Ricard Ustrell and 'Barça plays in RAC1', among the Ràdio Associació awards

BarcelonaA silver anniversary for the Ràdio Associació Awards, which celebrated their 25th edition with a list of winners that highlights the broadcasters' most socially responsible role and the projects that preserve the medium's memory, as its centenary draws to a close. The top awards went to Barça plays on RAC1 (award for excellence), the documentary Women of Radio, the Radio Sound Archive, the Women on the Air project, the veteran radio host Ricky Romero (famous for working with Pere Bernal on programs such as In my own way), DANA coverage by À Punt, Alzira Radio, Aldaia Radio, and Ricard Ustrell (in the category of best professional). The awards will be presented at a gala in the foyer of Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu on May 15th, at a party that is usually the main social gathering for Catalan-language radio and which this year will be hosted by Marta Romagosa and Antoni Clapés.

The winners announced today are just a few of the awardees and correspond to proposals submitted by Ràdio Associació and are awarded at the discretion of the jury. The rest compete among themselves, and the jury will reveal during the gala which of the 126 proposals submitted to the competition will ultimately take home a trophy.

As for the award for excellence, the jury deemed it well deserved. Barça plays on RAC1 because "since the first season he has identified the style that has consolidated the leading radio station in Catalonia, RAC1, now that it is celebrating its 25th anniversary; a direct style, with plain language, with the collective participation of professionals and collaborators, which has led him to forge strong complicities with the audience." In the case of Ustrell, he receives the award "for a relatively short but intense career that began at Ràdio Sabadell and Matadepera Ràdio and continued at Catalunya Ràdio presenting, among others, The supplement of the weekend." The verdict recalls that "he currently directs The morning of Catalunya Ràdio, with a positive recovery in audiences for public radio."

The announcement also listed the finalists for the competition awards. The candidates for best radio program, in alphabetical order, are: Night (Radio 4), with Sílvia Tarragona; Tentulo (cultural magazine on IB3), and Sound territory (musical space on À Punt Media). In the innovation section, the award will be decided among the podcasts Effervescent tablets (At Punt Mèdia), Follow Garriga (by Francesc Garriga on Catalunya Ràdio) and Don't hang up (an independent radio fiction proposal).