The Cuban singer Frank González Almaguer won the Best of the Night award this Monday in episode 38 of the eleventh season of "Yo me llamo Colombia", the popular imitation reality show from Caracol Televisión, after performing "Prometo" by the Spanish singer Pablo Alborán while accompanying himself on the piano.
The prize, sponsored by Betano, amounts to two million Colombian pesos. Almaguer received it visibly emocionado and, true to the character he embodies in the contest, declared with laughter: "Hello, my name is Pablo Alborán and I just won two million pesos."
The challenge of this evening was twofold: to incorporate the piano into the performance without sacrificing the Spanish accent or vocal quality, something that the artist himself acknowledged as an even greater challenge.
"I am very proud because it was a challenge, it truly was a challenge today. I had to go out and play the piano, and I really prepared a lot, especially with the accent, which is what I have been focusing on all this time," he said after receiving the award.
The jury and the audience responded with a standing ovation. The actress Amparo Grisales, one of the panel members, was moved to tears by the performance, which she described as "a song practically a cappella, with your piano but softly played, and having that feeling so organic as you sang it, perfectly tuned as Pablo Alborán deserves."
The show's host summed up the consensus of the night: "I feel that Pablo achieved something very difficult tonight; he moved all of us."
For Almaguer, "I Promise" is not just any song. The artist mentioned that years ago he uploaded a cover of that song to his social media, and Pablo Alborán himself reposted it on his Instagram, which led the Cuban audience to start requesting it at every concert.
"It's a song that I love for its style and for what it expresses," he stated. His connection to it is so deep that, as he shared, during the rehearsal before the performance he himself felt a chill while playing and singing it.
After knowing the result, the Cuban couldn't hold back his tears. He wrote on his social media: "So many things come to mind in that moment, my dreams, my family, my country, and all the hard work behind this. Every day I try to give my best with all the respect in the world."
He also expressed gratitude for the support received on digital platforms, which he described as unexpected: "I never expected all the support I’m getting from social media; honestly, it has been overwhelming, to a level I didn’t anticipate."
Almaguer made his debut on the show on July 23 performing "Quién" by Pablo Alborán and received unanimous approval from the jury, which included Amparo Grisales, César Escola, Elder Dayán Díaz, and Aurelio Cheveroni. He was then introduced as the first "Yo me llamo Pablo Alborán" in the history of the competition.
Before his participation in the reality show, the artist already had his own career: last March, he released "Color Café," which had accumulated over 167,000 views on YouTube by the time he debuted on the program. He has made it clear that his time on "Yo me llamo" does not mean renouncing his musical identity.
The grand prize of the season, 500 million Colombian pesos, awaits the final winner of the contest, which airs every night at 8 PM on Canal Caracol.
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