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Por Debajo de la Mesa

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"Por Debajo de la Mesa"
Single by Luis Miguel
from the album Romances
Released15 July 1997 (1997-07-15)
Recorded1997
GenreBolero
Length3:03
LabelWEA Latina
Songwriter(s)Armando Manzanero
Producer(s)Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel singles chronology
"Que Tu Te Vas"
(1996) 		"Por Debajo de la Mesa"
(1997) 		"El Reloj"
(1997)
Music video
"Por Debajo de la Mesa" on YouTube

"Por Debajo de la Mesa" ("Underneath the Table") is a song written by Armando Manzanero and performed by Mexican recording artist Luis Miguel. Arranged by Bebu Silvetti, it was one of the two original compositions written for Miguel's fifteenth studio album Romances. It was released as the lead single from the album on 15 July 1997 and it became his thirteenth number-one single on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the United States. The music video features Miguel performing at a fine-dining restaurant in New York City.

The track received a negative reaction from Achy Obejas of the Chicago Tribune who called it "lame". It was nominated Pop Song of the Year at the 10th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards and Manzanero was awarded a Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Latin Award for writing the song. Manzanero performed the record as a duet with several artists such as Tania Libertad and Susana Zabaleta.

Background

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In 1991, Miguel released Romance, a collection of classic Latin ballads, the oldest of which dates back to the 1940s. The album was produced by Armando Manzanero and arranged by Bebu Silvetti,[1] and was credited for revitalizing the bolero genre.[2] It also made history as the first Spanish-language album to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States.[3] A follow-up to Romance was released in 1994 under the title Segundo Romance (Second Romance), which was produced by Miguel, Juan Carlos Calderón and Kiko Cibrian.[4] Both albums received a platinum certification by the RIAA in the United States and also became successful in countries outside of Latin America and the United States, such as Finland and Saudi Arabia,[5] selling over twelve million copies combined.[5][6][7]

In December 1996, Miguel held a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he announced his desire to record a third Romance album and mentioned the possibility of working with Manzanero and Juan Gabriel. He also expressed an interest in singing in Italian and Portuguese,[8] although the album's songs are originally all in Spanish. Two months later Manzanero confirmed that he was working with Miguel on another bolero-inspired ballad album, under the tentative title Tercer Romance ("Third Romance").[9] Miguel's record label confirmed that fourteen tracks would be included on the album under the title Romances.[10] "Por Debajo de la Mesa" was written by Manzanero as one of the two original compositions for the album along with "Contigo (Estar Contigo)".[11] Manzanero stated that "Por Debajo de la Mesa" and "Dormir Contigo" were two of his favorite songs that he composed for Miguel.[12]

Promotion

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Luis Miguel "Por Debajo de la Mesa" (1997)
A sample of the lead single "Por Debajo de la Mesa", an original composition for the album by Armando Manzanero.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

A music video for "Por Debajo de la Mesa" was filmed in New York City which features Miguel performing at the Rainbow Room with the video being shot in black-and-white.[13] It was directed by Daniela Federici.[14] The song was included on his greatest hits album Mis Boleros Favoritos (2002) and Grandes Éxitos (2005).[15] A live version of the song was included on his album Vivo (2000) as part of the "Romances Medley".[16]

Release and reception

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"Por Debajo de la Mesa" serviced to radio stations across Latin America on 5 July 1997.[17] In the United States, the song debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart on the week of 2 August 1997.[18] Six weeks later, it peaked at number one on the chart and remained on the position for four weeks.[19] "Por Debajo de la Mesa" ended 1997 as the eighth best-performing Latin single of the year in the United States.[20] The track also peaked at number one on the Billboard Latin Pop Songs chart where it spent five weeks on top of the chart and was the best-performing Latin pop song of the year in the country.[21][20]

Despite giving Romances a positive review, Chicago Tribune editor Achy Obejas called "Por Debajo de la Mesa" a "lame" song and cited it as one of the songs where Miguel is beginning "to slip" on his ballad recordings.[22] Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News felt the track's arrangements "is so stifling, so precious, it's difficult to feel any sensuality. Mr. Miguel tries to muster a seductive tone, but it's no use. This is a love song for the chaste."[23] It received a nomination for Pop Song of the Year at the Lo Nuestro Awards of 1998, losing to "Si Tú Supieras" by Alejandro Fernández.[24][25] Manzanero was given a BMI Latin Award for composition of the song due to it being one of the best-performing Latin songs of the year.[26] At the inaugural Juventud Awards in 2004, "Por Debajo de la Mesa" was nominated in the category for "La Más Pegajosa" ("Catchiest Tune"),[27] but lost to "El Za Za Za" by Liberación.[28]

