Cleo, whose stage name is Cleo, was received yesterday by the president of the Cabildo, Inés Rojas, who wanted to encourage the young singer-songwriter a few hours before he took the flight that would transport him to transalpine lands. Cleo, who travels to Italy with a small suitcase containing "many illusions", is confident that the Teatro Nouvo, which is where the festival is held, can be the springboard that allows him to make a name for himself in the difficult and competitive world of song. "I hope that participation in this prestigious event will allow me to make myself known internationally and that it may represent a boost for a future artistic career," Cleo dreams aloud, who confesses that his passion for music began at an early age, at twelve or thirteen years old, when he began to feel quite interested in Canarian folklore.
After participating in different musical events held throughout the island's geography, as well as in some edition of the Yaiza Song Festival, success came to him last July, at the Arrecife City Song Festival, where this young man born in the town of La Tiñosa, and who has just turned 28, won the Award for Best Interpretation. This award allowed him to meet Guillermo Arvelo, a composer from Tenerife who participated as a member of the jury in said event, and who was amazed by Cleo's prodigious voice. For this reason, he proposed to record a song that he himself had composed, and that was finally selected to participate in the I Pop Music Festival "Canzoni dal mondo". "For me, it is a dream come true the mere fact of being able to participate in such a prestigious event and where artists from all regions of Europe compete, since singers from Lithuania, Malta, Belgium, etc. will participate," Cleo enthusiastically relates, who together with a Catalan interpreter, will constitute the Spanish representation in the contest.
Gratitude to the Tías City Council
The young Cleofás Hernández Ramírez is a member and secretary of the José Vélez Friends collective, a group that as a whole has contacted the Tias City Council, the municipality in which the young man resides, so that it covers Cleo's travel expenses, since they had to be assumed by the artist himself. Said city council wanted to collaborate with the young man so that he could be present at the festival, something that Cleo greatly appreciates. "I must especially thank the support I have received from the Tías City Council and its mayor, José Juan Cruz, who has paid for a good part of the plane tickets to Italy," declared the singer-songwriter, who also had expressions of gratitude for Javier Acosta, a young singer from the Island who has supported him at all times in many rehearsals that they have carried out together.
For its part, for the José Vélez Friends collective it is an honor that a representative has the opportunity to participate in international festivals, and all his colleagues wish him great success and to live that beautiful experience in the world of music
