The panel of judges for the Criticón Award, given by journalists covering the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival, has now announced the victors of the 2024 edition of the Murgas Contest.
Bambones not only claimed the gold last Friday in the Interpretation category after a decade since their last first place, but on Monday, they also clinched the Criticón Award for their performance of the song The Brochure during the adult murgas final.
This marks the thirteenth Criticón win in the history of El Cardonal, an accolade that acknowledges the most outstanding critique among the murgas participating in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival contest, a feat they have now pulled off for the second year in a row.
Their presentation charmed both the audience and the jury in the final last Friday, and hundreds of Canarians have lauded every verse of the lyrics of this composition by the La Laguna group. “The lyrics, to a large extent, reflect who we are. We cherish and defend our heritage because we believe in it and because it sustains us,” the murga shared on their Twitter account.
In the song, where Bambones criticizes the excessive tourism to which the Islands are subjected, they incorporate a part of the melody from In case tomorrow, one of the most renowned songs by Cadiz singer-songwriter Antoñito Molino. The artist himself expressed his amazement on Facebook with a message for the murga: “Flabbergasted! My song was played yesterday in the final of the Murgas contest of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival. Congratulations on the first prize, and thank you for including my song in your magnificent repertoire.”
As for the children’s category, the murga Distracted also emerged victorious, securing the Enrique González Award, which honors critique among the youngest murgueros. Their composition “Distreamer,” penned by Airam Bazzocchi, received accolades from the panel of journalists for its originality.