Monday night The Penthouse Residences at 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, alongside Sony Music Latin, proudly hosted a private listening party for the debut album of Univision’s “La Banda” winners, CNCO with Ricky Martin. “La Banda” was produced by Simon Cowell, Ricky Martin, and Saban entertainment and judges included Latin American singers, Ricky Martin, Laura Pausini and Alejandro Sanz. Groups who found fame similarly with Simon Cowell include One Direction and Fifth Harmony, who performed and made video appearances at the finale show of “La Banda.”
The five young members of CNCO, Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez, Joel Pimentel, Zabdiel de Jesús and Richard Camacho started the evening at Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Beachcraft, while mentor Ricky Martin, was wrapping up a secret project down Miami Beach with Maluma. As CNCO made their way up the elevators to the 16th floor two-story Penthouse Residence at 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, they could barely hold in their excitement. They were greeted with sounds from their debut album filling the ocean front penthouse, as cameras flashed and top Sony Latin music executives applauded them. Overcome with emotion the boys each made brief speeches and even gave acoustic previews before each song played.
As the sun set on South Beach, the event continued to heat up with Ricky Martin making his grand debut. The boys lit up when they saw their mentor and posed playfully for photos with him. The “pack” got into a huddle to block out the flashing cameras and crowds surrounding them. Based on the groups’ facial expressions, Ricky, who came to fame in a similar manner with the popular group Menudo, was certainly giving them some words of advice and encouragement. The group made their way to the second floor of the Penthouse Residence to continue their conversation in private, likely for their upcoming junket planned for Wednesday at the Sony Music Latin office in Miami for their formal album debut.
