Osvaldo Rodríguez (Cuban)

Osvaldo Rodríguez is a Cuban musician.

In Cuba, he was director and founder of the quartet “Voces del Trópico" and also of the "Los 5-U4" Group, with which he became known nationally. Later he went on to become a soloist singer appearing in the most important theaters, cabarets, arenas, and stadiums of the country.

He has recorded five long-playing records, numerous singles, as well as a significant number of songs on tape, played on national radio.

In his country he earned the "Distinction For Cuban Culture" and won three "Gold Records." the highest honor conferred by EGREM (Enterprise For Musical Recordings and Publications). In the years of 1979 and 1983 he won the popularity prize in the Cuban music contest Adolfo Guzmán.

He has visited countries in the Americas, among them Venezuela, Nicaragua and Chile as well as Europe and Asia. During May 1982 he went on tour to California in the United States appearing in the cities of San Francisco, Bellegrade, Oakland and Palo Alto. In Europe, he has performed in Poland, Germany and the former Soviet Union, as well as in Japan in Asia.

Awards

He has been honored in important international contests such as:

• "Grand Prize" at the festival of songs "Clavel Rojo" in Soshi in the former Soviet Union. Singers from the former socialist countries and some guests from western countries took part in the Soshi Festival.
• "Special Prize" from Polish radio and television at the 1980 Sopot Popular Song Festival. The Sopot Festival is one of the most important ones in Europe. Distinguished singers of international fame attend it. That year, the highlight was the participation of the famous English singer Petula Clark who, in the seventies, was among the TOP TEN in North America with the song "Downtown."
• The "Gold Tap" at the festival of song of Rostock, Germany, 1981. Rostock, a city in the former East Germany, held this Festival of popular music where artists from the socialist countries and internationally famous singers from the West participated. This festival, together with the Sopot, Poland festival, was considered the best in the socialist world.
• "Grand Prize" at the world festival of light songs "Yamaha” World Popular Song Festival held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1981. Osvaldo won the Grand Prize, beating, among others, the famous North American duo Peaches and Herb and the Hollywood star and singer Maria Conchita Alonso. At the world level, the "Yamaha" festival of light popular music was considered among the best; only singers of renowned international quality were invited, and its selection parameters were very high.
• Finalist in the song contest of 'Viña del Mar' in Chile in the year 1992. The Festival of Viña del Mar in the Republic of Chile is the most famous popular music festival in America; to participate the singer must first pre-qualify by sending an unpublished song for a panel of musicians to approve. Then the person is invited to participate in the festival where he/she will defend the pre-qualified song before an international panel of judges. At Viña del Mar the guests who taken part are the most famous Spanish speaking singers of the world, among them, Raphael, Emmanuel, Julio Iglesias and Luis Miguel. In Viña del Mar the days of the Festival are like a national holiday.
• Finalist in the international contest of song of the "OTI" held in the month of November 1994 in Valencia, Spain. The International Festival of the "OTI," 'whose acronym means "Organization of Latin-American Television," is the last of a series of national festivals organized by the television stations members of this Organization. All the countries of America, and Spain and Portugal take part. Each country held a national televised festival the winner being the representative of his/her country. In the United States, the Spanish television system "Univision" with more than 600 affiliate stations selects its representative from previous winners from the local stations at a national televised program from coast to coast. The winner of the "OTI International" is chosen in a two-day show televised via satellite to Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Rodriguez, besides being a singer with a great voice, is an arranger and guitar player. All the songs that he interprets are composed by him. He has a great number of unpublished compositions that have not yet been recorded, and because of the unique characteristics of his native country, Cuba, many of his hits have never been exploited commercially, and some of them have never even been recorded.

References

• Yamaha Music Festival 1981
• World Popular Song Festival
• Festival OTI de la Canción 1994
• Osvaldo Rodriguez Web Site

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