Tag Archives: Blas Cantó

Beatriz Luengo’s “Havana Street Party Presents” Concert Special Streaming on HBO Max

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Beatriz Luengo has bared it all…

The 38-year-old Spanish singer, songwriter and actress appeared in an intimate concert special filmed in Havana, Cuba, that premiered on HBO Latino on Friday, February 12.

Beatriz Luengo

The second installment of the HBO concert series “Havana Street Party Presents” — filmed before the global pandemic — not only includes live performances of Luengo’s Cuerpo y Alma album, but also taps into personal stories and empowering anecdotes as told by Luengo.

“Prior to the tour that was expected to start in 2020, I started making this documentary as a way to show my fans what my show would be like and as a presentation for those who don’t know me,” Luengo tells Billboard.

Of her 2018 album, she explains “cuerpo” are the songs she composes on top of beats, for artists like Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, Wisin, Yandel. “Alma” are the songs she pens for organic instruments, for artists like Reik, Thalia, Ha*Ash, Alejandra Guzman, and Ricky Martin.

“This concert is an opportunity to show how a woman has managed to become a songwriter in such a difficult industry,” she says.

Filmed at the doors of an ancient castle in Habana for a select group of local fans, Luengo’s special guests include Manuel Medrano, Farina, Blas Cantó, and Orishas. She’s accompanied by a gospel choir, string quintet, and live DJ throughout the show.

For Luengo, it was important to bring her concept to life, fusing melancholy with modernity, the past with the future.

“We created a very special ambiance,” she says. “I feel that it is a way of projecting and giving hope, showing the Cuban youth all the advanced technology, such as mapping. The entire production has a very strong message for me. Cuba deserves the best.”

Meanwhile, Luengo is making the rounds with the Yotuel and Omar Montes-assisted “Rebelde,” which has become a viral sensation on TikTok with its vogue-meets-flamenco dance. “It exploded!” she expresses. “The TikTok videos are giving me life, all the outfits, and concepts. I love to see how your music can generate a person’s creativity or simply have fun.”

“Havana Street Party presents Beatriz Luengo” is currently streaming on HBO Max.

Blas Cantó to Represent Spain in This Year’s Eurovision Contest with Song “Universo”

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Blas Cantó is ready to compete…

The 28-year-old Spanish singer, a former member of the Spanish band Auryn, will be Spain’s contestant at the 2020 Eurovision song contest.

Blas Cantó

“Universo,” performed by Cantó, a veteran of television talent competitions, including the Eurojuniorcontest where he placed in the finals in 2004, according to Spain’s national television network RTVE.

Written by Cantó and a team of other writers featuring Dan Hammond, a Barcelona-based producer known for developing artists on Spain’s pop scene, “Universo” counts on the beats of a catchy chorus to hook Eurovision votes and break a five-year streak in which the country has failed to make it to the top 20.  

Last year, Spain placed 22nd out of 26 participants with the song “La Venda,” performed by Miki Nuñez, another singer familiar to the country’s TV audiences (he was a finalist on Operación Triunfo.) 

Spain is one of Eurovision’s “big five” countries, which are guaranteed a place in the contest as the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union. (France, Germany, Italy and the UK are the other members of the Big Five.)

Spain, which has been present at Eurovision since the contest’s debut in 1961, has won twice, in 1968 and 1969, and has finished second four times. The country’s contestants earned “nul points” (zero) three times, in 1962, 1965 and 1983, and also finished last in 1999 and 2017.

Eurovision will take place in Rotterdam on May 12.

Cantó is signed to Warner Music Spain.