XLV Festival Internacional de Cante de las Minas. La Unión – Murcia. Final Winners

XLV
Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas

Final

Friday, 13th august, 2005.
La Unión (Murcia)

Text & photos: Estela Zatania

The ides of August when the cities are ghost-towns and any
self-respecting Spaniard is down at the beach…except for
those of us journalists, technicians, politicians, singers,
dancers, guitarists and flamenco fans who were gathered at
La Unión, Murcia to witness the coronation of the new
owners of the Lámpara Minera, the Desplante and the
Bordón respectively.

The new queen of cante de Levante is Gema Jiménez,
19 years old, from Jodar (Jaén), who also won first
prize at the previous Lo Ferro festival. This year the rules
had been modified so that it was necessary to win in another
mining cante besides mineras in order to carry home the coveted
Lámpara, and the young lady complied with her tarantas.
Her sweet voice and ethereal delivery, combined with knowledge
and a sort of angelic serenity was the perfect combination
that won over both jury and audience.

Gema Jiménez – Premio 'Lampara minera'

In dance, the first prize, known as the Desplante, went to
Daniel Navarro from Córdoba, a young man with plenty
of experience who demonstrated extreme elegance and control
with perfectly executed flashes of flamenconess. Iván
Vargas from Granada carried off the second prize in dance
with the intense style typical of his hometown.

This year the guitar prizes, including the Bordón,
went unawarded when no aspirant made it to the finals. Another
unusual note was José Ramón Fernández
who won for his soleá and bulerías in the Cantes
Bajo Andaluces. The young man who is currently serving a nine-year
prison sentence and was on special leave, dedicated the prize
to his guard, and won over the audience with his huge smile
and sincere singing style.

Journalist singer Juan Pinilla from Granada interpreted 6
styles for the finals, a mini recital that lasted a full half
hour, and was the only aspirant to the Lámpara besides
Gema. Miguel de Tena from Extremadura who recently recorded
his first CD, took second prize in mineras but could not opt
for the Lámpara according to the new rules as he hadn’t
classified in any other mining cante. Young Cordoban Antonio
José Mejías was overjoyed, incredulous even,
when his name was announced as winner of the prize for siguiriyas,
and for the second time Francisco Contreras from Elche (Alicante)
received the prize for young hopefuls. Oddly enough, as happened
last year at the Córdoba contest, no one from Jerez
made it to the finals.

Lest we forget, expert guitar accompaniment was provided
throughout the contest by Paco Javier Jimeno, Rosendo Fernández,
Luis Mariano, Fernando Rodríguez and last but not least,
Eduardo Rebollar for the winning cantes of Gema Jiménez.

Discografía relacionada:

Pack 5 CD Festival Internacional Cante de las Minas

• More information:

  • All
    the information
  • XLIV
    Festival Internacional de Cante de las Minas
  • 
    XLIII Festival Internacional de Cante de las Minas
• Photo Gallery