The Legacy
The evening began with the performance of Jandy Ventura, who lit up the stage and got the audience dancing with the contagious merengues of his father, Johnny Ventura. Songs like Yo soy el merengue, Cabo e’ vela, Las indias de Baní, Cuando tu estás cerca de mí, La agarradera and others, achieved the ovations of the attendees, who also approached the artist to take photos, videos and even selfies to publish them on their social networks.You can also read: “Krisspy is not a typical merengue singer”, says Jochy Sánchez
Conjunto Quisqueya
Later, the emblematic orchestra Conjunto Quisqueya entered the scene, a band that awakened the audience’s desire to continue dancing and singing. They started with “I drink today, I drink tomorrow”, bringing Christmas out of season, but the large number of songs they have allegorical to this season, a merengue of these could not be left out. One of the songs that the audience enjoyed the most from this orchestra was “Mi piel”, also known as “Mira como se me pone”, performed by Javish Victoria, which was sung along in different verses. They continued with “The baby woke up”, “Jealousy”, “The lemons”, “Maria Cristina”, “Micaela’s woes”, among other merengues that were successful between the 70s and 80s, managing to close their participation on a high note.Bonny Cepeda
The main act was Bonny Cepeda, who before starting his show put on a whole production, through video, before going on stage. The musical director entered with the song La fotografía, one of his most popular songs, with which the audience identified. Then he called his brother Richie to the stage, whom he hugged and kissed on the right cheek, and immediately he began to sing merengues like Me tiene chivo, Estoy caliente and El mandamás. The following artist was Henry Castro, another of its former members, who performed the merengues “Quisiera ser” and “Tú con él”, two merengues that resonated with the public in 1986. Later it was El Zafiro’s turn, who was called to the stage by Bonny and immediately began the piano intro of “I don’t know what to do” and the acceptance was immediate, as people stood up in their seats to dance and take photos of Carlos Manuel. This continued with the merengue “Porque tú me gusta”, a 1984 recording, which resonated with the public. The sapphire shone on stage. Another of the artists who had a lot to do with Bonny was Tito and the late Luis Kenton, with whom he formed the Bonny Con Kenton orchestra in 1978 and when called to the stage, Tito got the attention of the people by performing Campesina, Palo con ella and El negro del swing. The choreography of Los Kenton recalled that great era of this orchestra, which was characterized by good dancing, to such an extent that no other orchestra managed to equal them. The end was with Bonny himself singing the iconic merengues “Asesina”, “Ay doctor” and finally, he repeated “La fotografía”, with which he said goodbye to the audience that almost completely stayed until the end.
