Colombian singer Manuel Turizo is set to take the stage at one of the world’s biggest events: the 2026 NFL Madrid Game. He will headline the halftime show as the Cincinnati Bengals face the Atlanta Falcons at Bernabéu Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 3:30 p.m. CET (9:30 a.m. ET).
Turizo, known for blending reggaetón, pop and tropical influences, spoke about the opportunity during a press conference. One thing was clear: he’s taking it seriously. “It’s going to be a very different show, taking advantage of what the halftime is,” he shared.
While the chance to share his music on that stage—following Bad Bunny’s record-breaking Super Bowl Halftime Show—is significant, Turizo doesn’t see himself as breaking barriers. He’s continuing on a path that was already there. “I feel that all Hispanic music, not only Latin, all Spanish-speaking music, we are a mass of people who have always existed; we are a mass of countries that have always existed. I think we have been connected since we spoke Spanish in almost the entire continent, which is called America.”
Taking on something this big comes with nerves. But for Turizo, “more than nerves, it’s like emotion,” he shared. “Obviously, I wake up, and I’m thinking in detail, and I write to the production that this is pending, come here, the staging, this detail, your mind starts to work a lot, and you want everything to go very well, you want everything to be beautiful, you want everything to be in its place.”
“So that’s the emotion. It’s when your blood heats up, your hands sweat, your heart speeds up, you don’t stop thinking about something, but not with fear, but rather it’s like with anxiety.”
He also offered a few clues about what to expect. “I have a guest that is going to accompany me. The presentation is going to have a lot to do with the announcement of what’s going to happen with 2027 in my career. You’re also going to be able to continue understanding and to continue talking about what the album APAMBICHAO and the story of that album is, because that story is not finished; it’s just beginning with the chapter that was released in April of this year. Everyone that connects with my music and has been aware of it and has enjoyed it, they really have to see it.”
Turizo also spoke about introducing his fans to the NFL—and NFL fans to his music. “These are worlds that organically, if one vibrates and feels connected and enjoys it, I think that we start to bring people that maybe come for us, and indirectly can feel connected as one with the world of the NFL.”
“And vice versa, obviously, the NFL is a huge world that I think that there can be more people than you’re going to see, that maybe don’t even know me. There are people that are going to see me simply because they feel connected to the NFL. And indirectly, you can also feel connected to what Manuel Turizo is, to what my music is, to what our culture is. So, I feel that that way is how we actually start to create an orbit where everyone lives on the same planet, everyone lives in the same world, everyone is related, everyone is in the same ecosystem.”
For Turizo, this NFL halftime show is a beginning—not an endpoint.