good excuse to do it, because it will be 40 years since our first album.”
Santaolla, whose recent health problems currently prevent him from walking without assistance, avoided the carpet, but was as animated as ever when delivering his speech, and closed it with a clear and decisive phrase referring to the political situation in his country: “No Vote for Milei.”
Before this, the founder of Arco Iris and Bajofondo, composer of famous soundtracks that have given him up to two Oscars and eminent producer of the Spanish rock scene, was greeted through a video by various personalities, including the Mexican director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who described him as his “intergalactic brother.”
