It’s summer time in South America and what a better way to celebrate than by hitting the beaches, musical festivals or Carnivals. These are just some of the things that are taking place right now. One of the world’s most famous musical festivals is Festival de La Canción Viña Del Mar in Chile which this year celebrates its 52nd year in action. Here’s some brief history… This festival wasn’t always as prestigious or glamorous as it is today, if we go back to 1959 the festival was just a talent showcase for humble yet talented musicians and comedians. It was a place to show off their talents and where people got to see a nice show and judge if they liked or not. The second year of the festival a wooden stage was formed and an acoustic shell was used on the back of the stage to help sound and provide shelter from the cold nights of this beach city. It is still a tradition for the audience of La Quinta Vergara to openly demonstrate its acceptance by cheering or dislikes by booing people off the stage. This audience has gained the nickname of “El Monstruo” and a monster it is! For any artist it must be an uncomfortable situation when the audience starts booing, and trust me it has happened to even some of the biggest talents that have stepped foot on that stage, some have even left the stage running, ouch… But aside from all the top names and performances this festival has kept their traditional competition going and they have artists and folklore groups from all over the world compete for best International song and Folkloric song. The artists competing in the Festival receive Silver or Golden Torches, if they are liked by the audience they receive the Silver Seagull and if they really liked they are presented with a Golden Seagull which was born in 1999 and given to Juan Gabriel for its first time ever.
Every year the city of Viña del Mar glows with its people and there is a vibe in the air that says “Festival” and that means party! The city gets flooded with artists from all over the world as well as tourists that want to see this amazing show. Festival Viña Del Mar starts today, February 22, 2012, and goes on for 6 days, February 27, 2012. This festival has united many world talents such as The Police, Gloria Gaynor, Earth Wind And Fire, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Nelly Furtado to name a few. Oh and this year’s Luis Miguel performance which is giving the press lots to talk about.
Spanish rapper singer Mala Rodriguez attended the press conference held at the Sheraton Miramar hotel in Viña Del Mar. La Mala Rodriquez will perform tonight alongside the Argentinean singer Diego Torres.
Performance:
2/22 Diego Torres & Mala Rodriguez / Luis Miguel
2/23 Camila / Marc Anthony
2/24 Daniel Muñoz / Salvatore Adamo /Morrissey
2/25 Los Bunkers / Manuel Garcia / Zip Zup / Rafaga y Garras de Amor
2/26 Luis Fonsi / Rosana / Prince Royce
2/27 Jose Luis Perales / Bombo Fica / Juan Luis Guerra
What a show! Don’t miss the live transmission via internet here: http://www.vina2012.cl/index.cfm?seccion=envivo
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