Caray, Caray!

Since I've been absent from Caray for a week now and haven't even looked at Sortilegio yet, it's possible that someone has already said they're working on a recap for Cristina or something... in which case I apologize. Just say something and I'll take this down!
 

Didn't watch it this week, Julie, but thanks for posting a site. Sounds like you've had a very busy week, amiga.
 

Hi all- We had a discussion about the Cristina show on the Sortilegio feed yesterday. I and others shared our thoughts and recaps. I will repost my recap here, but head over to Sortilegio's Monday recap to see everyone's comments.

-Vivi in DC
 

My recap of Cristina from the Sortilegio Monday comments:I watched Cristina and also had a hard time understanding everything. Especially because "Jacinto" and "Santi" were so animated and got other folks going and laughing. Santi spoke about being Dominican, how he was studying to be an architect 10 years ago when he was encouraged randomly to audition as an extra in a video and that's how his acting career began. There were some lean years, when it looked like would not be successful. He was part of a stable of young actors that were being groomed in Mexico but things were not going well for him. He went to Miami and NY. He mentioned something about singing, and how he had never before been a singer or dancer (but it came natural to him as a Dominican). I think he may have done musicals on stage too. He credited his parents with never criticizing him and letting him pursue this dream. His mom and dad were in the audience and Cristina had them speak. It was obvious how much they love their son and how supportive they are. Santi teared up as he spoke about them and heard them speak. Very cute.

Jacinto and "Margarita" have been in a ton of novelas together and played siblings or spouses many times. They are obviously very good friends, with great chemistry. Margarita's baby was just 2 months old when she began working on the novela, so when she was called for the part she was still very pregnant and she thanked the producers for giving her the role at that time.

"Erika's" baby is 2 months old now and she was obviously very pregnant when the novela ended and she had to leave early. I didn't get all of Jacinto's story, but the gist of it is that he put his foot in his mouth big time before everyone knew Erika was pregnant, but she had already started to look like she was putting on weight. He saw her walk into the cantina where they were all eating, saw her eating a salad, and made a comment about her being on a diet. I think FC, who was there at the time, was shocked that he would dare make a comment like that to a woman. Erika didn't seem to mind and found it funny too. Obviously her pregnancy didn't stay a secret too long after that. FC says that Jacinto is a trouble maker (jokingly). There was lots of laughing. Jacinto also said that he always gets cast as the typical everyman. When Cristina asked why, he said because he has a noble Mexican face. This got lots of laughs from his castmates who then joked about him being so "noble".

"Gardenia" came out last, looking very sexy (guys, you should check it out). She spoke about how this role was different than the sex pots she usually plays. She got to wear simple, everyday clothes, for example. She acknowledge that her character was not very likeable, but then got the ladies in the audience to agree that they would do the same if they were fighting for a fine looking man like Don Santorito. A girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do. This got some appreciative/understanding cheers from the audience of women. Strangely, this actress seemed really rehearsed and fake in the way she spoke and I did not feel the same warmth towards her from the rest of the cast, as they had shown everyone else. Hmmmm....

The producer came out. They all thanked him, said what a great guy he is, how involved he was, that he was more like a friend than a boss.

They spoke about the media/paparazzi and how they feel about it. Typical celebrity stuff about understanding the curiosity of the public, love their fans, but also need to maintain some privacy in their lives. Some of them seemed more bothered by it than others. Arleth (Pris) seemed to have a very relaxed attitude about it and said she would understand how any woman would run up to FC and want his picture, etc if she saw him on the street (I like this girl). "Lili" seemed to be on the other side of the spectrum, wanting people to understand that they aren't always in the mood to be pawed and photographed, especially when they're out eating or just got off a 10 hour flight. FC was mum.

That's all I got.
-Vivi in DC
 

Vivi- that's a great recap, I had a tough time keeping up with all the banter and confusion of so many different people talking, thanks for filling in the gaps. Mostly, i was impressed, again, by how nice, and even humble, the stars seem to be. Even Palazuelos (?- Caaamy) seemed like a nice guy.
 

