Six-time 2007 Latin Grammy winner Juan Luis Guerra headlined Europe’s biggest Latin music gala, the 13th Premios Cadena Dial ceremony, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands, off West Africa on Tuesday.
It was Guerra’s first Spanish performance since the Latin Grammy triumph last November, and like all other artists, he played one-song in playback in the Auditorio in Tenerife, in the most Latin music-soaked part of Europe.
The Dominican Republic bachata and merengue born-again Christian, who told fans the Grammys were “a gift from God”, was joined at the end of the two-hour gala on stage with all the other award-winning artists.
They were Colombia’s Juanes, Miami-based Cuban Gloria Estefan, Mexico’s Alejandro Fernández and Shaila Durcal, Mexico-based Spanish band La Quinta Estación, and Spain’s Luz Casal, Pastora Soler, Merche, Chambao, Conchita, Andy & Lucas, Kilo & Shara, and Maria.
Spanish-language Cadena Dial belongs to Grupo Prisa’s Cadena SER radio group, and is the second most popular music network in Spain with more than 1.7 million listeners daily, according to Estudio General de Medios (EGM).
The gala was broadcast live on Dial’s 75 Spanish stations, and transmitted to the 1,300 stations belonging to Prisa’s Union Radio in four Latin American countries — Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia — each of which will select highlights for transmission in days following the gala. The ceremony will be shown on Canary Island TV on Friday evening.
The winners are chosen by a jury of Cadena SER’s Cadenas Musicales, including its director Jorge Flo and Dial director Juan Carlos Chaves, who says “Cadena Dial has become the perfect platform for artists with Spanish as their vehicle of communication between the two shores of the Atlantic Ocean”.
Tenerife was chosen to host the gala because of its position as a major stop-off for shipping between Spain and the Americas before the arrival of aircraft. Until 2006, the gala was held in Madrid, but Tenerife may now become its permanent venue.