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[32] Gold 30,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Other recordings

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Manzanero has sung "Por Debajo de la Mesa" as a duet with Peruvian musician, Tania Libertad on the duo's studio album Manzanero y la Libertad (1998) and with Chano Domínguez and Carmen Paris on Manzanero's album Duetos 2 (2002).[33][34] He also performed the song in a concert with Argentine pianist, Raúl di Blasio in 1999 which was included on the latter's live album Bohemia, Vol.2 (2000) and also performed the song live with fellow Mexican singer, Susana Zabaleta on their album De la A a la Z (2006).[35][36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Romance — Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  2. ^ Candelaria, Cordelia; Garcia, Peter; Adalma, Arturo (2004). Encyclopedia of Latino popular culture. Vol. 2. Westport, United States: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 551–552. ISBN 9780313322150. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  3. ^ "Luis Miguel". Latinoise. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  4. ^ "Segundo Romance — Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  5. ^ a b Obejas, Achy (30 August 1996). "Luis Miguel Grows Up And Moves On With His Latest Albums". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  6. ^ "American certifications – Luis Miguel". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  7. ^ La Franco, Robert (1997). Forbes. 160 (5–9): 155. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ "Va por el tercero" [Going for third]. Reforma (in Spanish). Grupo Reforma. 10 December 1996. Retrieved 9 April 2011.(subscription required)
  9. ^ Lannert, John (8 February 1997). "Latin Notas". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 6. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 32. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  10. ^ De León, Angélica (16 July 1997). "Es Luis Miguel un clasico del romance" [Is Luis Miguel romantic classic]. Reforma (in Spanish). Grupo Reforma. Retrieved 28 March 2011.(subscription required)
  11. ^ "Romances — Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  12. ^ Cobo, Leila (8 October 2011). "25 Years of Hot Latin Songs". Billboard. Vol. 123, no. 36. Prometheus Global Media. p. 20. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  13. ^ Miguel, Luis (performer) (1997). Por Debajo de la Mesa (Television). New York City: Warner Music Mexico.
  14. ^ Bulgarelli, Pablo (26 July 1997). "Exito al calor del bolero". La Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  15. ^ "Por Debajo de la Mesa — Luis Miguel". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2014.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "Vivo — Overview". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  17. ^ Meraz, Carlos (15 July 1997). "Llega a todo el mundo 'Por Debajo de la Mesa". El Norte (in Spanish). Grupo Reforma. Retrieved 28 March 2011.(subscription required)
  18. ^ "Top Latin Songs — Week of August 7, 1997". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2 August 1997. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  19. ^ "Top Latin Songs — Week of September 6, 1997". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 7 September 1997. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  20. ^ a b c d "1997: The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 52. Prometheus Global Media. 27 December 1997. p. YE-57, 59. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  21. ^ "Latin Pop Songs — Week of August 30, 1997". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 30 August 1997. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  22. ^ Obejas, Achy (3 October 1997). "Music. Album Reviews – Luis Miguel Romances". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  23. ^ Tarradell, Mario (14 August 1997). "Miguel's 'Romances' not memorable - Production, song choices worsen a tired formula". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo Corporation. p. 37A.
  24. ^ Barquero, Christopher (1998). "Premios Lo Nuestro: Los galardones a la música latina serán entregados en mayo próximo". La Nación (in Spanish). Grupo Nación GN, S.A. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  25. ^ "Lo Nuestro 1998 – Historia". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications, Inc. 1998. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  26. ^ "BMI Latin Awards: 1999". Broadcast Music, Inc. 1 January 1999. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  27. ^ "Hip, Young Hispanics to Honor Their Idols: 'Premios Juventud' First Ever Hispanic Youth Awards to Air Live on Univision Network Sept. 23". Univision. Univision Communications. 2 August 2004. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  28. ^ "La primera entrega de los 'Premios Juventud' se convierte en una gran fiesta de estrellas". Univision (in Spanish). Univision Communications. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  29. ^ "Mexico Charts Notitas Musicales Los 90s". El Chalan Radio Spot. 1 October 1997. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  30. ^ "Luis Miguel Chart History (Hot Latin Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  31. ^ "Luis Miguel Chart History (Latin Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  32. ^ "Spanish single certifications – Luis Miguel – Por Debajo de la Mesa". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Manzanero y la Libertad — Overview". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  34. ^ "Duetos 2 — Overview". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  35. ^ "Bohemia, Vol. 2 — Overview". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  36. ^ "De la A a la Z [DVD] — Overview". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
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