How the 2023 Premio Lo Nuestro is pushing to be a multi-generational show
Ulises Chang, Premio Lo Nuestro Executive Producer since 2017, sat down between rehearsals to discuss his vision for Premio Lo Nuestro and what the Spanish-language music show means to him.
The 35th edition of the Premio Lo Nuestro awards show airs Thursday February 23 at 7:00 p.m. ET on the Univision network. Throughout the course of the event, fans will see four hosts, 21 dancers, and about 30 artists.
The awards show had more than six million views last year, and is the highest rated among other award shows like Premios Juventud, the Latin Grammys, and the Latin AMAS.
Chang discusses challenges and rewards
While overseeing rehearsals by Maluma, Ozuna, Ricardo Montaner, Ivy Queen, Sebastian Yatra, Grupo Firme, and Tini, Chang sat down for a brief interview to share his perspective as the leader of the most-viewed Spanish-language awards show.
“Every year is a challenge,” Chang explained when asked about the logistics of the show. “Balancing budgets, venue, timing, artist relations, the amount of artists that are out there now. This show has such a long history and such prestige, people really want to be here.”
“That’s one of the biggest challenges: Being able to somehow fit everybody which always is hard. But also if people come to us early on with a pitch or a plan, we can say, maybe it’s not the right fit for this show, but we can work out a plan where it fits more organically somewhere else.”
“We take a lot of risks and we have a lot of freedom to do things in this show.”
Chang’s Premio Lo Nuestro vision
Chang described his vision for Premio Lo Nuestro, and what he is trying to portray to multi-generational audiences. Chang dreams of families “co-viewing with different generations”, so that families can celebrate their heritage together.
“This is tradition and celebration of music, of our music. Celebrating our history in this country, and what we’ve contributed musically,” Chang said. “The slogan this year is incredible: El mundo es lo nuestro (The world is ours). Because of where we are nowadays.”
“To be able to make people happy at home when they’re watching, and to be able to transport them to another place,” the executive producer mused. “Music is so beautiful. Music takes us to places we’re no longer at, it reminds us of our parents.”
“It’s what Hispanics are. We still sit at home with our parents to watch, especially these types of shows. They do bring the multi-generational co-viewing.”