It was good to see so many familiar faces at last night’s “Premios Musica Latina de Austin” awards ceremony. I am a bit disappointed, though, with how the event played out. Hope I don’t come off as a hater. We all have opinions, verdad? When it comes to the media, I look at things differently than most of you. Not better, just different.
Picture above: Vallejo, Bocaabajo, Alex Ruiz, DJ Soto, DJ Mike Lozano, Marcelo and Hayden Vitera
To begin, I must give “props” to Univision for bringing this heavily branded event to Austin. You guys did a nice job with the production. Red carpet, live music, after party, after after party, etc. Wait, hold on…I take live music back. Track music.
My humble observation, critique, opinion, whatever you want to call it, goes like this:
Who are we supposed to be honoring again?
Now, I produced my fair share of events in the past. I realize the importance of having sponsors, and acknowledging their contribution to the event. Last night I learned more about sponsors than about the artists in attendance. Talk about branded entertainment! Man, this was over the top. Not only were sponsor mentions in the script, company reps got their turn at presenting an award. Although, it was nice to see Johnny (Austin Budweiser rep) present an award/
Univision TV personality overload!
In case an artist can’t attend…
Send a rep or an agent. Intocable won several awards, yet no one accepted on their behalf. “Y el ganador es……Intocable! Cricket, cricket, cricket…
The standard video acceptance by Jennifer Pena didn’t do much, either. Anticlimactic if you ask me.
For a local station that doesn’t cover the live music scene very often, Univision did a good job at recognizing the bands with nominations. Hopefully next time they’ll localize it a bit more. You know, more about the music, less about the network shows and their super happy hosts. It couldn’t hurt to stick with the theme “Premios Musica Latina DE Austin.”
Mejor Tejana Tradicional
Intocable
Mejor Norteña
Eliseo Robles
Álbum del Año
Diez - Intocable
Mejor Vocalista Masculino
Emilio Navaira
Mejor Cumbia
Los Kumbia Kings
Mejor Salsa/Merengue
Chokolate
Mejor Vocalista Femenina
Jennifer Peña
Mejor Mariachi
Mariachi Estrella
Mejor Rock Latino
Los Lonely Boys
Mejor Nuevo Artista
Cienfuegos
Mejor Hip-Hop Latino/Urbano
Los Kumbia Kings
Mejor Banda de Austin
Grupo Fantasma