"You, you got it all! ", I told Inés, animator, in the absence of the jail, feeling that he was going to start to boil, wanting and not being able to oppose something. In the previous chronicle he read what he had put in his mouth “quite acceptable”, and once he got the name of “avocados”, he wanted to keep it at all costs. It's also Inés a little bit of that species, with marmartí syndrome, with a natural predisposition to the opposite. Yesterday, however, I had a difficult job: I was going to contest a very good level semi-final in Tolosa.

Iñaki Apalategi did a very fine job, blunt in the response points and with a dexterity in cutting the six points. Oihana Iguaran, probably the bertsolari that has made the championship grow the most, very regular and with a lot of ingenuity. Beñat Lizaso, in a straight line, without having done a round job, but leaving some good moments of play. Beñat Gaztelumendi at his usual level, even in those that did not shine, very suitable bertess. He and Unai Agirre, in the lesser zortziko, were in charge of doing the best office in the afternoon. Agirre was at all times very good, giving a little bite to others. Nerea Elustondo, finally, with some ups and downs, but leaving the elegant pearls here.

A difficult picture, therefore, for a critic as demanding as Inés. I saw her in the bank next door, strong in moments of trouble, with red cheeks and ears fixed, waiting for any excuse, close to despair, that could serve to show her harsh criteria to the four winds. Then came the prison, always so generous, to save his friend.

The issue of prison was: “Even if you’ve thought about it many times, you haven’t said it yet.” Upon hearing this, Inés growled: “Can you put a more open theme? Take care of everything in that spacious coat! They just give a confession that they have not done. These kinds of issues impair improvisation.” I asked him to explain the idea to me more clearly. “Do you know that the verse on stage is not the tip of the iceberg? Do you know that's all of a sudden as well as premeditated? Bertsolari climbs there trained, working rimeres, internalizing many resources, with many automatisms. But in spite of that, there is something that makes every verse unique: its connection with the moment, with the context. The issue is, among other things, a very important element in defining this connection. What about such a broad issue? That makes things very easy for bertsolari: I am sure you will have made a number of verses that fit into the subject in advance. It is enough for him to think about it, to machine it a little and to throw it away. A good prison issue has to have some element that unites it more, if it wants to make Bertsolarism become one.”

As I smoothed the sermon of Inés, I watched the work of the bertsolaris. One thing struck me: four out of six made a declaration of love. Three out of four, to the mother. I told my friend that, as a curious fact. He was willing to respond. “It may be a lot to say, but I feel a tendency, probably unconscious, towards emotiveness, to look for tear, as if it were the best way to reach the listener. It is a legitimate path, if it is done right – today it has been Gaztelumendi who has walked more finely. But there are risks: overdose of sugar, cheap succession of pompous words, supposed poetic courses -- and sometimes some move to the limit. As a listener, I have greatly appreciated, for example, the path that Agirre has taken today, demonstrating that a thousand recognitions can be made outside emotional issues.”

When he said this, he breathed deeply and retreated himself for the first time in the afternoon.