The night promised from the beginning. Rosalía lit up the gala with the first live performance of one of the songs from Luxtheir recently released fourth album. Accompanied by an orchestra, the theme Relic resonated at the Roig Arena in Valencia, which hosted the LOS40 Music Awards Santander for the first time. The two winners of the evening were Ed Sheraan, with three awards, best international artist, best album for play and global icon; and Aitana, with two of the big prizes, best Spanish artist and best tour The season of metamorphosis —which ended with three packed concerts last July. “I want to dedicate this award to Valencia, to all the people affected by dana,” Aitana said. Double also for Dani Fernández, Dani Martín and Emilia.
After the start of the gala with Rosalía, an hour later the second surprise of the evening arrived. Ed Sheeran appeared only with his guitar and his success Perfect. When, unexpectedly, Aitana joined in mid-song. The two big winners of the evening together on stage. During the red carpet, the singer admitted that she “was nervous.” It was barely noticeable: he sang with great confidence alongside Sheeran. Aitana has 31 nominations at the LOS40 Music Awards, a record among musicians last night.
Another moment to highlight was the audiovisual homage paid to Rosalía for her musical career: “It’s not a coincidence, nor a fortune”, could be heard in the video set to music with her album. Lux: “She is unconventional, generous and an example for her colleagues. Always with the aim of improving herself.” After these words he was given the first Global Icon of the gala which he dedicated, like many of the winners, to the victims of the dana: “We continue to think about you”, he exclaimed. Before the performance, the Catalan artist had already captured all the attention. Rosalía turned the red carpet into a massive demand for autographs. When it arrived there was no doubt: chaos announced it. Dressed, against all odds, completely in black, unlike that image of the nun dressed in white that stands out on the cover of her new album, which, she confessed in such a short time, “surprised her by the desire that people had to listen to it”.
For four hours, the Roig Arena stage – inaugurated just a few months ago after a 400 million euro investment by Mercadona president Juan Roig – hosted performances by Morat, Rels B, Feid, Dani Martín, Pablo Alborán, Nicky Jam, Beéle, Emilia, Dani Fernández, Nil Moliner, Danny Ocean, Kapo and other artists. The multicolored shell of the location welcomed 18,000 people who attended the twentieth edition of the awards live.
In the Global Latina category, Feid established herself as phenomenon of the year in Colombia and on her tour Faster lap was awarded the best. When he went to collect the first award of the night, he promised: “We will sing, we will twerk and we will cry.” The Argentine singer Emilia also celebrated two awards: best Latin artist and best urban song with Blackout. Bad Bunny won urban album in this category, but wasn’t there: “There’s no one who can take this out of Puerto Rico,” they said, laughing. Another important award went to Mora as best urban artist: “Valencia, this is for you”.
Dani Martín took home the awards for best live artist and best song for The last day of our lives. Moments earlier he was running with the energy of a teenager in interpreting success Gym shoes —from his previous band El Canto del Loco—. The audience exploded just hearing his name. The former singer of the hit band sang his new song, Twenty-fivewhich refers to the years he will soon reach in music. “I experience a success that is not fashionable. When you are almost 50, this award is worth more than those of the beginning”, said the singer. And he added: “For me it is very important to see people like Dani Fernández on stage, who carry that DNA that represents me.” Fernández was awarded the Best Album award for The package and his song What if we did? together with Valeria Castro, it earned him the award for best collaboration. “Music is a refuge, I hope it’s the same for Valencia because of everything they suffered last year,” Fernández said upon receiving the award and took the opportunity to dedicate it to Valeria Castro, who was absent.
Tickets for the event sold out in just 90 minutes. The previous edition completely filled the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, in a gala dedicated to supporting those affected by dana. Tonight, a few kilometers from what was a catastrophe a year ago, the Roig Arena has become an act of solidarity and a symbol of resilience. The first edition of the LOS40 Music Awards took place in 2006, in what is now the Movistar Arena, in Madrid. Two decades later, the awards are consolidated as one of the great stages of Spanish music. The annual gala, organized by the music station of the PRISA group, publisher of EL PAÍS, is capable of uniting several generations of artists and audiences under the same celebration.
The gala, hosted by Tony Aguilar, Cristina Boscá and Dani Moreno The Roosterit was broadcast live on the LOS40 website, app and YouTube channel, as well as on the Divinity and Mediaset Infinity platforms. Hours before the gala, they walked the red carpet and watched the special program The pre-show several artists, including the Colombian group Morat, where Cris Regatero, Karin Herrero, Aitana Jerez and David Álvarez interviewed upon arrival on site.
It was past midnight when the Roig Arena transformed into a giant blue room. Aítana appeared on at least five screens, when a camera started following her while everyone waited for her to appear on stage. Thousands of bracelets along the stands lit up like stars during the highly anticipated performance of the Barcelona native, who closed the LOS40 Music Awards gala with her hit Superstar. Surrounded by twenty dancers, Aitana greeted the evening accompanied by the euphoria of the audience.
LOS40 award winners
In the Spain category, the big prizes went to Aitana for best artist and tour The season of metamorphosis. Dani Martín raised the statuettes for best song with The last day of our lives and Best Live Artist. The winner of Breakthrough Artist was composer Naiara. Dani Fernández won the award for best album with The package and Best Collaboration for What if we did? with Valeria Castro. Best Music Video went to Do whatever you want with me of the Walls. The music event or festival of the year took it I love the twenties (ShareMusic). While Nil Moliner won the “Del 40 al 1” Artist award and Bombai won the LOS40 Summer Live Artist award.
In the international category, Ed Sheeran won best artist and best album play. Myles Smith won best song for Observe the stars. While the best new artist went to HUNTR/X.
In the Global Latin category, Emilia won two awards for Best Artist and Best Urban Song for Blackout together with Tini and Nicky Nicole. Best New Artist went to De la Rose. The award for best Latin album went to Beele for Borondo. Bad Bunny would win Best Urban Album with I should have taken more photos. The best Latin song was Capable of Alleh and Yorghaki. Rauw Alejandro won the award for Best Music Video with Cute face. The best live artist was Morat. While Feid won best tour with Faster lap. Best Urban Collaboration went to Nicky Jam and Beele for Heikka.
The global icon of the evening went to Ed Sheeran, Rosalía, Nicky Jam and Pablo Alborán.
