Tuesday, August 15, 2023, 09:41
Summers were not the same without the mythical ‘Summer Grand Prix’. However, after 18 years of absence on television, the emblematic program has returned to liven up summer nights with some of the tests that remain in the memory of many. In addition, this new edition has a representative from Vega Baja: Los Montesinos.
Although the program began broadcasting on August 24, viewers in the region have had to wait until Monday night, August 14, to enjoy the participation of the Montesino people in the ‘Grand Prix’. A decisive delivery that determined which of the participating municipalities would advance to the semifinal. To enjoy the event in a big way, the City Council installed a giant screen in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, so that all the residents could enjoy their time at the ‘show’ together.
To get a place in the semifinal, Los Montesinos -blue team- faced Tineo -yellow team- and had the Alicante rapper Arkano as godfather. It was led by the mayor of the town, José Manuel Butrón, while the Asturian municipality had the help of Belinda Washington.
The first test that was played was ‘the Ki-monos’, where the participants must jump to a net and climb until they get a banana and cross the pool. A confrontation that ended in a draw and that distributed three wild cards for each of the teams.
‘The Nursery’ was the second game. The contestants, dressed in a baby costume that was not at all comfortable, had to climb up a ramp and grab a bottle -which is worth one point-, a pacifier -which counts three points- and finally a rattle -five points-, while the opponents were throwing sweets at him from the top of the peak. A fairly even test that had to be decided in the third round and that fell to the Asturian side.
After this, it was time for the presentation of Los Montesinos, “one of the youngest towns in Spain”, after its separation from Almoradí in 1990. With María, its captain, at the helm, the residents prepared a video to show the rest of the country the municipality in the ‘Grand Prix’, showing the illusion that there is in the locality for its presence in the ‘program of the grandfather and the child’. “Either we win or we kill ourselves,” sentenced one of the montesineros.
The third test, ‘the crazy bees’, ended with the victory of the people of Vegabajense. After her, it was the turn of ‘hamster on the run’, which ended with Tineo as the winner.
The time has finally come to play the ‘hot potato’, one of the tests that have become the revelation of this edition due to the great moments it has given in recent programs. It was disputed by the mayors and godparents of both municipalities. After the elimination of the alderman from Montesino in the first place, and in the second instance of Belinda Washington, the test was between Arkano and the first mayor of Tineo, who won the victory and added another point for his team.
´Joselu’, the heifer that never goes to the ‘pelu’
Nor could they miss the most iconic events of the ‘Grand Prix’ such as ‘the penguins’. It wasn’t until this game when one of the municipalities, in this case Los Montesinos, used one of the novelties of this edition: wild cards, at which time the heifer ‘Joselu’ made its appearance.
Between test and test, and with the presence of Arkano on the set, a musical moment could not be missing in which the rapper improvised some rhymes while Wilbur showed off his physical skills and gave a small nod to his land and to Arakano, Alicante, presenting typical dish of the area: paella.
‘Alice in the land of the caídillas’, the mythical ‘trunks locos’ and the ‘superbolos’, which ended with Ramón García on the ground to avoid the impact of the ball that the contestants use to knock down the bowling pins, were other of the tests that distributed points between both locations. After this celebration of games, the score was very close, with 22 points for Los Montesino and 23 for Tineo, with one test to go.
To culminate the program came the point of the ‘dictionary’, “a decisive test”, to determine which of the two municipalities passed to the semifinal. The godparents, mayors and cultural advisers had to answer if the word given by the presenter and the definition matched, with the withdrawal penalty of three points if they failed, hence the importance of this game. Finally the yellow team -Tineo- won the victory, with 26 points, while Los Montesinos was left with 25, occupying fifth place in the standings.
In this way Tineo, Alfacar, Yepes and Aguilar de Campo slipped into the semifinal of the ‘Grand Prix’, while Los Montesinos, Brión, Cervelló and Colmenarejo stayed by the wayside.
However, the program did not disappoint and gave real moments, as well as, of course, good blows, and which had all the essence of the ‘Summer Grand Prix’. For the recording of the episode, three buses were mobilized from Los Montesinos, which transported the 37 participants who competed in the tests and the 110 neighbors who went to cheer on their municipality. An initiative that was the idea of the Councilor for Fiestas, Alejandro Espí, who contacted the producer to present his candidacy.
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