20 de Febrero del 2023 / Tini performs on night 2 of the Vina del mar festival in Chile.
Diego Martin/Agencia Uno
Courtesy Vina del Mar
Argentina’s Tini stepped into her role as a last-minute replacement for Maná at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival with aplomb on Monday (Feb. 20). The 25-year-old former child star delivered an impressive nearly two-hour set with relentless energy, backed by a rock band and a dancing troupe of men and women while performing a string of her pop-urban hits.
The end result in her first Viña del Mar performance? Silver and gold gaviota trophies, depicting the seagull, symbol of the festival.
Here are some highlights from her Feb. 20 headlining set at Viña del Mar:
- Seizing the moment: Kudos to Tini, who brought to Quinta Vergara a stunning show and a impressive set with less than a month’s notice. The Argentine singer was confirmed just this month, after Mexican rockers Maná had to bow out of their performance last minute after a knee operation left lead singer Fher unable to perform.
- That opening number: Lots of effective drama with dancers taking the stage in outfits that resembled hazmat suits, then literally ripping one of those outfits off to reveal a dancing Tini dressed in black.
- Uptempo most of the way: Although Tini can deliver powerful ballads (as she did at the 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards) and as she occasionally did here, the Viña del Mar show was devoted mostly to her uptempo fare, which she served with relentless enthusiasm. We were most impressed by her mix of urban pop with Argentine cumbia, a Tini signature that’s immediately catchy.
- The band: Tini has managed to finesse the art of combining rock and urban elements into a cohesive whole. While her dancers were the main event — they stayed with her in every song — her very tight rock band brought an added edge to her pop urban fare with live electric guitar and drums.
- The outfits: It was sexy, sporty vibes for Tini, who performed with three outfit changes, all of them track pants and cropped-top sets. She kicked off the evening in billowy black pants and bomber jacket that came off to reveal a high cropped top and toned abs. Then it was wide orange track pants and a cropped black and orange top with “TTT” emblazoned on the front. For the last segment, she came out pretty in pink, with wide, fuchsia leopard-print pants and a matching cropped top. The end result was sexy but hip.
- The fans: As the announcers pointed out, the largely young and female audience at Quinta Vergara Monday night had grown up with Tini from her days as a child television star. Tini gave back, walking into the audience early in the set to sing a ballad alongside them.
You can livestream all Viña headliner performances every night at 8 p.m ET here on @billboard, on the @billboard YouTube channel and on the @billboard and @billboardlatin twitter account.