On Feb. 22, 2024 located in Miami, Florida, the long awaited award show Premio Lo Nuestro was aired.
There were 5 artists that got to perform during the four hour long event. There were big names like Angela Aguilar and Yuridia who won Mariachi/Ranchera Song of the Year. The performances also included Pepe Aguilar, Ana Barbara, Carin Leon, and Maulma.
But the biggest scandal of this year is that two members of a very popular pop/rock group called RBD were denied entry. RBD’s Christopher von Uckermann and Christian Chavez were nominated and won for the category Grupo o Duo of the Year-Pop, but weren’t able to get in due to the show giving them the wrong tickets which caused outrage on social media.
This award show was first introduced in 1989 where its purpose was to recognize the most talented performers in Latin music. It was presented on the popular Spanish language television network Univision and has been airing for 35 years.
This specific award show is considered a very important night in Latin and Mexican music as when it first came out, it was considered the most important award show before the Latin grammys were introduced in 2000. This award show is still considered prestigious, even though the Grammys have taken the number one spot from them.
However, even though the program showcases many artists and genres such as reggaeton, urban and tropical, it has shown very little promise to regional Mexican music and where its artists stand within it.
Regional music still hasn’t been displayed in many categories, even though the show is the longest running Latin music award show in history. People went on to say that the unequal treatment towards artists of the regional genre has been clearly displayed throughout the years.
In recent years, regional Mexican music has only become more solidified as an established style of music. Last year clearly displayed that this type of music is not just a trend as it went global on many music charts such as the Billboard Hot 100 chart where the song “Ella Baila Sola” made the top 10. This is something that has never been done in the chart’s history.
More categories were added in 2001 to display different fields. For example, some different genres that were added were Ranchera, Grupero, Tejano, and Norteño. It took them 12 years to add more genres to include more artists, which is a shame since there are tons of Mexican and Latin people even here in the states that listen to these genres.
A reason why people think this award show has run for so long is because the people have the choice to vote for their favorite people in all categories. Of course, the actual nominees are chosen by the Premio Lo Nuestro administrators for the quality of the music and their popularity. However, that also bleeds into who has more control over what we get to see during the actual ceremony.
During the 34th annual ceremony last year, two very popular regional Mexican groups Grupo Frontera and Fuerza Regida that were going viral with their single “Bebe Dame” were cut short during their performance. These two groups became very viral after producing their hit, so it was safe to say thousands of people were excited to see them perform it live. But during the middle of their performance, they were cut short because the lead singer of Fuerza Regida Jesus Ortiz Paz, said “make some (bleep) noise.” The music stopped playing and the camera’s cut.
This was all very abrupt as it was only the middle of the performance. But what’s understandably harder to process is that after they performed, some Reggaeton artists did the same thing and their explicit language was only muted and they were able to continue their performance.
However, many people still enjoy the show as they seem to enjoy the mix of genres that are displayed. Obviously, the top artists of the year are what the people want to see and are shown through the pre-exposure the artists receive before the show.
But that still doesn’t stop the fact that regional Mexican artists are getting less exposure even though their music has been high on the top charts as well. Regional Mexican music has expanded horizons and has exceeded people’s expectations for the genre. Numbers don’t lie, which is a big factor these award shows should consider when thinking of including more diverse genres of Mexican music.
It’s a shame that the people in charge of this prestigious event have let the mistreatment of regional Mexican artists get this far. If this goes on for much longer, it will only discourage people from continuing to watch Premio Lo Nuestro, not give these artists the same credit and appreciation as the rest.
