NBC
NBC’s hit of summer 2019 is back. Songland kicked off its second season last week and now episode two features the smash Puerto Rican artist Luis Fonsi, whose hit “Despacito” ft. Daddy Yankee reached No. 1 on the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart on February 18, 207 and stayed there for 35 consecutive weeks. It then returned to No. 1 three different times in 2018.
“Despacito” also topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 16 consecutive weeks, tying with “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men for the longest-leading No. 1 single in the chart’s history at the time (“Old Town Road” broke the record in 2019).
Here’s what you need to know about the songs presented to Fonsi on Songland and how to download the winning number.
Contestants
Here are the four people who performed for Fonsi.
- Dyson, Plymouth, United Kingdom, “Conditions.” She is chosen to move forward and work with producer Shane McAnally.
- Pipobeats, Pasadena, California, “Sway.” He is chosen to move forward and work with producer Ryan Tedder.
- Lauren Martinez, Albuquerque, New Mexico, “I Don’t Wanna Know.” She is chosen to move forward and work with producer Ester Dean.
- Corii, Morristown, New Jersey, “What If.” She is not chosen to move forward with one of the producers.
After the songwriters performed, Fonsi told the producers, “It’s just a matter of ‘does that [song] fit me? Is that something that goes along with what I want to say now at this stage in my career?'”
The Winning Song
The winning song was Pipobeats’ “Sway,” which sounded like a Fonsi song right from the beginning.
After Pipo’s first performance, Fonsi recommended a few tweaks, saying, “I love that verse melody … it’s like the party just started right away from the beginning … sometimes it gets clunky when you switch from English to Spanish, so it needs a little bit of rearranging and polishing, but it’s got a great verse melody and it’s got a beautiful chorus.”
In reworking it, Tedder advised Pipo to change the guitar riff because he felt like the guitar line was fighting with the vocal melody line. He helped Pipo write a third line for the chorus, but mostly, the song stayed pretty intact from when Pipo performed it the first time.
After he won, Pipo said, “Luis Fonsi has the biggest song on planet earth and he chose my song that I made in my room. The opportunity is the biggest blessing that ever happened to me.”
“This song is right for me right now because it talks to me. I feel it. I can hear myself singing it,” said Fonsi. “I’m looking for that connection point and when I heard Sway day one and when I heard Sway now, reworked, I feel connected. Ryan was able to pinpoint exactly what the song didn’t need, simplify some melodies, added a really important third line in the chorus — I can hear Ryan Tedder all over that line — and I think now it’s where it needs to be.”
You can hear the full song on Songland’s and Fonsi’s YouTube channel and download it now on iTunes and Spotify.
Songland airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, following new episodes of The Voice.
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