CHAYANNE-

-GOLF, BALLS, AND MUSIC-

Out of the seven days he spent in Chile, the singer dedicated 80% of his time practicing his latest great passion: golf. The rest he spent it rehearsing for his concerts and eating seafood.

Another summer. Chayanne brings his tour to Spanish soil. This year’s is titled “SINCERO 2004” and it will take him through 20 cities in our country. The Puerto Rican singer, with whom we spoke in Madrid, told us, “I feel great in Spain, it feels like my second homeland because they always receive me stupendously here, and I totally identify with the Spanish people. I’ve sold a million and a half copies of my albums in this country, and that’s proof of how much I’m loved here.”

PRONTO: You recently celebrated 25 years of career-

CHAYANNE: Yes, and I’m extremely satisfied. I’ve worked very hard; my motto is perseverance and I feel as if I were just beginning; with the same enthusiasm of then. My career has filled me with happiness and in my personal life, I’m immensely happy next to my wife and my children. I’ve been able to lead both lives simultaneously.

PRONTO: Have you brought your family to Spain?

CHAYANNE: No, I’m here by myself, and since I’m such a family man, I suffer to have them far away, but they will be coming to spend a few days here.

PRONTO: Is your wife a jealous person? How does she handle the fact that your fans pursue you?

CHAYANNE: She is a little jealous, but she trusts me; she understands my career and she’s happy to see that I’m doing what I like. My wife helps me keep my feet on the ground and to fill myself with peace and energy. And, if a fan wants something with me, I limit myself to talking with her.

PRONTO: Do you see yourself as a sex symbol, a Latin idol?

CHAYANNE: Neither one nor the other. I’m simply a worker who tries to do his job the best way possible.

Chayanne was in Madrid to announce the beginning of his 2004 SINCERO TOUR, which he will take to 19 Spanish cities. The singer also received a commemorative plaque for the one and a half million albums sold in Spain alone. During the well-attended press conference Chayanne offered in a hotel in Madrid, we were able to talk to him extensively
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SORPRESA: To sell one and a half million albums in Spain alone is a heroic deed, don’t you think?

CHAYANNE: It really is. Spain is a country that has always shown me exceptional affection.

SORPRESA: Is success something that goes to people’s heads?

CHAYANNE: In my case, I can assure you it has not. I began singing when I was 10 years old and I just turned 36. After a lifetime of having experienced best and worst moments, your feet never leave the ground. When I’m not onstage, I’m a normal man who tries to live normally.

SORPRESA: How do you achieve the intimacy you family needs to live?

CHAYANNE: I try to protect and take care of my family, keeping them away from my work as much as possible. It’s hard, but at least I try.

SORPRESA: Does your wife like the fact that you are a man much desired by women?

CHAYANNE: I have to admit that my wife is very jealous, but she understands my career and she’s happy to see me doing something I like. She helps me fill myself with energy and she knows I would never be unfaithful to her.

SORPRESA: And when you enjoy a dance with Jennifer López, what does she say?

CHAYANNE: She doesn’t say anything, but in those instances, she’s always very close to me to control the situation. (Laughter).

SORPRESA: You will soon perform at the Plaza de Toros of Las Ventas. Do you like bullfighting?

CHAYANNE: I do, but from afar. The closest I’ve been to a bull has been performing my song, TORERO.

“I’m in a business that involves entertaining the people”. Singer Elmer Figueroa Arce, Chayanne (Puerto Rico, 1968) doesn’t have any doubts about how to achieve what his public asks of him. “I try to give the maximum of my capabilities in every show. I face each concert as if it were the last one. I try to move forward in ‘a crescendo’ until the final explosion so that the audience will enjoy it.” That’s what he’s offering with his SINCERO Tour, which today stops in Málaga and then will take him to 12 more Spanish cities.

The Puerto Rican singer, who is now presenting the themes of his SINCERO album, is not a new comer to the music world. At age 10, he began singing in the group Los Chicos and since the age of 15, he’s been triumphing alone. It’s been 25 years of career and with a definite style. “The essence of Chayanne’s music is a mix of the romantic and energy; of movement onstage, of rhythmic songs that always have something to say,” he explains. His music, however, is changing. "I’m still me, Chayanne, but with changes towards hip-hop and rock and roll. I listen to all the styles and I don’t know if later on I will move towards reggae or merengue with a little fusion. What’s important is that I feel what I’m doing is real, because I don’t want to go for something that is not me. It’s all about knowing it feels right to me", he adds. Aside from his new style, his connection to the audience is undeniable. “I believe my songs reach the spirit of the people, day after day, because they are able to identify with them”, he explains.

Chayanne’s triumphs in America with ballads and romantic songs, although in Spain, he’s known for his dancing, his movements onstage –in this tour, he’s accompanied by ten musicians and four dancers- and for hits like SALOME or TORERO. “In the slow themes, I lean towards the romantic, the couple and love, while in the fast songs, I like joyful lyrics.”

What he doesn’t like as much is for his success to be explained by his physical appearance. “There are really good looking people there, on the runways. Twenty five years of work count although I’ve enjoyed them and they have gone by without realizing it.”

A consummate singer, actor and dancer, the lack of time is what prevents him from writing his own songs. “Wealth for me consists of having free time; time evades me and that’s why I always turn to Estéfano or Donato for the songs because they know me personally and professionally.” Chayanne’s agenda, the recording of the albums, the tours and publicity engagements, have forced him to postpone for years, his project of recording an album in English. “I don’t know how long it will be until I record my album in English. I don’t even talk about it anymore. That’s something I would have liked to have done since the age of 12 or 15, but I’ve always come up short, between the albums in Spanish,” explains the singer.

His musical career, realized amid various nominations to the Latin Grammy, has elapsed through stops in television, telenovelas and movies. Co-star of the former Miss Universe, Vanessa L. Williams in DANCE WITH ME, Chayanne wants to return to the big screen in 2005. “I have the enthusiasm, the desire of making a movie next year.” He has a clear image of his ideal role: “I’d like to do a romantic comedy and work with Antonio Banderas.” The actor from Málaga was already one step ahead of him once, “I would have liked to have played Zorro”, he jokes.