Technically, the competition in the dramatic festivals was not between poets but between choruses.
The song also had an unusual structure that blurred the differences between its verses and choruses.
The band eventually came to develop a sound that relied on dynamic contrasts, often between quiet verses and loud, heavy choruses.
It was classic salsa at its best, with several improvising singers taking turns improvising between choruses.
The rest of the piece alternates between clean verses and choruses backed by heavily distorted guitars.
Sometimes the drummers played together, sometimes they switched off between choruses, sometimes one just watched and listened.
And between shout-along choruses, he manages to slip in some telling lyrics, often delivered so fast they barely register.
The music came in long bursts, as if someone was explaining something between choruses, and then it would start again.
The work made use of recitatives, a new development which went between the arias and choruses and served to move the action along.
Duffey cried out one couple-of-hours-after-midnight between choruses on his recorder flute.