For some reason,(not sure) they did not have Fernanda, Barbie, & Aurora. I would have loved to seen them also on Cristina's show. This was my first spanish novela that I was really involved with. I truly loved it. All the characters really seemed to have worked together very well and it radiated in the interview that Cristina had. The producer of this novela was also on the program and he said he had a great realtionship with all the cast members and were great friends. ~Janie C
 

I haven't watched part 2, but I saw at the end of part 1 that Silvia Navarro wasn't part of the guest list for part 2, I was also very disappointed. She was easily my favorite part of this show, finally a worthy protagonista!
 

Because I am home sick today,and have too much time on my hands, I have put together all the Cristina show comments from the Sortilegio thread here(minus my long one that I pasted earlier):

Variopinta said...
Cristina's show,
Had a hard time understanding them.
Jacinto & FC were really joking around, all I caught was lettuce.
Apparently Erika didn't go to the wedding because she was about 8 mths pregnant. Her baby is 2 mths old. I think they changed the MEPS ending because of that.
Gardenia was going on about Santorrito, but didn't get that either, but she really looked great. Hope you saw this one Carlos.
Tue Oct 13, 07:53:00 AM EDT

Carlos said...
As I was working on the Gancho recap (you folks really should give this show a look) I glanced up in time to catch Gardenia on Cristina. Dang she is gorgeous and seems very sweet as well. I hope we see more of her soon.
Tue Oct 13, 10:39:00 AM EDT

Connie said...
Oh shoot! That was on last night? I was going to record it. I thought it was on tonight. Rats!
Tue Oct 13, 10:41:00 AM EDT

Anonymous said...
I agree that Gardenia came across as being very fake whereas Pris was fun. FC likes his privacy.
Lynne
Tue Oct 13, 11:13:00 AM EDT

HGR said...
Thanks, Vivi, for your recap of Cristina and her MEPS cast guests. I have a hard time ever understanding her or even just a bit of her shows--the conversations are too fast for me--and I wanted to understand this one. So you really helped.
Tue Oct 13, 11:26:00 AM EDT

jazzee said...
Re Cristina, why no Lucero or Gonsalvo - I would have sworn they were supposed to be on last night.
Tue Oct 13, 12:12:00 PM EDT

Anonymous said...
Lucero had a 1 hour interview with Charytin on Sunday 7pm.
Ibarramedia
Tue Oct 13, 12:16:00 PM EDT

Anonymous said...
Lucero was on Telefutura - Sunday evening at 7. I discovered I have Telefutura as well on Dish. She had an interview with that blonde lady who is always playing jokes on Univision. She had far too much makeup. Lucero spoke mainly about her career, wedding and children and her mother. She was beautiful, animated and came across as a well-rounded person.
Lynne
Tue Oct 13, 12:16:00 PM EDT

Anonymous said...
jazzee What happened to fernanda as well? I did not see her on Cristina?
Tue Oct 13, 12:19:00 PM EDT

Connie said...
I was going to watch that Lucero interview too. Darn.
Tue Oct 13, 12:23:00 PM EDT

Variopinta said...
Oh yeah, Santiago said he was in Grease.
Tks Vivi for filling in some blanks.
I thought Lucero was supposed to be on by looking at the tiny picture on Cristina's site but it was Margarita. And the one I thought was Miguel was Jacinto. He looked mighty fine all dressed up.
Tue Oct 13, 12:26:00 PM EDT


-Vivi in DC
 

The last group of comments from the Sortilegio thread:

Variopinta said...
Cristina's show was taped in Miami, so some of them probably couldn't make it. ¡Ay caramba, FC was only 30 miles away.
Tue Oct 13, 12:28:00 PM EDT

Anonymous said...
Here's a clip from the Lucero interview (looks like it was really good). She speaks a bit about Silvia in the clip. http://www.univision.com/content/videoplayer.jhtml?cid=2116228
Tue Oct 13, 12:50:00 PM EDT

