"Al otro lado del río" (English: On the other side of the river) is an Oscar winning song, written and performed by Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler for the film The Motorcycle Diaries (2004).[1] Beside the film's soundtrack, it can also be found in Drexler's seventh album Eco; in the soundtrack the bassist Jeff Eckels also performed.
"Al otro lado del río" received the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 77th Academy Awards,[1] becoming the first song in Spanish, the second in a foreign language to receive such an honor, and the first by a Uruguayan artist.
The Oscars ceremony producers would not let the then relatively unknown Drexler perform the song during the show for fear of losing ratings. Instead, the song was performed by the more well known Carlos Santana and Antonio Banderas. When later in the evening he indeed won, Drexler's acceptance speech for the award consisted of him singing a few lines of his song a cappella, and closed by simply saying "Chau" (English: Goodbye)
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