ESPN Deportes, Calle 13 Team to Share Latino Athletes' Journey to 2015 Pan American Games
Multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy award-winner Calle 13 is helping to narrate the powerful stories of athletes' journey to Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, which includes the intense dedication and perseverance of many Latino athletes from around the world.
On Monday, in an effort to engage sports fans across the country and throughout the Americas through music and storytelling, ESPN and ESPN Deportes launched a multimedia marketing campaign called #YoDigoPresente ("I am In").
In addition to telling compelling stories that are leading up to the Games, the campaign released an anthem trailer featuring Calle 13's lead singer René Pérez Joglar performing "La Vida, Respira el Momento" (Life, Breathe the Moment), from their 2014 Grammy-winning album "Multiviral."
"I am very happy to collaborate with ESPN to promote the Pan Am Games," said Perez Joglar from Calle 13. "La Vida, Respira el Momento is about the journey of life and how we all prepare for specific moments; that's what it's all about for these athletes. I have always been a sports fan and using this single to represent such an important sports event makes me very proud."
"Respira el Momento" is the first song on Calle 13's latest album "Multi_Viral (after a poetic intro by the late Eduardo Galeano)."
"When I wrote it, I wanted to do a narrative and descriptive song that describes life, that talks about life descriptively and meticulously; it talks about life and describes even death as a triumph. It's a song about the triumph of life and about spirit. It has a spiritual side, but it's a spiritual side with energy. Aggressive energy; strength," Pérez Joglar told Billboard.
There are also images of athletes taking on their rigorous training routine with spliced in footage from past Pan American Games.
While Perez Joglar isn't playing sports himself in the anthem, he also told Billboard: "I used to play baseball all the time, all my life. When I was a kid I lived in front of a baseball park. I was always at the park practicing -- I took it seriously. The same way that I write and take that very seriously. The same way I am doing my music now I used to do with baseball. I thought I was going to be playing in the major leagues. But in the end I had to decide between baseball and art. And I chose art."
The campaign, which will be in English and Spanish, will also feature promos, photography and social interaction, all running in and off-channel. The photography features a series of athletes in action including: Olympic silver medalist Marlen Esparza (boxing, USA); Olympic silver medalist Luguelin Santos (400 metres, Dominican Republic); Olympic bronze medalist Javier Culson (400 m hurdles, Puerto Rico); Olympic and National record-holding backstroke swimmer from Mexico Fernanda Gonzalez; three-time gold medalist 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games Omar Pinzón (swimming, Colombia); 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalist Monica Puig (WTA#48-Puerto Rico).
According to ESPN Deportes, as a part of the campaign, weekly Pan American Vignettes leading up to July 8, will also showcase the challenges, struggles and dedication of athletes from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and the U.S. preparing to represent their respective country.
Check out the anthem trailer for Calle 13's "Respira el Momento."