Anonymous said...
One more thing on the Cristina show that some here might find amusing. Carlos de la Mota (Santi) spoke about how when the novela starter everyone in Mexico was abuzz talking about the novela. They would all say, "Have you seen FC in MEPS? Have you seen Lucero in MEPS? Have you seen the dead dog on la Mota's head?!" His hair was the third most talked about thing. The audience hated it so much, they changed his hair twice! So they do listen to the viewers. Hopefully, the Mexican audience will continue to be bugged by the same things we are, so that they make the needed changes.
-Vivi in DC
Tue Oct 13, 01:10:00 PM EDT

susanlynn said...
Carlos~~~I think that the actress who plays Gardenia is going to be in Corazon Salvaje which just started last night in Mexico. Thanks, Vivi, for the info on the Cristina show . I could kind of guess what they were discussing. They seem to get along well, especially the guy who played Jacinto and FC. Whenever I see FC on Cristina, he always seems kind and pleasant. I thought it was cute the way he came from backstage to joke a bit with Jacinto. I'll bet he went backstage so that he would not intrude on the others' time in the spotlight. He seems to be a truly nice person.
Tue Oct 13, 01:46:00 PM EDT

jazzee said...
Also, Anon 12:19, I think it was already known that Fernanda wouldn't be on due to a prior engagement.
Tue Oct 13, 02:01:00 PM EDT

Anya said...
Viv - I agree about Gardenia on the Cristina show - her speech seemed rehearsed and the others were cool to her. Maybe they just don't think she's "all that"!
Fernando C. was so charming..if only he had been like that on MEPS, rather than stilted and wooden.
Tue Oct 13, 03:30:00 PM EDT

Variopinta said...
I didn't ck this out, but I figuered Cristina's show would be on you-tube

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Cristina%27s+Ma%C3%B1ana+es+para+siempre+shows&search_type=&aq=f
Tue Oct 13, 05:03:00 PM EDT

Anonymous said...
Regarding Lucero. Someone gave the URL to see her video and all the videos of her that I clicked on came up with a black screen. The other videos played? Anyone know what is happening?
Tue Oct 13, 06:28:00 PM EDT


-Vivi in DC
 

One thing I noticed was that the producer, Nicandro Diaz (who they called "Nic"), was such an everyman that there was a crewmember-technician who looked exactly like him, and the cast members would kid the producer that he should be doing his job with the lighting cables or something like that. Nic also was the producer of Destilando Amor, so you know he's good.

In defense of Gardenia, it may be that many of the others know each other better, and she was just trying to be funny, which isn't always so easy. I must confess, though, I didn't catch all she was saying, as I couldn't take my eyes off her legs (the skirt was very short!)
 

I really enjoyed both nights of MEPS cast on Cristina. Maybe it's my increasing ability to understand rapid Spanish. I can remember watching these several years ago and being clueless. Colunga is just a treasure. He's funny, witty and very generous with the other cast members. La Mota (?) Santiago was very interesting and bright. He's a trained architect. Jacinto said that he knows he has the ability to play other parts, but he has a stereotypical Mexican face and is often cast as the loyal helpmeet. This was not said in a complaining way. Margarita was witty and interesting. They discussed the perils of fame. Caaammmi said it's a paradox. You wish for success and fame and then when you get it find yourself pulling back from public attention. He said that Colunga could escape by doing wheelies on his motorcycle if beseiged by fans!

Cristina said that she wanted to assure the viewers that everyone had been invited. I'm just assuming that Lucero and Silvia had commitments elsewhere. Lucero was on the Alborada cast show, so I know she's not averse to the things.

By and large, I was quite impressed with all of the cast members. The hard parts to understand, of course, is when they were joking and talking over each other.
 

Thanks for the info and youtube link, I forgot to tape it!

It seemed to me that "Gardenia" just came out talking about what she wanted to talk about and Cristina didn't get a chance to ask her questions.

Jacinto looked very handsome in a suit.
 

I don't know wich commitment Lucero had but I'm sure she wouldn't miss the Cristina Show for anything unimportant. Silvia Navarro was in Spain taking an acting course she had been excited about for awhile and she couldn't go.

I didn't think Gardenia sounded fake, more like she was very nervous and was trying to hard.

I was surprised by De La Mota's Dominican accent, he doesn't sound completely mexican when he does the mexican accent but it's very close so hearing his normal accent there's a huge difference in sounds so I know he makes a great effor when he acts.

