The Melón de Oro de Lo Ferro was won by this cantaor from Linares, who gave his best in a very hard-fought contest. Francisco Javier Heredia will now open many doors to achieve his dreams.
Francisco Javier Heredia, Melón de Oro 2023 al cantaor más completo.
The “Melón de Oro” 2023 award for the most complete cantaor has gone to Linares in the hands of Francisco Javier Heredia Hernández Heredia after a tough final. Much of the credit also goes to Antonio Carrión.
With his cante por soleá, tientos and granaína y media, Francisco Javier Hernández managed to convince the Ferreño jury with a very risky but masterfully performed artistic proposal.
The “Molino de Lo Ferro” award, another of Lo Ferro’s main prizes, went to the best sung ferreña by José Antonio Romero Pérez, from Cádiz, with guitar playing by Antonio Fernández El Torero. Ferreña, tientos and soleá were her bets.
A melon that opens doors
Nothing like these awards in Lo Ferro to open the doors to top flamenco for these cantaores, both Francisco Javier Hernández and José Antonio Rome
It’s not easy to get here. Como as we explained in this post about this important festival in the town of Lo Ferro, they must pass the selective tests and the corresponding semi-finals over several weeks and in front of other contestants who also give their all.
The rest of the awards were as follows:
- M.ª Ángeles Cruzado won the prize for Basic Songs.
- Jesús Castilla Rey won the prize for Cantes de Ritmo (Rhythm Songs)
- Iván Segura Ruiz won the prize for Cantes procedentes del Fandango (Songs from the Fandango)
On the night of the awards ceremony, on Saturday 29 July, the main protagonist was the Festival “Flamenco On Fire” of Pamplona which, from the hands of its director, Arturo Fernández, received the Gold Medal of Lo Ferro, an award which for them is “an honour, as the awards given to you by your colleagues are more worthy than those given to you by other people who are not linked to what we could call the “fatigas”.
The golden brooch to this 43rd edition of the Lo Ferro Festival was provided by her Flamenco Ballet who offered the show “LOLA”, a review of the life of “La Faraona” performing bulerías, tangos, bulerías por soleá, zambra, alegrías, caña, bulerías, sevillanas rocieras and seguiriyas.
The 43rd edition of the Festival Internacional de Cante Flamenco de Lo Ferro concluded on Sunday 30 July with the traditional Misa Flamenca.