He does it because he can. I mean, the fact that Miguel Poveda brings colleagues to his shows as supporting artists, to give them more exposure. That is also a way to increase the public attending his shows, a strategy already used in the old days by Marchena and Valderrama, among other big stars of cante. Pepe Marchena had a company that toured every year all over Spain, and if he was going to perform in a small town like, say, Arahal, the Master of Masters would stop by the town a few days before the concert and ask around whether there were any good local performers to include in his lineup. There was always someone and they would sign them up for just one show.

What was the point of that strategy? The locals would get all excited and no one would want to miss one of their own — such as Niño de Arahal, El Rubicano, El Plancho Viejo or Realito, the grandfather of cantaor Jesús Carrillo —performing with maestro Marchena. If any of them outdid Marchena, the master would come out and say: “Yes, but there is only one Marchena, and that’s me”. Because most cantaores in those towns at that time tried to emulate him.

«Miguel Poveda is the only one capable of leasing a big arena and filling all of it or selling ten thousand tickets in Seville. In the old days that was achieved by Marchena and Valderrama, and more recently by Camarón de la Isla»

Miguel Poveda, who is a smart guy, does this and it goes well for him because, on top of that, his elected artists then shower him with praises in the social networks and confront anyone who dares to criticize the master. This artist from Barcelona doesn’t come close to being the best cantaor of our days, but he is a big star, the only one capable of leasing a big arena and filling all of it or selling ten thousand tickets in Seville. In the old days that was achieved by Marchena and Valderrama, and more recently by Camarón de la Isla. Valderrama used to bring Camarón to perform in his shows when few people had heard of him, and the same goes for guitarist Pepe Habichuela. Valderrama introduced the public to dozens of new artists of cante and guitar, and that is why he is admired by so many artists.

What Miguel does is praiseworthy, because sometimes he brings to his shows cantaores or cantaoras who are better than him. I remember how great was María Terremoto performing por bulerías in Barcelona a few years ago. Thus, it is only fair to point out that such gestures are important and that he should keep doing this. In fact, he could help them even more, because he is the only one with the means to do so.