Ennio brings his Spanish concert to DBHS
SPANISH FESTIVITY – Ennio Emmanuel sings and dances with members from the crowd who volunteered to go onstage with the performer.
February 27, 2014
Spanish students had a chance to practice their Spanish skills outside of class last Friday at the Puerto Rican-American singer Ennio Emmanuel’s second annual concert. The concert, held in the Diamond Bar High School theater at 7 p.m., united students to learn Spanish language and culture through Ennio’s fun and motivational concert.
Some crowd favorites included “Manda Un Angel” and “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” from his album “Ojalá,” which means “I Wish.” The songs featured fast-paced, catchy beats and were aimed to increase the students’ interest in Spanish and to encourage them to follow their dreams.
The concert featured dance students who danced along Emmanuel’s new single “Fuego Fuego.” Emmanuel also dedicated song “Manda Un Angel” to a student in the crowd, senior Taylor Raymundo, a tradition that he began last year.
Crowd members were also asked to volunteer to perform on stage with him throughout the concert. Many attendees came onstage to dance along to his songs and play various Spanish instruments while he sang. Students were also invited onstage to say tongue twisters and later rewarded with their choices of merchandise.
The Spanish teachers were thanked personally by Emmanuel when he brought them onstage and gave a short speech in Spanish to express his gratitude for their organizing the concert.
“The concert was a lot of fun, and I thought that the concert was a great way of incorporating Spanish into the lives of the students,” attendee Stephanie Wantah said.
The artist also shared his backstory and how he became part of the music industry. He was inspired to change his way of life after several troubling incidents at age 19. Now Emannuel is traveling across America to encourage students to follow their dreams and never give up.
Over the last few weeks, Spanish students of all classes have prepared for the concert by listening to Emmanuel’s songs and singing along. To aid students and teachers in learning the lyrics, Justo Lamas’ website provides karaoke versions of Emmanuel’s songs as well as other interesting facts about the singer.
Spanish is a complex language and students at school don’t have the opportunity to use it outside of school often. This concert offered students a chance to practice their Spanish colloquially.
“First of all, they can sing along with the songs. Second of all, he’s got the words on a karaoke type of screen, so they can practice with that. And he involves students throughout the concert, and interacts with them individually,” Spanish teacher Chris Buccola said.
Spanish Club members, along with Spanish teachers Buccola and Marco Leal, organized the concert, and sold tickets for $14 at lunch. After the show, posters, CDs, and other merchandise were sold to the attendees. Emmanuel also came out after the show to take pictures with fans.
The concert is sponsored by Justo Lamas Group and United Cultures and is on his second year touring the country. Justo Lamas, who preceded him, retired in 2012, leaving Emmanuel as the only singer for the group.
Emmanuel currently has one Spanish album and is currently working on several new albums, one in Spanish and one in English. Several of his singles that he wrote for famous artists will be released later this year as well. His next tour, Enamorados, will start later this year and continue on until 2015. The singer is also working on his first book, “Simple Thoughts For Everyday Life,” which will be released soon.
