Argentina is getting ready for the 21st Gardel Awards. See the nominees here

The singer Marilina Bertoldi was consecrated with the highest statuette of the Gardel 2019 awards, taking the recognition in the Album of the Year category for Prender un fuego (Photo courtesy TNT Latin America).

(CNN Spanish) -

The date is approaching to celebrate the highlights of the musical world in Argentina and on September 18 the Gardel Awards 2020 ceremony will be held from Buenos Aires.

This year's hosts will be singer-songwriter Ale Sergi de Miranda and actress Natalie Pérez.

Wos and David Lebón dominate the nominations with 8, each;

They continue to Know Russia with 7;

He killed a Motorized Policeman with 6 and Pedro Aznar with 5.

«This year the audience will be able to experience a true celebration of music in the virtual gala of the Gardel Awards.

We will have an announcement of winners that will include no less than 16 musical performances with duets and crossovers of artists that will surprise.

We will announce 41 winners in a very exciting and really music-filled broadcast, "says Diego Zapico, president of the Argentine Chamber of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms of Argentina (Capif).

Since its first edition, this award has been organized by Capif (the chamber that groups together the record labels of Argentina) and distinguishes the most outstanding of national music, rewarding the talent of Argentine artists in various genres and categories.

The Gardel Awards have been held for 21 years and culminate with the delivery of the Gardel de Oro, recognition that Sandro, Mercedes Sosa, León Gieco, Charly García and Gustavo Cerati received, among others.

With the pandemic, things change.

How to adapt to a ceremony in which the music industry will not be able to be reunited in one of the most important events in Argentina?

«It is a challenge to make an award in which the nominees will not be able to meet in a theater or in a physical space, but instead of taking it as an obstacle we experience it as an opportunity: the artists will not be able to go to the Gardel this year , so we are going to take the Gardel to their homes.

The award will reach the artistic community and the entire public in a virtual gala that will have many moments of emotion.

We redouble the bet in an adverse context, and it is the year in which more musical performances will have the Gardel gala.

It is a time when music, and especially artists, need this fresh and motivating air that is a prize, ”says Zapico.

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Welcome @alejandrosergi and @natalieperez, hosts of the # Gardel2020 gala 🤩

A post shared by PremiosGardel (@premiosgardel) on Aug 24, 2020 at 4:40 am PDT

The Gardel Awards jury is made up of musicians, journalists and other members of the media, show producers, sound engineers and various personalities linked to music.

Among the novelties that the 2020 delivery will have are: the awards are no longer divided by female / male gender;

More than 3,000 applications were received, an absolute record in the last 4 years;

8 nominees per category are established, with the aim that more artists can have visibility through the award and the category "Best Live Album" was incorporated.

According to Diego Zapico, «The awards are something dynamic and in permanent evolution.

We believe that the binary gender distinction is old and does not reflect what happens in reality, that is why we eliminate the male / female distinction.

And for this year we are expanding the number of nominees by category so that more artists have visibility through the award.

As for the new live album category, it reflects a very current phenomenon: people really like to listen to albums recorded with the warmth and feeling that live recitals give.

And in 2019 there were huge productions that reflected it.

Although not much information has been revealed, it is known that the awards gala will feature 16 unexpected presentations, 11 of them will arise from the union of artists of different musical genres and 5 of them are musical celebrations in which tribute is paid to 5 iconic figures of Argentine music.

The Gardel 2020 Awards will be held on Friday, September 18 at 10 pm and can be seen on the TNT screen in Argentina only - a channel that is part of WarnerMedia as well as CNN en Español -, heard on Radio Nacional AM870 / RAE (Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior) and by streaming on the Facebook page of the Gardel Awards.

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