The Casandra Awards ceremony was held last night in a televised ceremony at the National Theater sponsored by Dominican National Brewery (CND), makers of Presidente beer. The Casandra awards are given to 47 categories of show business by the DR’s Asociaci?n de Cronistas de Arte (Association of Art Reporters — Arcoarte). They are the Dominican equivalent of the Grammy, Tony and Emmy Awards and are named for legendary Dominican performer Casandra Damir?n.The top Casandra honor is known as the El Soberano ("The Sovereign"), given to the person whose work during the prior year is considered head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field. The Soberano was given this year to Nuria Piera, whose investigative reporting television show logged numerous successes in 1998 and won the Casandra for its category for the third year in a row.The presentations of the regular awards were made in two distinct segments: Communications, Popular. For example, in the Communications segment, "Nuria en el 9" won Best Investigative Program, "Punto Final" Best Variety Show, "Vivan Los Ni?os" Best Children’s Show, and there was a tie for Best Television Special between documentaries about the life and death of Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) leader Dr. Jos? Francisco Pe?a G?mez ("La Vida de Pe?a G?mez") and about the aftermath of Hurricane Georges ("Detr?s de Georges").In the Popular segment, the big winner was Los Toros Band. They won Best Musical Group, their album "A Pasito Lento" won Musical Album of the Year, and their lead singer, H?ctor Acosta, won Best Male Singer. There was a tie for Best Female Singer between Martha Echenique and Marcel. Best New Artist was awarded to Raffy Matias. The Merengue of the Year was "Me Muero por Ti," written by Angelito Villalona and sung by his famous older brother Fernandito Villalona.Special "International Casandras" were awarded to Puerto Rico’s Elvis Crespo, Cuban-Americans Emilio and Gloria Estefan, and Venezuela’s Jos? Lu?s Rodr?guez ("El Puma"). These four have been declared "Distinguished Guests" by the City of Santo Domingo and are receiving separate honors from Mayor Juan de Dios ("Johnny") Ventura this morning, after which they will be received by President Fern?ndez at the National Palace.For a complete listing of the nominees and winners, plus the history of the Casandras, visit their website at http://www.dominicana.com/casandra
