The 40th edition of the Goya Awards took place tonight at the Forum Building in Barcelona, with ‘Los Domingos’ triumphing in the most important categories, despite the higher number of statuettes for ‘Sirat’. In addition to the seventh art, music has once again been one of the most important elements of the gala. In this sense, Ana Mena and Belén Aguilera have been some of the best performances of the night.
This began with the opening number of Rigoberta Bandini and Luis Tosar, singing ‘Today can be a great day’. It is difficult not to see the ironic side of the action when the world is one step closer to definitively falling apart, after the bombings by the United States and Israel in Iran and their subsequent reprisals. Bandini repeated late in the night with his version of ‘De tot cor’, by Tomeu Penya, on electric guitar. It was correct, although far from being the highlight of the gala.
Things began to improve with the tribute to Lole and Manuel de Alba Molina, Ángeles Toledano and L’Escola Coral de l’Orfeo Català. ‘Tu mirá’ began with a children’s choir before moving on to the magnificent presence of Ángeles Toledano, who was in charge of the most minimalist part of the song. At the end of the number, a drum set and an electric guitar join the mix, Open Front style.
Ana Mena and La Casa Azul was the mix we didn’t know we needed. ‘La bambola’ is also a song that hit home, as everyone already knew Mena’s taste for Italian pop. She, very fine and classic in her initial part, in which she ends up standing at the piano, and enormous in the final climax. The transition to Guille Milkyway’s vocoder, with a totally different aesthetic, was a total surprise.
Bad Gyal was one of the most anticipated artists of the night and she did not perform alone. Together with Arrels de Gràcia, the Catalan performed ‘Rumba de Barcelona’ and claimed the diversity of Barcelona with drag queens, children playing soccer and several dancers. Farelo seemed to sing with very little, if any, autotune. That’s fine, but the number was less explosive than we expected.
The most beautiful performance of the night was starred by Belén Aguilera and Dani Fernández in their tribute to Robe. Aguilera’s beautiful version on piano and strings, and almost whispered, provided the best entry point for the vocalist’s raspy voice. This was also the longest act of the night, taking place during the in memoriam. Great duet, best song.
