When Moises Odanis Castillo, alias BSK, was announced the winner of Red Bull Talento de Calle in front of a crowd of 2,000 in the historical Fray Anton de Montesinos monument in Santo Domingo last night, he fell to his knees and tears came to his eyes because this meant the beginning of his artistic career.
“My career starts with Red Bull Talento de Calle. I am so excited!” shared BSK. Some of the most respected urban musicians in Dominican Republic rushed to the stage to congratulate their new peer and his fellow competitors joined him on stage for the encore of what will be the first single of the complete production that he will record as his prize.
But this was only the exciting culmination of what has been the most successful online music contest in the Caribbean republic. In the three months that Red Bull Talento de Calle gave all aspiring urban artist the opportunity to jump start their professional career with the support of the most respected exponents of the genre, both the online and traditional platforms where it was promoted were overwhelmingly successful. The website www.redbulltalentodecalle.com, which was adapted from the Red Bull Bedroom Jams platform, gathered more than 100,000 visitors, turning it into the most successful website of its kind to date. Ten tracks were created by respected music producers which talents could download to create their own song and music video. In June, over 2,000 music videos were uploaded and fans were hot to comment and support their favorites.
Media played an important ally for the 30 semi-finalists in July, which appreciated all the help they could get to gather fan votes to make it to the ten finalists. Over 8,000 people came out to support their favorite semi-finalist in the three concerts that were held all over the capital city.
Once the ten finalists were chosen, a complete program was launched to help these aspiring artists make the most of their potential. They had stage presence and production workshop with established producers and music managers, appeared in the highest rating TV shows and were featured in every magazine and newspapers of the Republic.
“I have learned things that if I had to pay for would cost me more money that I could ever afford,” shared one of the finalists on stage in the final concert last night, “the opportunity to learn about stage presence, vocal techniques, production and how to interact with the crowd, is something that I will cherish forever and will always thanks Red Bull for.”
The week of the final concert the public’s attention was turned to the event where the winner would be crowned and #RedBullRD (the country’s Twitter) was a trending topic in the country. The final concert in the shores of the capital city overlooked the historical statue of Fray Anton de Montesinos, who fought for equality in the country’s colonial times, and was accompanied by a live graffiti and parkour exhibition that rallied up the spectators while the finalists performed two songs to the beats of a live band. The invited artist of the night, merengue fusion artist Fuego, was joined on stage by local hip hop star Mozart La Para, Villanosam and Black Point. But the crowd really went wild when the stage was invaded by a freestyle battle between local urban stars such as Gnomico (who also served as host), Mozart La Para and Poeta Callejero, among others, whom brought it back to their roots echoing the event which made their careers possible, Red Bull Batalla de los Gallos.
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