And speaking of accents, the Cuban accent comes off very strong and sometimes it can sound rude. I've noticed that most Cubans that have shows on TV try to be softer but Cristina never does this, maybe she is just used to be like this after all those years on air, but she can be very intimidating.

Jarocha
 

Jarocha, I love it when you post something about accents. It's very hard to catch those as a non-native speaker of Spanish. I did, however, notice de la Mota's. He had the typical Caribbean habit of cutting off the ends of words. It was funny when he said he was "cien por ciento Dominicano" and that rum and merengue were in his veins. I think he also said he spent a lot of time in New York when his parents were living there. Commenters here have posted that he did an accent of a gringo speaking Spanish and occasional English usage in a novela I did not see. So living in New York as a fairly young person would give you a good accent in English.
 

Novelera De La Mota did have a gringo accent. Well, like he was a US native but whose parents were mexicans. My mom thought he was from USA. That's why his accent was so surprising.

I wished that producers would let Alejandro Ruiz (Jacinto) play a lead someday. He was a very important character in Esmeralda and his love story was much better than that of the leads. If you go to youtube Adrián and Graciela (played by Nora Salinas, Sarita in FELSt) are one most popular couples in novlas ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NswO_PR-Lo
 

Wow, thanks everybody! And thanks Vivi for putting it all together.
 

I was watching Cristina on you-tube

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Cristina%27s+Ma%C3%B1ana+es+para+siempre+shows&search_type=&aq=f

About 1/3 of the way on the tape, parte 2, after the beach scenes with Silvia, Cristina said sth about his dream of being married with 2 hijos, no more no less & then sth about embarazada. FC laughed & repeated what she said jokingly said ricos. I just couldn't get any of that.

He also said Capetillo was un gran matador.

ok back to hunkisimo
 

Variopinta, if I heard it right, I think Cristina, for some odd reason, said embarazado (masculine). Then Colunga cracked up saying he'd be rich if he were pregnant, meaning a pregnant man would get a lot of press and attention. I also think the context was his desire to some day have children (but not himself!)
 

Thanks, Julie , for starting this site and Vivi for rounding up all the scattered comments about the Cristina interviews. I am always impressed by FC on Cristina. He is unfailingly polite, fun, friendly, and humble. WHATAGUY. Fernando : I am offering FREE private tutoring in English...call me.
 

Julie, interesting you're not watching Sortilegio yet. I've recorded the whole thing and will have to fish or cut bait soon as it's using up my DVR.

A friend in my Spanish class said she watched the first one and deleted all the rest, not liking it.

I was trying to grade the novela based on comment count here on Caray (carefully not reading the recaps) and it looks like comments haven't fallen off all that much.

And, I'm pretty sure I read one that said they were pleasantly surprised, not liking Bracamontes or Levy, but giving credit to the skill of the master, Carla Estrada.
 

Novelera: Sortilegio is a strange one. It wasn't a success nor a failure in México: It didn't get the strong ratings of MEPS but it was enough to consider the results satisfying, people who liked it raved about it and people who hated it used to trash it constantly.

Someone put a video on youtube where s/he edited three interviews of Silvia Navarro where she spoke about her childhood and how she became an actress. If you haven't seen her outside of MEPS, this gives you an idea about her personality. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbbP5sHoo7k

Jarocha
 

On the tape parte 4, near the end
I think they were referring to her throwing up, what's that all about?
 

Didn't one of the recappers attend the Christina show in person and see FC and others in person. Can she please give us a taste of what it was like to see TMBMOE or whatever letters stand for FC? That is if she's conscious after seeing him.

GinCA
 

Here is the link to the 2nd show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4I34pwIOVQ
 

Silvia's eyebrows were the same when she was una niña.
 

I didn't know where to post this so I'll put it here.

Just looked at the saturday schedule on Univision.com. On Saturday afternoon, the network will be showing the movie "Besame en la boca" - it stars a young Fernando Colunga and Paulina Rubio. (all TBLMOE fans should check this movie out if only to hear Fernando sing.)

Jody :)
 

Novelera,
very strange for Cristina to say that, maybe it's a Miami Spanglish thing. Would you ever use embarazad(o) if a guy was expecting a baby with his mujer? It's a tricky verb & can be used for embarrassed, but I wouldn't take the chance.
 

