Winners’ gala and awards presentation Seventeenth Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba Gran Teatro de Córdoba Saturday, May 8th, 2004, 9:00 pm

Great expectations and cameras galore for the closing gala night of the great Festival de Córdoba 2004. The future arrived to this Andalusian capital, and for the first time the event would be broadcast via Internet – the implications were impossible to overlook. Two hundred and twenty individuals, including some prestigious professionals, had passed through the weeding-out process to yield 11 winners in the specialties of cante, dance and solo and accompaniment guitar, and these survivors would show off their outstanding abilities to the whole world, live, direct from Córdoba’s stately Gran Teatro.

As is the custom, veteran performers were in charge of presenting the prizes. Living legends such as Mario Maya, Manolo Sanlúcar, Fosforito, Matilde Coral and Serranito filed across the stage to congratulate the winners and lend their considerable prestige.

Gabriel Expósito ( Manolo Sanlúcar prize)	Juan Antonio Camino ( Pepe Marchena prize)	Jesús Chozas ( Antonio Mairena &Cayetano Muriel prize)

But a series of performances that ranged from competent to embarrassing, left many of us scratching out respective heads: Is this really the best there is? Are these people worthy of sharing the honor of a Córdoba prize with people like Juan Talega, Fernanda de Utrera, La Perla, Paco de Lucía, La Paquera, Chano Lobato, Manuela Carrasco, Manolo Sanlúcar, Mario Maya, José Mercé, La Yerbabuena and so many others?

No one likes to sour the victory of people who fought and sacrificed so much to achieve a specific goal, but the dimension of the disappointment is too great to be kept silent, and it can only be hoped that measures will be taken so the next edition which has been pushed up to 2006 in order to fall on the festival’s fiftieth anniversary, will be worthy of its fame.

Antonio Porcuna EL VENENO ( D. Antonio Chacón prize)	Yeyé de Cádiz ( Camarón prize)	Rosario 'La Tremendita' ( Manolo Caracol prize)

The guitar competition was the least controversial. Gabriel Expósito in solo guitar, and Eduardo Trassierra, winner in the last Bienal who carried of the accompaniment prize, were technically impressive as is only fitting of the year 2004, if a bit short in artistic expression.

In cante, the most interesting moments were provided by veterans Jesús Chozas with his tonás that earned him the Antonio Mairena prize, and fandangos de Lucena and jaberas for the Cayetano Muriel prize, and Yeyé de Cádiz with his alegrías for which he received the Camarón prize.

Eduardo Trasierra
(Juan Carmona Habichuela prize)

In dance there was more to grumble about. The obvious predilection of the judges for a type of dance that was outdated, commercial and at times undignified, would have been less important had there been a higher level.

The performance, in other ways competent, of Belén López (Mario Maya prize), was marred by an openly commercial choreography, and cheap makeup, costume and hair-do that were a poem of bad taste. At 17 years old, we can only hope she finds a look more in keeping with her talent.

Lola Pérez ( Matilde Coral prize)	Soraya Clavijo ( Carmen Amaya prize)	Belén López ( Mario Maya prize)	María Borrull ( Antonio Gades prize)

Young dancer Soraya Clavijo who won the Carmen Amaya prize, closed the night in a more dignified way with her bulerías and the gala would up with the announcement of the next edition as well as the desire on the part of the organization that UNESCO declare flamenco a world heritage, an objective curiously at odds with the presentation that then officially came to a close.

Text: Estela Zatania
Photos: Rafael Manjavacas