They were talking about what he had read on gossip magazines about him and she said "que estás embarazado" and that's when he started saying he would be rich. I think she was saying it as a joke, but her tone sounded serious that's why it amy be confusing.

Jarocha
 

They were talking about the media & what FC called basura.

In addition to patting FC on the knee, when Arleth greeted him, she called him cariño. Wouldn't they make a nice couple?
 

Variopinta, ITA about Arleth and Fer. She looked SO different on Cristina, part2. I don't think the hairstyle she had in MEPS was very flattering, plus she was scowling a lot of the time.

She was pretty funny too when they were talking about fans coming up to actors in public. She said (to a big round of applause) that, if a woman saw FC out in public, who could blame her if she attacked! She looked a bit like she'd like to attack him herself.
 

It wasn't a contest, but I thought that Arleth came off the best on Christina, the girl that I would like most like to have as a friend. She brought a lot to her role as Pris as well.

Speaking of accents, I can hear a little English in William Levy. He must have lived in Miami for some of his adult childhood.

Sandy in TN
 

William Levy lived in Miami through his teen years, and I think even went to college in Florida for awhile before he started modeling and acting. You can still hear a lot of Cuban in his accent.
 

He moved to Miami from Havana at 14, he now live in Mex DF.
 

It's hard to know who might be Colunga's type. The only person I've ever known he dated was Thalia. For all his fame as an actor he hasn't ever been on the eye of the paparazzis as much as then and has managed to mantain a very low profile.

Jarocha
 

I think that was mainly due to Thalia & I think that's what did it for him, loss of privacy, lies in the press, so now he avoids it.
 

To be honest I hate Levy's accent. He is one of those actors who I wished would stop trying to sound Mexican and simply use their own accent. It's too distracting and I hate how it sounds. It's much better when he is just being natural. I understand that producers might ask foreing actors to imitate our accent for the mexican parts, but when they so obviously can't like in Levy's case, I vote for them to just use their own.

Jarocha
 

I'm no expert, but WL doesn't have that harsh Cuban accent that Christina and " el Gordo" have. They are very difficult to understand. So much of the Spanish taught in the US is closer to Mexican, if you could call it that!

Sandy in TN.
 

I agree, It's hard to avoid the press if you are with Thalia, especially at the time they were dating when she was at the peak of her career. I'd imagine it must have been hard.

Jarocha
 

It's not that WL has a harsh accent, in fact I think he is too soft sometimes. The way he pronounces the words just doesn't sound natural and it makes me feel like he is being fake all the time. I saw some bloopers of Sortilegio today and when he speaks in his natural accent I can understand him better and he sounds more sincere to me for some reason.

Jarocha
 

Yes, I was trying to say that he DOESN'T have a harsh accent! You have a more finely tuned ear than I do on the accent department, I can just tell that he has "infuences" in his Spanish.

FC's quiet work ethic and ability to stay completely out of the limelight is incredible if you think about it, especially if you considrt that he one of the biggest stars in Mexico. Wish others would follow his lead!!

Sandy on TN
 

I think Televisa protects some of their stars. The biggest sources of gossip come from shows or magazines from the network so when an actor or actress behaves and wants to keep a low profile they help them. Thalia has always been very open about her life with the press, her way of coping with so much attention is to embrace it. Lucero for example was more quiet about her personal life until she got together with her husband (who is also a singer) they don't talk about their private lives so much but they don't shy away from the press and I think that's due to the fact that they are strong enough as a couple to handle it. I also think that Colunga is not interested in dating people in the entertainment business (for the same reasons) so that helps.

Jarocha
 

It sounds like the old Hollywood system where the actors were under contract and everything was handled by the studios! Is the Mexican paparazzi as invasive as in the US?

Sandy in TN
 

It's not disinterest that has prevented me from watching Sortilegio; it's time. My job has been keeping me too busy to do much besides eat, catch up (barely) on a few things, and go to bed after I get home from work. Even my lunch hour is pretty much a lost cause. :-(

Hopefully things will calm down in a few weeks and then I can join y'all on Sortilegio.